How to Boot Your Surface Pro From a USB Drive
The steps below will boot your Surface Pro (or other Surface device) from a bootable USB drive. The Surface device will now load the bootable USB drive. It will remain in use until you turn off the Surface. Be careful not to unplug the USB drive while it’s in use, as this will likely cause the Surface to freeze or crash. You can release once the spinning dots animation appears below the Surface logo on the Surface Pro’s screen.
How to Boot Your Surface Pro From a USB Drive with Windows
This method will let you boot directly from a bootable USB drive from Windows 10 or Windows 11. It’s slightly quicker than the first method if your Surface Pro is already on.
How to Permanently Boot Your Surface Pro From a USB Drive
The methods above pertain to temporarily using a bootable USB drive. The instructions below will permanently configure your Surface Pro to boot from a USB drive if one is connected. The boot order will now be changed. You can reverse this by opening the Surface UEFI and moving Windows back to the top of the boot list. Remember, the Surface Pro will only boot from a bootable USB drive. Booting the Surface Pro with a USB drive that is not bootable connected will cause an error.
