How to fix Surface Pro 4 not waking up from sleep mode?

Surface Pro 4 has been around for quite some time now. Nevertheless, it remains the latest release from Microsoft as a member of Surface Pro devices. The operating system provider (now device maker) has made great strides as regards the development of laptops, tablets, or computers in general, and the success of Surface Pro 4 is a testament to this fact.

Surface Pro 4 has its fair share of problems, though. A good number of users have complained of the sleep of death issue, which prevents them from waking up their device after they put it to sleep.

What if Surface Pro 4 screen is not waking up from sleep? Possible causes?

If you set your device to sleep, but it refused to wake up after you tried to put it on, you will do well to check if the battery has not been drain completely. A known bug in Surface Pro 4 might have disrupted or prevented Windows from putting it to sleep correctly, and this means your device was using up power while you thought it was in sleep mode.

Surely, you can see how the battery loses all (or part of) its power from such an event (especially when your device has been sleeping for such a long period). In such a scenario, your Surface Pro 4 screen failing to turn on is merely a consequence of low power.

Other times, the problem might have something to with Windows Update. As far as we know, numerous users experienced the Surface Pro 4 failing to wake from sleep problem after they downloaded and installed certain Windows Updates (the Creators Update, in particular). So, it is not outlandish to claim that Windows Update sometimes breaks some devices to cause the problem in view.

You probably were wondering why your Surface Pro 4 did not turn on before now. Well, we hope we have provided enough information for you to figure out the answer to the question in your case. It is time we moved on the primary part of this guide as we believe that there are users who only came here to find out what to do if Surface Pro 4 fails to wake up from sleep mode.

How to fix Surface Pro 4 screen refusing to wake up from sleep problem?

The fixes below have been arranged in order of their relativity complexity to apply and usefulness to users in general. To ensure that the chances of you solving the problem remains as high as they can be, you must begin with the first solution on the list. If it fails to deliver the result you were expecting, you are free to move on to the next one or even continue this way until you arrive at the ideal fix for your problem.

Try out some keyboard shortcuts:

If you are struggling to wake your Surface Pro 4 from sleep, then a keyboard shortcut (usually a combination of keys) might come in handy as regards to being a solution to the problem. A reasonable number of users confirmed that they had got their device screen to turn on by using this combination of buttons: Windows key, CTRL, Shift, and the letter B key.

If you tried out the stated shortcut, but your Surface Pro 4 screen still refused to come on, then you need not worry because there are other shortcuts you are yet to attempt. Different alternatives proved useful for a wide range of users, and we will try to provide as many of the effective ones as possible. Try out these shortcuts:

• Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys
• Ctrl, Shift, and Escape keys
• The power button and volume up button

Specific users reported they had to press the Volume up button 3 times and the Volume button down 3 times consecutively to fix the issue. If this combination of keys worked for them, then it could work for you; try it.

A combination of the Windows button and the letter P key (press them 3 times) might work too. This keyboard shortcut is the last one we can come up with, and we hope that your screen or display is up already by now.

Connect your device to power:

If your device refuses to wake up no matter the keyboard shortcut or combinations of keys you try to bring it back to life, then there is a high probability that it has used up all the available power. You must move on to connect your charger and ensure that the LED light indicator for charging operations comes on. If the LED light refuses to turn on, then your Surface Pro 4 is probably not charging.

You will do well to check the state of things to verify that power is being delivered to your device. After you confirm your device is charging, you can press the Power button and see if your Surface Pro 4 comes to life.

If nothing happens no matter the button your press (even after you have verified that your device is getting power), then your battery is probably empty (or its power level is incredibly low). You will have to wait for a few minutes for it to get sufficient charge that will allow your device to come on, and after this, you can try putting it on.

Disconnect peripherals:

We understand that some users connect external devices to their Surface Pro 4 to carry out specific operations or to make their work easier. However, if the connection involving such devices brings about a problem as counterproductive as their computer refusing to wake up from sleep, then disconnection is very much in order to see if Surface Pro 4 screen comes on after the change of state.

You will do well to disconnect any peripheral or external device plugged in your Surface Pro 4. We are talking about hardware devices like external monitors, flash drives, gamepads, speakers, microphones, components connected through USB ports in general, and so on.

Any of the item from the list (or a combination of peripherals) is well capable of causing Surface Pro 4 to struggle while it tries to recover from sleep. Or perhaps, they are at fault as regards Windows inability to put your device to sleep which resulted in power being used up when it was supposed to be conserved.

After you disconnect all the required devices, you must try to wake your PC from sleep. You can even reattempt the operations we outlined earlier. They might prove more effective in resolving the problem this time given the changes you have made.

Try a forced restart:

If at this point you are yet to get the screen of your Surface Pro 4 to turn on, then a forced restart is most likely the only way of getting your device to wake up. A forced restart is quite easy to perform. All you have to do is hold the power button of your Surface Pro 4 for at least 30 seconds.

Your Surface Pro 4 should reboot, the screen will come to life, and Windows will settle down. Some people went the extra step by pressing and holding the power button for over 30 seconds and continuing to hold it even after their screen came on. You do not have to do things this way. However, if the first procedure fails to do enough, then an escalation like that is something you must consider.

Install the necessary drivers:

If you are consistently experiencing problems whenever you try to wake your Surface Pro 4 from sleep, then your drivers might have something to do with the issues you are facing. To get a permanent reprieve from the problem, you will have to identify the problematic drivers and put them in order.

