Troubleshoot Surface Dock or Surface Docking Station

If you’re having trouble getting your Surface Dock or Surface Docking Station working with your Surface, here's help.

Before you begin troubleshooting

First, to make sure your Surface is working properly, get the latest updates. For more info, see Download drivers and firmware for Surface.

Troubleshoot Surface Dock

Select the problem you're experiencing:

Surface Dock isn't connecting to your external display
Problems charging with Surface Dock
Audio problems while connected to the Surface dock
Network issues with Surface Dock
Reset your Surface Dock

Surface Dock isn't connecting to your external display

If your Surface won’t connect to an external display, check your display adapter and cables. For more help, go to Troubleshoot connecting Surface to an external display.

Problems charging with Surface Dock

For problems charging your Surface:

If you're using a Surface Dock: If the Surface device battery is empty, first charge it using the power supply that came with the device for a few minutes before trying to charge with the Surface Dock again.

If this does not resolve your issue, see Surface battery won’t charge or Surface won’t run on battery for more solutions.

For problems charging your connected accessories:

If you have accessories that draw power from your Surface Dock or Surface, remove them and see if your Surface charges.

Note: If you are using Surface Book or Surface Laptop Studio performance models, please remove all accessories and ensure your Surface Dock is connected to the original in-box power supply that came with your Surface Dock.

Audio problems while connected to Surface Dock

Note: In some cases, when an audio device like a headset or speaker is connected to the 3.5mm jack, the audio device may not be detected right away. Disconnect the Surface Connect cable, then reconnect it to re-detect audio devices.

Check your audio connections

Disconnect and reconnect your audio cables and ensure they are securely connected.
Disconnect and reconnect your Surface Dock connect cable.
Ensure your speakers are plugged in to an electrical outlet and turned on.

For all other audio issues, see Troubleshoot Surface sound and audio accessories.

Network issues with Surface Dock

Your Surface Dock comes equipped with a standard gigabit ethernet port. To troubleshoot network issues on Surface Dock, see Fix Ethernet connection problems in Windows.

Reset your Surface Dock

If you’re still having issues with your Surface Dock, you can reset it by doing the following:

Unplug your Surface Dock from the power connector on the back of the dock.
Reset the dock PSU by unplugging it from the power outlet and waiting 5 seconds.
Reconnect the power connector to the dock, then plug the dock PSU into an electrical outlet.

Troubleshoot Surface Dock or Surface Docking Station

Before you begin troubleshooting