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This article describes how to use the Recovery Tool to restore a Surface device to its factory state.
Open
Surface IT Toolkit
and go to the
Recovery Tool
section to begin the process of creating a USB key.
Select
Create
to download and create a USB key with the latest recovery image for a Surface device. Alternatively, if you have a previously downloaded recovery image, select
Manage Existing
.
Recovery images for Surface Pro (11th Edition) and Surface Laptop (7th Edition) will be available when commercial devices ship in September 2024.
If creating a new recovery USB, select the base language and version of Windows for the recovery image. Options for Windows 10 and Windows 11, along with different feature updates like 21H2 and 22H2, are available. Select
Next
.
Confirm your selections including the device model, Windows build, Office build (if applicable), and language pack.
Under
USB Key Selection
, choose the USB to use for the recovery image. Make sure the USB drive you intend to use is correctly identified and ready to be formatted.
Select
Create
to start the process. A progress bar indicates that the recovery USB is ready to use.
Once the USB creation process reaches 100%, a confirmation message indicates that the recovery USB is ready to use.
Throughout the process, ensure you have a stable internet connection for the download and that no data you wish to keep is on the USB drive when formatted during the process.
Restore Surface device
After the USB key is created, use it to restore the chosen Surface device back to its original state:
Shut down your Surface device.
Insert the bootable USB drive into the USB port on your Surface device.
Press and hold the
Volume-down
button on the device.
While holding the
Volume-down
button, press and release the
Power button
. The Microsoft or Surface logo appears on your screen.
Continue to hold the
Volume-down
button until you see spinning dots beneath the logo.
Follow the on-screen instructions to boot from your USB drive.
Recover earlier Surface devices
If you don't see your Surface device listed as a
supported device
in the Recovery tool, under
All Devices
, you can download a recovery image from Microsoft Support.
Go to the
Surface Recovery Image Download
page, select your product, enter the serial number, and download the appropriate image.
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