How to Boot Surface from USB [Info]

Surface is Microsoft's new hardware brand, with an innovative look, especially its unique USB boot option. Sometimes, you may not be able to access Windows and cannot open files. Or, you may create a bootable drive and use it to boot and fix your device, which leads many users to search for official tutorials on how to do that. Thus, it's necessary to guide users through a tutorial on how to boot Surface from USB. Let's get started!

Before you boot Surface from USB

Before we begin booting the Surface from USB, there are a few important things to note:

• 1. What is Surface?
• 2. Why boot from USB?
• 3. What preparations are needed?

These three questions highlight the prerequisites and importance of booting your Surface from a USB. Let's explore them one by one.

1. What is Surface?

Microsoft released the first Surface on June 19, 2012. It featured a 10.6-inch display and came with a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port, running on the Windows 8 operating system. You may have heard of the Surface, but you might not be familiar with the other products in its lineup. Here are three main offerings from the series:

Surface Go 3: The lightest 2-in-1 laptop

Surface Laptop Studio: A powerful Transformer in laptop form

Surface Laptop Go 2: It comes in four colors, giving users more options for a prettier look.

2. Why do I need to power on via USB?

As a utility tool, a USB can be used not only to reinstall or repair a system (it can help you perform a clean install of Windows 10 without losing data), but also for hardware diagnostics and repairs, such as for your hard disk and RAM. This is why it has become the go-to method for system reflashing.

If your daily driver is a Surface, chances are you might need to learn how to boot your laptop from USB in an emergency. For example, if you want to use a USB recovery drive to recover, update, or reset your Surface.

3. What preparations are needed?

As you may know, a regular USB drive cannot boot a PC. There are a few things you need to do before your Surface will boot from USB (quick navigation available below, if needed):

1. Create a bootable USB drive (for Method 1)

The easiest way to get a bootable USB drive is to download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft.

If the USB is not detected in BIOS, we recommend that you read the following article:

Bootable USB Drive Not Showing Up or Recognized in Windows 11/10/8/7

To fix the issue of a bootable USB drive not showing up or being recognized in the BIOS boot menu on Windows 10/8.1/8/7, you first need to identify the root cause and then choose the best solution to repair the unrecognizable, undetected, unreadable, or invisible bootable USB flash drive!

2. Make sure Fast Startup is disabled

Prepare a wired mouse and keyboard.

Because of limited real estate, using a tablet can interrupt or even prevent the boot process from completing. So have a USB mouse and matching keyboard on hand to ensure a smooth installation.

How to Boot Surface from USB

Once you've done that, your Surface should boot from the USB drive. We'll show you two effective methods to make that happen:

• Method 1: Using the Volume Down Button
• Method 2: Using the Volume Up Button

Method 1: Use the Volume Down Button

Step 1: First, turn off your Surface and wait about ten seconds to make sure it's completely shut down.

Step 2: Insert the bootable USB drive into a USB port on your Surface.

Step 3: While holding the Volume Down button on the side of your laptop, press and release the Power button to start up.

Then, you'll see the Microsoft or Surface logo.

Step 4: Continue holding the Volume Down button, and release it when you see a spinning wheel below the logo.

Step 5: Boot from the USB drive as instructed on-screen.

Method 2: Using the Volume Up Key

This one's a little bit more complicated, because you have to get into UEFI. Let's go ahead and do that.

Step 1: Turn off your Surface, and wait about 10 seconds to make sure it's off.

Step 2: Hold the Volume up button on your Surface, and then press and release the Power button.

Step 3: The screen will display the Microsoft or Surface logo. Keep holding down the Volume Up button. Release the button once you see the UEFI screen (press F6 to enter on a Surface Laptop). If you plan on installing Windows 10, skip to Step 4. If you're installing a non-Microsoft OS, you'll need to disable Secure Boot in the "Security" tab.

Step 4: Under “Boot Order,” you'll see an entry for “USB Storage Device.” Drag this to the top of the list.

Step 5: Under the “Exit” option, click “Restart Now” to boot from the USB drive.

Bottom line

Now that you know how to boot your Surface from USB, you can use it to install or upgrade Windows fresh, run bootable antivirus programs, and more. When you're done, remember to reset your USB boot drive as described above.

Frequently Asked Questions

We also have other related questions to help you learn how to boot Surface from USB:

What should you do if your USB drive isn't working?

You can try to reformat the USB drive, but make sure to back up any important data on it beforehand. If that doesn't work, seek assistance from Microsoft support.

2. What is UEFI Boot Mode?

UEFI Boot Mode refers to the boot process utilized by the UEFI firmware. In this mode, all information regarding initialization and booting is stored in an EFI file, which resides on a specific partition known as the EFI System Partition (ESP).