Boot Microsoft Surface Laptop From USB

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This post was originally published on October 10, 2017
The latest update to this post was made 2 years ago.

Boot Microsoft Surface Laptop From USBBoot Microsoft Surface Laptop From USB

The Microsoft Surface Laptop has a built in keyboard, but still follows the same process as Surface Pro units to boot from USB devices.

The hotkeys <POWER> and <VOL DOWN> will provide a one-time boot to USB.

Some things to keep in mind, specifically with the Surface Laptop:

  • Make sure the ‘Fn’ (function key) light is NOT  lit – you are looking for <VOL DOWN>, not <F5>.  When the ‘Fn’ key is illuminated, you will are using the Fx keys.
  • This process works from a completely powered down Surface Laptop – not from a unit that is sleeping.
    • To be sure it’s off : shutdown the operating system or hold the <POWER> key for at least 5 seconds to force a hard shut off.
  • The Microsoft logo will appear on the screen and flicker once after about a second, let go of <POWER> at that time but continue to hold <VOL DOWN> until the device is clearly booting from USB.

Boot Microsoft Surface Laptop From USBImage : Surface Laptop Keyboard
(Click image for larger view)

  • Having trouble?  Try following these steps:
    • Make sure your USB drive is bootable and working.  Recreate boot USB drive if possible.
    • Eliminate any hubs, additional accessories, etc. for troubleshooting.
    • Try a different USB drive if problems persist  (We’ve had the best luck with drives up to 16gb that are USB 3.0 compliant).


Note: The above process has been successfully tested hundreds of times imaging units from Microsoft SCCM 2016 using USB bootable media thumbdrives.

This article, also on Blog Encounters, may be of interest:  Windows 10 Version Numbers

Tags: #techsupport #surfacelaptop #microsoft #sccm

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