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
    2017-09-15T17:24:34+00:00

    I have this issue even when running in the Surface 3 Dock. As others have stated this is a critical issue and one that I only recently have experienced. Additionally I got a whopping 90 minutes of use this morning just browsing before the battery died. That was with it starting at 100%

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-09-13T12:29:11+00:00

    My SP4 just started doing this yesterday. I was down to about 9%, so I turned it off, plugged it in and this morning it was still at 9%. When you click on the battery icon it shows its plugged in to power but it says not charging. 

    This may sound dumb, coming from an IT guy, but my life is on that thing and I need it running. 

    I may have found the problem with the charging issue on my SP4. I bought a new power adapter and its charging. Even though the other adapter is only a couple of months old and looks like I just took it out of the packaging. I has not been abused. I take exceptional care of my cords and cabling. I have 5 year old power adapters that I use every day and still look brand new and work great.

    It is very strange.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-09-12T16:54:45+00:00

    My SP4 just started doing this yesterday. I was down to about 9%, so I turned it off, plugged it in and this morning it was still at 9%. When you click on the battery icon it shows its plugged in to power but it says not charging. 

    This may sound dumb, coming from an IT guy, but my life is on that thing and I need it running.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-24T15:59:08+00:00

     no custom power profiles.        

    That's odd.  I have 3:  Balanced (recommended)  Power Saver (which I switched to once when I noticed that I had been in the "Plugged in, not charging" state) and High Performance.   Oh.  Maybe the CU has changed that last one?   No.  It's still there, slightly hidden under Show additional plans.  So, looks like I used the wrong word to describe what you would need to look for:  it's actually "Power plan."  

    One thing the CU changed is what  Win-x O  does but it is still possible to get to the Control Panel, Power Options to see these.  Also, at the bottom we are reminded that the Mobility Center (Win-x b)  provides an easy way to switch plans.  That is also where the problem symptom seems most evident.  I hadn't noticed before but right-click on the Battery icon in the Taskbar also provides quick navigation to these elements, bypassing the new modern dialog.

    FWIW it looks like in my case 99% available (plugged in, not charging) means that it can use the power but not deplete the battery.  I wonder why your battery gets used then?  So, one difference between us would be that you will have the ability to use Connected Standby.  Then if that is enabled, perhaps disabling it would cause a useful change.

    Good luck

    Robert

    Robert, I'd like to know how you got any other power plan to appear, other than Balanced.  I've had a Surface Pro 3, Pro 4, and Pro (2017), and since Win10 none of them have ever had any other plans available besides Balanced.  There is no "show additional plans", there is only Balanced and nothing more.  

    Back to the "plugged in, not charging" issue, I have occasionally gotten it before on the Pro 4, but usually only when using certain apps or programs.  However, even then it was still only sporadic, not 100% reproducible.  Now with the latest 2017 generation, I have been getting the issue at least once/day, but does not seem at all tied to running any specific programs.  At first I thought it was a bad power supply, so I replaced it, but the issue came back the next day.  It appeared again just this morning, and this time I put the Surface into hibernate, unplugged it from the docking station, unplugged the power from the dock and let it sit for a few moments.  Then I plugged the power back into the dock, gave it a moment to "wake up", then reconnected the Surface and woke that up too.  After everything was back up & running, now the battery is charging normally.

    A very mysterious problem, that Microsoft should probably take a closer look at.  I love the Surface devices, but as others have mentioned, we rely on these machines to get work done so batteries that don't charge are more than a minor inconvenience.

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