Troubleshoot Surface Type Cover or Keyboard

Get the latest updates

You can quickly check the health of your Surface drivers and firmware using the Surface app.

Open the Surface app

1. In the Surface app, expand Help & support to check the update status.

2. If there are updates available, select the Check for updates button to open Windows Update and install the available updates. 

   Note: If you don't have the Surface app installed, you can download the Surface app from the Microsoft Store. When it has downloaded, select Start, search for Surface, then select the app from the list of results.

If you have installed a custom or clean Windows image and your Keyboard is not recognized, you may need to install Keyboard drivers. Manually install the latest driver package for your version of Windows. For more info, see Download drivers and firmware for Surface.

Detach the Type Cover or Keyboard

1. Unplug your Surface and detach the Cover.

2. Make sure there's no debris, damage or anything that may inhibit a connection.

Force your Surface to restart

If you have a Surface Pro 5 or later, Surface Book 2-3, or any model Surface Laptop, Surface Go, or Surface Studio:

• Select Start > Power > Shut down and wait for your Surface to shut down.

• Now, press and hold the power button for 20 seconds. If you see the logo screen appear after a few seconds, continue to hold for the full 20 seconds until you see it again.

  

  For the other Surface models, please see Force a shutdown and restart your Surface

Reattach the Type Cover or Keyboard

Re-attach the Cover, making sure that all the magnets touch the bottom edge of your Surface.

Confirm functionality

To confirm connectivity, press the Caps and Fn keys on your Surface Type Cover or Keyboard a couple of times to check whether the LED lights turn on and off.

• If the LED lights don't turn on, there might be a hardware issue the next option is to Submit a service order for your Type Cover or Keyboard.

If the LED lights turn on and the keyboard continues to not function properly, your problem may be with Windows and not the device itself. To verify in UEFI, do the following:

1. Turn off your Surface and wait 10 seconds.

2. Press and hold the Volume Up button—and at the same time, press and release the Power button.

3. You'll see the logo screen on your screen. Continue to hold the Volume Up button. Release the button when the UEFI screen appears.

4. Verify functionality:

   1. Press the up and down arrow keys to change what is selected on the left side menu to check if the keys work or not.

   2. If a Devices menu is present, access it and disable the Type Cover port from the Devices menu, then exit UEFI. Use the same steps above to boot back into UEFI and re-enable the Type Cover port to see if the Keyboard functions.

If the keys and trackpad are working correctly in UEFI, but not in Windows: The problem is likely with the software installed on the Surface, and you'll need to reinstall. See Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface

1. Go to Start  , enter reset in the taskbar, then select Reset this PC .

2. Select Reset this PC > Keep my files > Cloud download and follow the rest of the prompts shown on screen. For more detailed steps and a video, see Restore or reset Surface for Windows .

Other issues