If you can’t boot from your USB recovery drive or don’t see the Recover from a drive option, you may need to ensure that the boot-from-USB function in the Surface BIOS is enabled or configure the boot order so the USB drive is the first option. For more info, see Boot Surface from a USB device.

Booting from a USB device doesn’t refresh or reset your Surface. Instead, it lets you start your Surface using Windows or another operating system that’s on your USB device. For info about how to create a bootable USB drive for your Surface, see Creating and using a USB recovery drive for Surface.

Add a way to verify sign-in to your Microsoft account. Sign in to the Advanced security options page of your Microsoft Account. Sign in. Select Add a new way to sign in or verify then choose how you would like to receive security codes.

Manually update Surface drivers and firmware. Manual updates are useful if you need to update an offline device, update many devices that are all the same model, or if you’re creating system images for your organization.

First steps if your Surface Type Cover or Keyboard doesn't work. To try to resolve these issues, you can begin by following the steps below to get the latest updates, detach the Type cover or keyboard, force a restart, reattach the Type Cover or Keyboard , or confirm connectivity.

Use Game Bar to play and chat with friends. Performance (9) – Track your game’s frames-per-second (FPS) and other real-time stats. For more info, go to: Track your PC’s performance with Game Bar. Resources (10) – See what apps and processes are using system resources to help you optimize gaming performance.

While you’re playing a game, press the Windows logo key + G to open Game Bar. Choose Widget Menu > Capture. Choose Start recording, Take screenshot, or Record last…. Record last… turns the most recent moments of play into a game clip when background recording is turned on.

Add an app to run automatically at startup in Windows 10. Select the Start button and scroll to find the app you want to run at startup. Right-click the app, select More, and then select Open file location. This opens the location where the shortcut to the app is saved.

If you can’t set the power mode in Power & battery settings, open Control Panel, select System and Security > Power Options, then choose a Balanced power plan. Learn how to change the power mode on your Windows PC to preserve your battery, limit notifications, and background activity.

Earn points toward rewards by doing the stuff you do every day. It’s easy and it’s free. All you need to do is sign up, and Microsoft Rewards will be included in your Microsoft account: Microsoft Rewards. Once you’ve signed up, sign in to your Microsoft account to see your current points.