Surface Pro 3 short battery life

Hi Rud S & karina54,

Just checking in to see if you were able to resolve the issue after performing the steps provided.

Keep us posted!

Remember that we are always here to help!

Best Wishes,

Recently my surface pro 3 has completely lost it's battery after reaching about 45%. After reaching that percentage it says I'm at 10% and need to plug in the charger but it doesn't even give me a chance because seconds later the battery life goes down to 6% and eventually shuts down.  Is there a way I can fix this?

Hi Rud S,

Thank you for visiting the Microsoft Community! I appreciate the time you have taken to post this issue in our forums. I’m sorry to learn that you are facing battery drain issues with your Surface Pro 3. I can certainly see why this can be an annoyance, taking into consideration it just started happening recently. I’d like to do my best to help and guide you in the right direction!

Please check the following:

•First and foremost, please make sure you have all and latest Windows updates installed and applied. This is very important.

•Have you made any changes to the power settings? And if so, what exact changes have you made?

•Do you have any startup or background apps running?

•Try to verify if the adapter might be malfunctioning.  Check from different outlets and locations. Take a look at the charging port and the tip of the adapter, see if there is any debris or corrosion. If you can, try your charger with a different Surface, and a different charger with yours.

•Have you tried resetting the power settings back to default? If you haven't, here is how:

1. From the Desktop menu, swipe from right and open Charms
2. Select Settings
3. Select Control Panel
4. Select Power options
5. Select Change plan settings
6. Select Restore default settings for this plan
7. Select Yes

•Have you checked all troubleshooting steps presented in the following support article:

• Surface battery won’t charge
• Before you begin
• Solution 1: Remove and reconnect the power supply
• Solution 2: Check the battery charging status
• Solution 3: Change the power connector orientation (Surface Pro 3 only)
• Solution 4: Install Surface and Windows updates
• Solution 5: Restart Surface
• Solution 6: Shut down and charge Surface
• Solution 7: Two-button shutdown (Surface Pro models only)

•As a last step, try holding down the "Volume UP" and the "Power Button" at the same time for about 15 to 20 seconds.  It should do a reboot and if no activity, release and 'click' the power button one time. 

When you mention reinstalling Windows, are you referring to a Refresh? If you haven’t done so, and if the issue persists after performing the steps above, please consider **Refreshing**your Surface.

We hope you find this helpful. Please keep us posted!

We are always here to help!

Best Wishes,

I've had my Surface Pro 3 since pre-order and one of my favorite things has been the battery life. 9hrs is a bit of a stretch, but it was attainable. That is, until recently. My battery life has been crummy for about a week now. I've been hooking it up to a 32" TV and a powered USB hub and using it as a desktop replacement as well as a hybrid tablet/laptop. However, I just realized that my battery life at the desk is only about 5hrs. I took it off the charger at 5:00 pm yesterday and by 6:00 pm I had 80% charge with pretty light use, mostly web-browsing (Chrome, which I thought fixed its battery blues). The standby time seems to have taken major a hit, too. I came back to it at 12:00 am and it's down to 63%. Whatever happened to a year of standby time? It was great when I could sleep my surface with 65% battery and pick it up the next day with 65% still (and Chrome shouldn't affect this anyway, right?). Also, Windows' animations have been laggy every now and again, dropping a frame here and there. All of these problems have arisen ever since I reinstalled Windows, but I just can't see how that's relevant to the battery life. Are there some drivers I could be missing to make my Surface less power-hungry?

I have Surface Pro 3 and the battery lasts only 4 hours. I am thinking to return the unite back to Microsoft, since it doesn't even last 6 hrs compare to the MacBook Pro 9 hrs.