How to turn off Surface Pro monitor only WITHOUT it sleeping?

Anonymous

I've read many question posted similar to this. The truth is none of them answer it. Let's change that or at least get Microsoft to do something about it. Every other computer in the world can do this...why not the surface pro!!! I see the exact behavior occur that I desire when I go to second screen only option...but it doesn't stay there. For obvious reasons....we need a new power option! Does anybody know how to effectively "yell" at Microsoft?

***Subject edited for clarity by the moderator.***

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.

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Anonymous

Greetings Mark,

The best option available, is while the Surface is connected to a second monitor, to set it to "Second screen only".

You can do this by:

Swipe from the right
Touch Devices
Touch Second Screen
Touch Second Screen only.

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52 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-11-10T16:22:51+00:00

I did this accidentally, with no second screen attached, and now cannot figure out how to get the screen back on the touchpad! it's black, power is on. pls help?
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Anonymous

2013-11-10T18:42:42+00:00

Figured it out - held power button for several seconds..
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Anonymous

2013-11-10T22:10:56+00:00

If you have accidentally locked up the Surface Pro for any reason, you can do a hardware shutdown by simply holding down the power button for a full five seconds.

This is not written anywhere, but it works. If you'd like to test it yourselves, leave an unsaved notepad window on your screen and try:

1) Power off by tapping the power button. This puts you into light sleep or standby mode. Your notepad app will be running when you power back on and log in. This is not a shutdown.

2) Power off by holding the power button down two seconds. This is still not a shutdown event, as your notepad window will be there when you press the power button to start up.

3) With your notepad app running, hold down the power button for a full five seconds. When you tap the button to start up, you will see the Operating System startup notice and it will take noticeably longer. You will log on and see your desktop or whatever applications are set to start automatically, and your notepad window will be gone to oblivion.

This SHOULD recover you, JRC369, from your lockup caused by switching to a phantom second screen. If it does not, reply back and we'll take this to the next level.

Cheers,

Mark
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Anonymous

2014-01-07T17:14:56+00:00
Greetings Mark,

The best option available, is while the Surface is connected to a second monitor, to set it to "Second screen only".

You can do this by:

Swipe from the right

Touch Devices

Touch Second Screen

Touch Second Screen only.
Sorry to re-open this, but I don't believe this answers OP's question.

This only works if you have a second monitor connected. What if you are out and about and want to just turn the inbuilt screen off without putting the Surface to sleep?

For example, you could set the "display off" power setting to a short time for battery & mains power profiles. The tablet is still running but the screen is off. This works but is no good if you then accidentally touch the screen, because the tablet will immediately wake the screen and respond.

I would like a more Android/iPad-esque option where I can disable the display AND touchscreen without sending the tablet into full sleep, thus allowing some background apps to keep running (like streaming music/downloading files) and allowing me to easily move the tablet around without having to avoid touching the display or the Windows icon at the bottom.
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