A specific driver might be missing, corrupted or outdated. In such a scenario, the hardware component it controls will struggle to function effectively. After all, drivers enable the operations or define the interactions between hardware devices and the software running on a computer.

It is incredibly difficult to identify the specific driver that you need to find a replacement for because there are numerous drivers available on your PC at any point in time. There is also a good chance that more than one driver is faulty, so you will have to carry out multiple tasks to find replacements for them, and the operations involved are as tricky as they get.

You can spare yourself all the hard work and trouble by downloading and running Auslogics Driver Updater. This superb program will handle everything on your behalf—it will help you identify the missing, corrupted, and outdated drivers, and through the options it provides, you can update all of the drivers to their latest manufacturer-recommended versions in no time.

After you finish downloading and installing all the updated driver software for the necessary hardware components, you must restart your computer to let the new drivers begin their work. If everything went well, you would be able to put your system to sleep and wake it up while it is sleeping with issues.

Disable the Hibernate mode:

Sometimes, after you put your Surface Pro 4 to sleep, it struggles to go into the required mode and ends up getting caught in hibernation. Well, if the hibernation mode is disabled, then your computer will either go to sleep correctly or shut down entirely since the hibernating state is no longer a distraction or option for it.

This procedure might seem extreme, but if it ends up solving the problem of you being unable to wake your Surface Pro 4 from sleep, you will consider its use worthy enough. Follow these instructions to disable the hibernation mode on your computer:

• First, you must open an administrative Command Prompt window because you need top-level permissions or privileges to carry out the required operation. Bring up the Power User menu by pressing (and holding) the Windows button on your keyboard, then tapping the letter X key. From the programs or options you see, select Command Prompt (Admin)
• If you did everything correctly, you should see the Administrator: Command Prompt program window running on your screen. Type in the following code and hit the Enter key to run it at once: powercfg.exe /hibernate off
• Exit the opened program windows and restart your computer to let the changes become effective. After your computer comes on, the hibernation option or mode will no longer be available for use, and you might finally stop experiencing issues when you try to wake your Surface Pro 4 after you put it to sleep.

Alter the settings for your network card:

If you are still struggling with the Surface Pro 4 inability to wake up from sleep, then there is a good chance that your current setting or configuration is working against the sleep mode your PC tried to employ in the first place. Your wireless network card might not be allowed to fall asleep to save power, for example.

Maybe, you made the problematic changes yourself inadvertently. Or perhaps, the alteration did not come from a direct action or operation you knew about on Windows. The possibilities are endless. Well, here are the instructions you need to go through to fix the issue (given the example we described):

• First, you must open the Device Manager program. You can do this by right-clicking on the Windows Start icon that is always visible on your desktop screen to see a list of programs, then selecting Device Manager
• After the required program window is up and running, you will see categories for your drivers. Click on Network adapters to expand it. The drivers contained in this category should appear now.
• Locate the wireless network card for your Surface Pro 4. Continue by right-clicking on it and selecting Properties from the short menu list you see. After the Properties window shows up, you must navigate to the Power Management tab
• In your current location, you should see the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power option. Tick its checkbox to select it. Click on the OK button. Note if the option in view was already selected, then this fix was not meant for you. Anyway, a good number of users will be pleased to have used it.

Alter your sign-in settings:

The option to force Windows to demand password for every sign in (especially after your PC wakes up from sleep) helps users to keep their PC safe from unauthorized access. Although this setup enhances security, its exuberance might have something to do with the Surface Pro 4 failing to wake up from sleep mode problem. At least, this was the case according to some users.

The obvious solution to the problem in view will requires you to turn off the setup through settings. Well, we recommend you go through with the necessary operation only if you really want to—that is, if the need to retain the ability to force your Surface Pro 4 screen to come on (at all times without complications) is a top priority for you.

Follow these instructions to make the necessary changes:

• First, you must open the Settings app. You can do this by pressing the Windows button on your keyboard (or clicking on the Windows Start icon that is always visible on your desktop screen), then selecting Settings
• After the required program window shows up, you must click on Accounts. From the list of items available on the left pane, click on Sign-in options. On the right pane, you will see the Require Sign in menu (at the top)
• Click on the drop-down menu to see the available options from which you must select Never. You are now free to close the program windows you opened. Restart your computer.

After your PC reboots, your system will end up in a new state where Windows will not demand a password even after your device is woken from sleep. This new setup might just force the change that eliminates your Surface Pro 4 struggles to wake up from sleep mode.

Other things you could try to resolve or avoid the Surface Pro screen failing to turn on from sleep mode problem

If you still struggle with the Surface Pro 4 screen failing to come on from sleep even after you went through and applied all the fixes we provided in details, then it is time you checked out this additional list of solutions or workarounds to the same issue.

Use the power button to put your device to sleep:

Some users somehow managed to verify that the problem only occurs when they close the lid of their machine to put it to sleep, but it fails to manifest when they use a tap of the power button to go into sleep mode. The reason for this is apparent enough. We will leave you to figure out why.

Set your system to hibernate every time:

If the problem persists no matter what you do, then you might as well allow your PC to hibernate (instead of sleep) every single time you press the power button. After all, if you are going to set your PC to sleep for a very long time (as in most cases where Surface Pro 4 screen fails to turn on), the hibernate mode becomes more or less the same thing.