Surface Laptop Studio will not charge occasionally / depletes battery at alarming rate.

Anonymous
2022-03-05T23:38:23+00:00

Every once in awhile my Surface Laptop Studio will refuse to charge - or atleast it says it's charging but clearly isn't. The battery then depletes at a rate of almost 1% every minute until in shuts off at 0%. Then I have to repeatedly restart it, plug in charging cable, for almost an hour to get it to start charging again. This isn't a charger issue. This is possibly some odd software issue.

Why Microsoft wants be to make a post instead of talking to an employee is beyond me.

Surface | Surface Laptop | Power and battery

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2022-10-27T16:30:56+00:00

Marking as Answered to raise visibility - Updated July 17, 2023

Thank you for your patience and feedback as we worked on this. A fix is now available through Windows Update. After installing the update, please restart (not Shutdown) your Surface Laptop Studio. For more information about updates for your Surface available through Windows Update see Download drivers and firmware for your Surface

For more details about Surface Laptop Update History, please see Surface Laptop Studio Update History.

If the issue continues to occur, here is a workaround that has helped others start charging again:

  1. Connect your Surface power supply and make sure the power connector light is on.
  2. Save all your work and shutdown your Surface.
  3. Once shutdown, press and hold down the power button, you will see the Windows logo screen flash and then turn off, continue to hold down the power button (about 20 seconds) until you see the Windows logo screen flash again and then release the power button.

Was this answer helpful?

50+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

138 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2022-10-13T19:19:16+00:00

    Hey Microsoft support. I have 2 accounts on my surface studio. After a bit of statistical tracking the issue appears definitely whenever switching between accounts. I. E. My partner is using the laptop then I login with my account and I am trying to charge it. The plugged in icon is appearing. The light on the charger is working fine. However the laptop doesn't charge. Hard restart fixes the issue all the time though. I. E. Keep pushing the shutdown button until the charger light turns off and then on while still connected.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-10-13T15:03:40+00:00

    Hi all,

    I have tried hard to get something out of Microsoft (support in Denmark where i live) about this over days - without so much of an answer other than:

    • Not registered with them as a "known issue" (it is not unforgivable that anyone has really approached them as far as I can understand)
    • We (Microsoft) always start with the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and Reliability Monitor because these 2 elements can tell if something is wrong with the hardware itself, Problems with the battery can also be caused by a faulty driver - it can be removed and reinstalled.
    • And then of course there are settings for the battery - both in UEFI (Surface UEFI, Boot configuration > Advanced option, switch off Battery limit mode) and in Windows: Vedligeholdelse af dit Surface-batteri (microsoft.com)
    • We recommend updating the firmware, but in your case it is pointless, as the firmware on our website fits Windows 11 21H2 while you have already updated to Windows 11 22H2. If everything fails, we must do the ultimate test, which is a USB reset, where the computer is in effect formatted and restarted with the Windows & firmware & drivers version found on our website via the link Download Surface recovery image (microsoft.com). If the error still occurs, we can only replace the machine.

    I had provided them with battery reports and links to here, reddit where there is a thread to and what i see to.

    After all this i got this back: "I have already sent the information about this error and that there are more people experiencing it to our technical employee, who is our link between the support department and the Surface developers."

    Some days after i got this from the support: "I had spoken to our tech lead and explained that there are actually many who experience the same problem with the battery, which sometimes requires to be completely drained before it can be charged with the charger. Unfortunately, he didn't have other solutions than the usual ones - either resetting Windows with USB and reinstalling everything or replacing.I see that the last recovery image for Surface Laptop Studio is Windows 11 21H2, where the latest Windows 11 version - 22H2 - is already out. Maybe it will come soon to our website Surface recovery image download (microsoft.com) - and USB reset for this version will be possible. Then you bypass the part of the firmware that causes the battery to play.However, the last firmware version is not adapted to 22H2, only 21H2"

    There is a new firmware - but not sure to what/if it could fix anything: Surface Laptop Studio update history (microsoft.com) (Surface - Firmware - 8.104.139.0).

    Then i got this: "I'm sorry, but I can't come up with a rock-solid solution for now."

    Let me hear what Windows OS you are running as i got, then we need to push it needed.

    I'm frustrated too :(

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2022-09-30T07:50:13+00:00

    I am also a Surface Studio laptop owner with the same problem.

    It frustrates me because this has been an issue with the Surface Book since I bought my first one in 2016 and still there when I bought a refurbished book from Microsoft due to battery problems with my original one in 2000.

    I bought the Studio as I wanted to be sure when touring Spain in my motorhome and sometimes off grid, I could not afford to have the laptop die on me.

    What is even more frustrating is that technical support have, after a short period of basic fault finding, given up and want to provide me with a factory refurbished one. Meaning I get a used laptop that will almost certainly start doing exactly the same!

    Never managed to charge via the USB C port, I will have to look into that.

    Chris

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2022-09-27T04:23:07+00:00

    I think it’s definitely software and related to the battery management. I have the issue every 7-10 days now. A hard reboot fixes the issue and resets the battery management software for a few days.

    Interesting that a different cord worked to reset too. I only use the oem cord so far.

    it’s a shame that Microsoft has failed to address this, but that’s what review sites are for. To educate others so they can choose the support and product that best fits their priorities.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments