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Home » Tips & Tricks » How To Boot Surface Laptop From A USB Drive


HOW TO BOOT SURFACE LAPTOP FROM A USB DRIVE

In this article, we will show you how to boot your Surface Laptop (1st Gen),
Surface Laptop 2, and Surface Laptop 3 from a USB Drive in three different
methods.


 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

BY Evan Forrest Last updated Apr 30, 2021

Booting a Surface Laptop from a USB Drive can be a little frustrating if you
didn’t follow its specific procedure especially when your device can’t boot to
Windows. In this article, we have everything you need to know to boot your
Surface Laptop from a USB Drive.




To boot a Surface Laptop from a USB drive, insert a bootable USB drive to the
Surface Laptop’s USB port. On the keyboard, press and hold the volume down media
key (F5 or F3), while holding, press and release the power key. When the Surface
logo appears, release the volume down media key (F3 or F5).

Read on for a more in-depth guide on how to boot your Surface Laptop from a USB
Drive.

Note Starting from Surface Laptop 3, Microsoft has changed some keyboard’s
layout including a volume down media key from F5 to F3 key position. These
instructions apply to Surface Laptop (1st Gen), Surface Laptop 2, and Surface
Laptop 3.

 1. Why Boot Surface Laptop From A USB Drive?
 2. Surface Laptop Boot From A USB: Preparation
 3. Surface Laptop Boot From A USB: When Surface Laptop is Off
 4. Surface Laptop Boot From A USB: When Surface Laptop is On
 5. Surface Laptop Boot From A USB: With No Password


WHY BOOT SURFACE LAPTOP FROM A USB DRIVE?

There are several reasons that you need to boot your Surface Laptop from a USB
Drive.

 1. Resetting your Surface Laptop with a USB Recovery Drive.
 2. Fresh Windows Installation.
 3. Running Windows To Go.
 4. Installing or running Linux based OS (Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat, …).
 5. Loading bootable recovery or disk partition tools.




SURFACE LAPTOP BOOT FROM A USB: PREPARATION

Before proceeding to the next step, here are some preparations you need to do
before booting your Surface Laptop from a USB Drive.

 1. Bootable USB Drive
    It’s important that you have a proper bootable USB Drive. In case you want
    to reset your Surface Laptop with a recovery drive, you will need to
    download the recovery image for your Surface and create a recovery drive
    before you can boot it up on your Surface Laptop.
 2. Disable Secure Boot
    Secure Boot blocked all third party boot loaders from booting off your
    Surface devices. Disable Secure Boot lets you load third-party OS other than
    Windows 10 that’s included older versions of Windows and Linux on your
    Surface Laptop. Here’s how to disable secure boot on Microsoft Surface
    Laptop.
 3. Backup Your Data
    Save yourself later by backing your important data to an external hard
    drive.
 4. Connected to the Charger
    To prevent any unexpected shutdown during installation, make sure you have
    connected your Surface Laptop to an external power source.




SURFACE LAPTOP BOOT FROM A USB: WHEN SURFACE LAPTOP IS OFF

 1. Shut down your Surface Laptop.
 2. Insert your bootable USB or recovery drive into the Surface Laptop’s USB
    port.
 3. Press and hold the Volume Down button on your Surface Laptop, then press and
    release the Power button.
 4. When you see the Surface logo screen appear, release the Volume Down button.
    1. Surface Laptop 1-2 (F5 = Volume Down)
       
    2. Surface Laptop 3-4 (F3 = Volume Down)
       




SURFACE LAPTOP BOOT FROM A USB: WHEN SURFACE LAPTOP IS ON

There is an easier way to boot your Surface Laptop from a USB drive when you can
sign in to Windows 10. Here is how to do that:

 1. Open Windows Settings
    First, you need to access Windows Settings by going to Start and click the
    Gear icon (or by using Win + I shortcut key).
 2. Go to Update & Security
    In Windows Settings, select “Update & Security“.
    
 3. Go to Recovery
    On the left side of the settings, select Recovery.
    
 4. Restart your Surface in Advanced Startup
    Under the “Advanced startup” section, click Restart now to restart your
    Surface in an advanced startup mode.
    
 5. Select Use a device
    After your Surface Laptop restarted, you will see a blue screen with the
    following options. Select Use a device.
    
 6. Select USB Storage
    In this screen, it will list all possible ways and connected storage
    devices. Select USB Storage.
    

Now your Surface Laptop will reboot from your connected USB drive.




SURFACE LAPTOP BOOT FROM A USB: WITH NO PASSWORD

There so many times that users might want to reset their Surface Laptop when
they forgot the account password that prevents them from login. Here is how to
do that on the Surface Laptop with touch-only or with a keyboard.

 1. Open On-Screen Keyboard (for touch-only)
    On the Windows login screen, Go to the Ease of access icon stay right next
    to the power icon. Select On-Screen Keyboard.
    
 2. Press and hold Shift Key
    On Surface Type Cover, press and hold the Shift key (on the On-Screen
    Keyboard, just click the shift key and it will hold by itself).
 3. Go to Power > Restart
    On the right-bottom of the screen, click the power icon, and select Restart.
    It will reboot your Surface Laptop in advanced startup mode.
    
 4. Select Use a device
    After your Surface Laptop restarted, you will see a blue screen with the
    following options. Select Use a device.
    
 5. Select USB Storage
    This screen will list all possible ways and connected storage devices.
    Select USB Storage.
    




MORE ON SURFACE LAPTOP TIPS & TRICKS

Here are some related articles for Microsoft Surface Laptop tips & tricks you
might want to read:

 * How to Configure Surface Laptop 3 UEFI/BIOS Settings
 * How to disable Intel Turbo Boost on Microsoft Surface with powercfg command
 * Ultimate Tips for Mastering Microsoft Surface Laptop
 * Surface Tip: How to enable Battery Limit feature on Surface devices
 * Download Microsoft Surface Drivers and Firmware
 * How to download Surface Laptop recovery image

Related Topics BootBoot from USBSurface LaptopSurface Laptop 2Surface Laptop
3USB


EVAN FORREST

Evan Forrest is Editor-in-Chief of Surface Tip, researching and writing articles
about Surface-related news, tips, and accessories. He has been using Surface
devices since the first release of the original Surface Pro. He is currently
using a Surface Laptop 3 as a full-time daily-driver machine. Besides that, he
also owns multiple Surface devices including Surface RT, Surface 3, Surface
Go/Go 2, Surface Pro 3, Surface Book, and a bunch of Surface accessories to help
in research and writing articles.


COMMENTS

Let us know what you think!

We appreciate hearing your thoughts, questions, and ideas about “How To Boot
Surface Laptop From A USB Drive”.

 1. anon ymous says:
    September 23, 2021 at 1:24 am
    
    Evan, thank you.
    Your tip on booting using on screen keyboard and shift key worked where
    nothing else worked.
    Thank you.
    
    Reply


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