How To Boot Surface Pro From A USB Drive

Why Boot Surface Pro From A USB Drive?

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

1. Resetting your Surface Pro 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 Pro Boot From A USB: Preparation

Before proceeding to the next step, here are some preparations you need to do before booting your Surface Pro 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 Pro 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 Pro.
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 Pro. Here’s how to disable secure boot on Microsoft Surface Pro.
3. Backup Your Data
   Save yourself later by backing your important data to a MicroSD card or external hard drive.
4. Having a Wired Mouse & Keyboard
   There is a chance that your Surface won’t support touch or pen input when you do a clean Windows installation or loading Linux OS on your Surface. Having a wired mouse, keyboard, and a network dongle can help you in this situation.
5. Connected to the Charger
   To prevent any unexpected shutdown during installation, make sure you have connected your Surface Pro to an external power source.

Surface Pro Boot From A USB: When Surface is Off

1. Shut down your Surface Pro.
2. Insert your bootable USB or recovery drive to the Surface Pro’s USB port.
3. Press and hold the Volume Down button on your Surface Pro, then press and release the Power button.
4. When you see the Surface logo screen appear, release the Volume Down button.
   

Surface Pro Boot From A USB: When Surface is On

There is an easier way to boot your Surface Pro 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 Pro 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 Pro will reboot with your connected USB drive.

Surface Pro Boot From A USB: With No Password

There so many times that users might want to reset their Surface Pro when they forgot the account password that prevents them from login. Here is how to do that on Surface Pro with or without a keyboard attached.

1. Open On-Screen Keyboard (skip this if you have a keyboard attached)
   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 Pro in Advanced startup mode.
   
4. Select Use a device
   After your Surface Pro restarted, you will see a blue screen with the following options. Select Use a device.
   
5. Select USB Storage
   In this screen, it will list all possible ways and connected storage devices. Select USB Storage.