Surface Pro 4 "Plugged in, Not Charging"

Anonymous
2016-03-16T13:08:47+00:00

So I did a search and found a lot of similar issues with the Pro 2, but nothing that really fits what I'm dealing with regarding my pro 4.

I've already swapped it out once before for this same issue, so I don't believe this is just a one off issue.

I have a Surface pro 4, i7, 256gb, 16gb RAM. I use the Surface pro 3 docking station with insert and have connected through the dock the following:a Single Dell 24" monitor off the displayport out of the docking station, Satellite/sub sound system, wireless keyboard, wired mouse, and a bluray drive. So that's the setup.

here is the issue. When ever I attempt to do anything that is somewhat power intensive, I get the  "Plugged in, Not Charging" issue. For instance if I play "Call of Duty: Heroes" which is a download from the app store it stops charging. Doesn't matter if I have the surfaced docked or connected directly to the supplied power cable.

The batter charges, it lasts 4-5 hrs when not on the charger. If I'm just doing word processing or watching a video, if I'm not compiling code, digital circuits, or playing a very very very low demand game it works just fine.

Anyone with a similar issue? Anyone able to get this resolved?

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2018-03-15T15:48:24+00:00

Here's what worked for me just now.

I've got a Surface Pro 4 i7/16GB  with the Microsoft Dock, and it stubbornly refused to charge.

I went into Device Manager, ![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/1f924923-6af6-422b-8472-31c1b800abbc?platform=QnA and for each of the "Microsoft AC Adapter" and "Microsoft Surface ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" devices, I selected them, right-clicked, "Uninstall Device", then went to Action, Scan for Hardware Changes, and it re-appeared.  After doing that to each of them, my SP4 started charging again.  No reboot necessary.

More info can be found in the Surface battery won’t charge troubleshooting article.

Hope that helps someone out there.

Your mileage may vary.

-KwM-

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-12T14:06:57+00:00

    I'm having the same issue, but don't get a message - it just stops charging. Has anyone found a fix for this?

    I've found that simply disconnecting and reconnecting the power cord on the side of my Pro4 will restart the charging.  The issue I have is that it requires this to be done regularly.  Who's got time for that??

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-15T14:40:18+00:00

    I agree.  Microsoft is a software company not hardware.  I'm on my 4th surface and all have been replaced at least once.  Thankfully I purchased the extended replacement from Best Buy and when my current SP4 started experiencing the "Plugged in Not Charging" issue it was replaced.  Not exactly the way I purchased the protection plan as BB told me MS revised their policies and MS had to verify the problem before BB could replace it even though the Geek Squad tech verified the problem.  They made me purchase an open box to use while mine was evaluated which I was able to return when my replacement finally arrived back to BB after being "evaluated" by MS.  A real pain to say the least as I only installed the basics apps.  I experienced the same issues with the MS Bands which I really liked but gave up and now have a Samsung smartwatch.  I am really torn as to what I will do when the current SP4 is out or protection and dies as when the MS hardware works it it great but extremely unreliable long term.

    Yeah I feel the same way.  I loved my SP4 for the first 20 months.  It was better than any laptop I had owned before.  But it wasn't all plain sailing.  It's bricked itself twice, corrupted the recovery partition and finally complete battery failure.  Not to mention all the driver issues that kept coming back with each Windows update (screen flicker, mouse and track-pad erratic behavior, oh and not forgetting Windows Hello stopped working for about 3 weeks after the Fall Update - Microsoft, seriously!?).  If you'd have asked me 6 months ago what my next laptop would be, I'd have said a Surface Pro.  Now I'm not so sure.  I couldn't have looked after my Surface any better than I did.  I treated it like a hot girlfriend.  I regularly maintained her, kept her fully updated all the time, and didn't overwhelm her with lots of rubbish (applications), so for her to leave me in less than 2 years is a slap in the face!

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-12-14T05:41:08+00:00

    Yes same, until it doesn't and the pattern is 

    Really worried, relieved, really worried relieved, then you get used to it so not as worried until the time it doesn't work and that's now and now upset.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-02T21:59:42+00:00

     only seems to charge if the Surface completely dies, and powers off, and Yes, it will do that while plugged in.

    Did you try switching to a different Power profile?

    It's default.  There are no custom power profiles.  I can't imagine this is default behavior.

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