Surface Pro plugged in, not charging

I’ve come across this issue quite a bit lately and I’m not really sure what causes it.The battery icon in the system tray will have a red X and indicate the tablet is plugged in, but not charging. It seems to occur shortly after a Windows Cumulative Update. Many resources indicate the battery is dead and to contact Microsoft. But before you do, try the following steps.

Re-install Battery Drivers

1. Click Start (or Cortana/Search), type “Device Manager“, and then hit enter (or click on Device Manager from the search results).

2. Expand Batteries.

3. Right-click the Microsoft AC Adapter and select Uninstall.

4. Right-click any remaining items under Batteries (for example, “Microsoft Surface ACPI-Compliant Control method Battery“) and select Uninstall. Select the option to “Delete the driver software for this device” (if applicable) and click OK.

5. Power off the Surface device and disconnect the AC Power. Unplug the AC Adapter from the electrical outlet as well. If you’re using a Surface Dock, unplug the AC power from the dock.
6. Wait 30 seconds.
7. Reconnect the AC Power adapter to both the Surface and the electrical outlet. If you’re using the Surface Dock, reconnect the power.
8. Power on the Surface and login. Wait a few minutes. The issue should now be resolved.

Update Surface Dock firmware

If you’re using a Surface Dock, try updating the firmware. I’m not sure why or how, but updating the Surface Dock firmware has also resolved this issue for me.

1. Click here to navigate to the Microsoft Surface Dock Updater page.
2. Select the option to “Download Surface Tools for IT“. You will be brought to a Download page.
3. Click Download.
4. Select “Surface_Dock_FwUpdate…“, and then click Next.

5. The Microsoft Surface Dock Updater tool will download. Once it’s download, launch the installer and follow the prompts. This will update the Surface Dock firmware.
6. If the battery is still not charging, try repeating the steps above to Re-install the battery driver.

Soft Reset

I’ve never had success with this but numerous resources online indicate a quick soft reset could be enough to resolve the issue.

Click here and then select your Surface device model. The steps will be displayed on how to perform a Soft Reset on your Surface device.

Plug in the Surface before powering it on

This is a very strange workaround that has actually worked. It’s quite simple really, before powering on the Surface and before connecting the AC power cable to the electrical outlet, connect it to the Surface device, then plug it into the electrical outlet, and then power on the device. I have no idea why this works but it’s not a solution. It’s just a workaround. I assume there’s some sort of defect or interference causing the issue. But in a pinch when you’re in need of a charge, it may be your only workaround.