How to Reset a Frozen Surface Pro 4

You need to know how to reset a frozen Surface Pro 4 because nothing is more frustrating than having your workday ruined by your PC.

You probably use your Surface Pro 4 for just about everything you do and that’s why a frozen Surface Pro 4 is so frustrating. Your Surface Pro should let you take notes, use your favorite programs and stay entertained wherever you go. It should never let you down when you need it the most.

Here’s how to reset a frozen Surface Pro 4.

The Surface Pro 4 with Type Cover and Surface Pen.

Read: 2017 Surface Pro vs Surface Pro 4

Before You Reset

When you reset a frozen Surface Pro 4, you can lose anything that you didn’t have saved already. That’s why it’s important for you to try every possible solution before you reset.

Switch the way you’re interacting with your Surface Pro. Instead of using the Surface Type Cover and a mouse, tap on the screen with your finger to see if anything happens. If you’re using touch, switch to a mouse and keyboard. This may save you from having to reset. Surface Pro devices sometimes have accessory issues.

Surface Type Cover

If you’re using a Surface Type Cover and your Surface Pro won’t do anything, detach it and attach it again. Windows 10 does sometimes fail to detect covers without any warning at all.

Read: 6 Best Surface Pro 4 Keyboards

If you’re running Windows 10 and using a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, try turning your Bluetooth device off and back on again. Sometimes, users assume they have a frozen Surface Pro when their device has only stopped talking to their mouse and keyboard.

Only when none of this works should you reset your frozen Surface Pro 4.

How to Reset a Frozen Surface Pro 4

To reset a Surface Pro 4, press the Volume Up and Power buttons on your Surface Pro 4. Hold these buttons down together for 15 seconds.

The Volume and Power buttons on the Surface Pro 4.

You will know when the reset is successful because your Surface Pro 4’s display will show the Surface logo. Wait for your device to fully start again.

Now that you’ve used a reset to fix your frozen Surface Pro 4, you can continue working. Because it’s starting from scratch, you must enter your Microsoft Account password or use Windows Hello to unlock your device again.

Depending on what you were doing before, you might get to continue exactly where you left off. Microsoft Office programs, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, have built-in recovery tools. They will ask you to continue where you left off when you open them. Microsoft Edge also reopens existing tabs when a reset happens.

If you must reset your frozen Surface Pro 4 often, you need to investigate what’s causing the issue.

Use Gotta Be Mobile’s Surface Pro 4 Problems breakdown to learn more about your system and the issues that could cause your device to behave strangely.

Read: How to Reset Your Windows 10 PC

You can reset your Surface Pro 4 if troubleshooting still doesn’t fix your problem. Be sure to back up all your photos, documents, videos and other files before you attempt to a reset though. If your PC is almost out of storage, you will need to clear all your files for a successful reset.

When even reinstalling Windows 10 fails, its time to take your Surface Pro 4 to the Microsoft Store for service. Be prepared to pay to fix the problem. Microsoft’s hardware warranty only covers a full year of service. Once that year expires, the company can charge you for shipping and any internals that need to repair. If this happens to you, it may be cheaper to buy a 2017 Surface Pro or the Surface Laptop instead.

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