What to do if Surface is running slower

Newer devices have an adjustable power mode to allow you to balance your preference between best battery life and best performance. To view this setting, select the battery icon on the task bar. If your device supports it, move the Power Mode slider to either the Better performanceor Best performance setting.

If your Surface is slow, go to Tips to improve PC performance in Windows 10  to learn how to help improve the performance of your Surface.

Your Surface may be too hot. Move your Surface to a cooler spot, wait five minutes, and see if it runs faster. When possible, plug in your Surface.

If you are running a memory-intensive app, such as streaming video or playing a game, try closing it for a few minutes. That may cool your Surface down.

Go to Start , and select Power > Restart.

To help identify specific hardware-related problems on your Surface, try running the following tools that are built into Windows.

Windows Memory Diagnostic tool

Run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to determine whether your Surface memory is working properly.

1. Select the search box in the taskbar, enter memory, and from the search results, select Windows Memory Diagnostic.
2. Select Restart now and check for problems (recommended).
   When your Surface restarts, the diagnostic tool will run and display the test status on the screen. Although the test may appear inactive, it’s still running. Windows will restart automatically after the test is complete.

If the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool finds any errors, contact us.

Error Checking tool

Run the Error Checking tool to scan for errors on your hard drive.

1. Open File Explorer in the taskbar and select This PC.
2. Press and hold (or right-click) Windows (C:) and select Properties.
3. Select the Tools tab, and under Error checking, select Check.
   Follow the on-screen instructions.

If the Error Checking tool finds any errors, contact us.