Solutions to tackle Surface Type Cover touchpad not working

Many suggested fixes for a Surface Type Cover touchpad problem start with unplugging and reconnecting the Type Cover. That can help sometimes, but in my case it was still unreliable.

After talking with several Surface users, I found that the simplest and most effective fix was to unplug the power supply first.

Quick fix

1. Disconnect the Surface from its power adapter.
2. Detach the Type Cover.
3. Wait a few seconds.
4. Reattach the Type Cover firmly.
5. Test the touchpad again before reconnecting the charger.

If the touchpad starts working again while the charger is disconnected, reconnect the power adapter and check whether the issue returns.

What this suggests

To sum up, this might be a problem caused by unstable voltage or power-related interference. If the Type Cover touchpad fails only while charging, the charger, cable, power strip, or wall outlet may be worth checking.

Additional checks

If unplugging the power supply does not help, try these basic checks:

• Clean and reseat the Type Cover connector.
• Restart the Surface completely instead of only sleeping and waking it.
• Test the Type Cover without other USB devices attached.
• Try another charger or another wall outlet if available.
• Check whether the keyboard works while only the touchpad fails, because that can help narrow the problem to the touchpad rather than the whole Type Cover connection.

These steps are simple, reversible, and do not change the system configuration, so they are good first checks before trying driver changes or reinstalling software.