Is your Surface Pro 3 not charging like it should? And you don’t have any idea how to go about fixing it? This post should help.I created the troubleshooting guide below to step you through the process of identifying and correcting charging issues on your Surface Pro 3 tablet.Oh, and if you don’t have a Surface Pro 3, don’t worry we have you covered too – with just a bit of modification, many of these steps will help you regardless of the Surface model you have. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Where to StartDepending on how your Surface is behaving, you’ll need to change what things you try to resolve the problem. So, I put together the guide below to help get you started.First things first. You will need to make sure your Power adapter is plugged in and connected to your Surface Pro 3 and that the white LED is illuminated.
Also, I’m assuming you have Windows 8.1 installed. If you have Windows 8 or the installed, you may need to make some adjustments to the steps below.If the LED on your power adapter doesn’t illuminate when it’s properly plugged into AC power and connected to the Surface, this may very well be the culprit. So, you can skip the power icon section below and jump to Solution 6 and begin your troubleshooting from there.After your Surface is connected to power, bring up the charms menu by swiping in from the left of the screen and look at the power indicator icon (circled in red below).Once you’ve found the power icon, compare it to the list below. That will tell you how to begin your troubleshooting process. OK, now that you’ve identified where to start your troubleshooting, below are my list of Solutions that will (hopefully) help you get your Surface charging again. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Solution 1 – Restart your SurfaceLet’s start with the basics.
Try doing a shutdown and restart as it could just be a temporary glitch (it does happen). Hopefully, it was just a glitch and this simple fix solved your problem but, If the problem persists, proceed onto Solution 2. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Solution 2 – Check for UpdatesNext, make sure you have all of the latest updates installed. Even though they don’t always do a good job of saying what they’re doing, Microsoft is often fixing issues in their monthly patch cycle.
Aug 29, 2016 An update is now available to correct this issue. This update corrects the logic in the firmware component that functions as the 'fuel gauge' for the Surface Pro 3 battery, so that the actual. Mar 19, 2015 - Try these steps to troubleshoot Windows Update problems. I'll cover some basic Windows Update troubleshooting tips to help you figure out what's going on. I allowed a lot of updates to my sirface rt, now it won't find my internet connection. Consider a Refurbished Surface Pro 3.
After you’ve completed the uninstall, restart your SurfaceIf all goes well, your Surface should re-install the needed drivers and resolve your Surface Pro 3 not charging problem.If not, proceed to Solution 4. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Solution 4 – Two Button ShutdownIt’s possible that your SP3 just needs a two button (or hard) shutdown.
This type of shutdown is akin to yanking the plug out of the wall and isn’t really a good thing to do because it is possible to cause corruption or data loss.If you happen to be troubleshooting a Surface RT or Surface 2, skip this step. According to Microsoft, attempting a two button shutdown may cause more harm than good for Windows RT devices.At this point, though, it’s probably worth the risk. Assuming your power adapter looks good, proceed to Solution 8. If the connector looks dirty or corroded jump to Solution 9. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Solution 8 – Flip the ConnectorOK, this sounds weird and it’s not a permanent solution but try flipping the power connector upside down and seeing if it suddenly works. It’s possible that there’s some invisible damage to the connector and only one side is working.After you flip it over, give it 10 minutes to see if it starts charging. If it suddenly starts working, you may need a new power adapter.
However, before you order one, try Solution 9 below. Surface Pro 3 not charging: Solution 9 – Clean the ConnectorsIt’s possible that the power connector is corroded or dirty and that’s preventing a good connection when you connect your SP3 to power. There are a couple of things that might address this issue.Make sure the power adapter is UNPLUGGED before trying either of these:. If you have some isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, use a Q-tip to gently clean the brass connectors.
If you don’t (or if they’re really dirty), use a pencil eraser to gently scrub the connectorsWhile you’re at it, look into the slot where the power connector attaches to your SP3 and make sure there’s no foreign material lodged in it (like lint or paper from the bottom of your computer bag). Oh, and don’t use a wet Q-Tip or metal tweezers to do this.Assuming your connectors are clean and free from debris but your SP3 is still not charging properly, it’s time to contact Microsoft.
Surface Pro 3 not charging: Time to ContactWell, crap It looks like I can’t help you and you’ll need to either visit a store (if one is near you) or contact Microsoft support. You can check out our post (link below) to help you get through to them as quickly as possible.I hope you found this troubleshooting guide helpful and easy to follow.
As always, if you have questions, please let us know. It might take us a few days to get back to you but we do try to make sure your questions get answered.If we can’t get back to you, your fellow readers may also be able to help.Tim&lt;img src=”alt=”” /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /><br />. Jason,I haven’t heard of any issues with updates but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.Assuming you already tried the fixes above and want to try.Search for “view your update history” and you should be able to figure out which updates you need to remove. You should be able to find out information on each update to see if any look suspicious.Once you’ve figured out which update(s) you suspect, search for “view installed updates” and you will have the option of removing updates you select.Be careful, this might take a while and you’ll likely have to restart your machine a couple of times.You might also consider running a battery report before uninstalling updates just to see if the report shows a problem with your battery.Tim.
Viv,Try pushing the cord that goes to the wall into the power brick as hard as you can and wiggle it while looking to see if the light came on.Some folks have had issues with that connector being very loose and causing a problem.Also, test the wall outlet. I know it was in the article but, check it again. It could be a low-voltage condition.If you happen to have access to an electrical multimeter, you can try testing the power output of the charger. If it’s supplying power normally, it could be that your Surface had a hardware failure.;-(Tim. Debbie,I’m sorry for the delay but we were traveling for a family emergency.Anyway, I’m sorry that you’re having these issues with your power supply.If you’re that frustrated with it then you might be better off switching back to your iPad as it’s pretty obvious your experience with the Surface has been tainted.However, one more suggestion.
Since you said you were going to Vegas,go talk to the folks at the Microsoft StoreAnd don’t leave until they help.This is a problem I can’t fix remotely but, if you go stand in the middle of their store and ask for help, they’ll help.Hope this helps,Tim. I believe it’s a “lowest bidder” problem. Some exec at Microsoft got a big bonus for shaving the cost of the power brick by a few pennies.
Unfortunately, those few pennies should have been spent on higher quality materials that don’t wear to the point they no longer reliably connect.I hate to say this but, you will need to get hold of Microsoft and complain about it. If you do a good job, you might get them to send you a replacement. You’ll have better luck if you can visit a brick and mortar Microsoft store as you will be harder to ignore in person.Good luck. You’re not going to like this but.
Surface Pro 4 Release Date
That’s a new one on me. I have no experience with this issue but, it sounds like a driver got munged during the upgrade and not your Surface can’t recognize the battery.– You could try down-revving to 8.1 and see if the problem persists.– You could also go into device manager and update the driver for the battery devices then restart your Surface.– A little more drastic but you could try deleting the battery devices from device manager to try to force Windows to reinstall them after a restart. I’d be sure to back everything up first.Or you could try some/all of the above. If nothing works, take it to Microsoft as defective.
My Surface Pro 4 is not recognizing the battery charger, the LED charger light does not turn ON when it is connected. The problem is that I cannot turn on the computer because the battery has no more charge. Perhaps the charger drivers have been damaged after a Windows system update. Now, it is not possible to access the system to update the drivers.
Does anyone know how to solve this? Perhaps I can boot up the computer as a slave with another Surface?I already tried the charger in another Surface and it works fine. Also, I tried another charger in my Surface and it doesn’t work.Microsoft insists that I send them my Surface but I live in Peru and it will take forever to send it and will cost a forturne.Any ideas? Thank you so much! Thank you Jonathon for your answer. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.The Surface connector looks in great condition. However, when I plug the charger the LED doesn’t turn ON.
Microsoft Surface Won't Update Windows
In addition, if I then take this charger to another Surface (a good one), the charger won’t work. It will work again if I unplug and plug the charger again to the wall. That seems to reset the charger again and it will then work with the good Surface.The same thing happens if I use another “good” charger.So it seems that the “bad” Surface is sort of magnetizing? Or messing the charger temporarlily.Not sure how can I solve this.Is it possible to charge the Surface using the pins at the bottom of the tablet, that is where the keyboard connects?Or perhaps using the USB port?