Share via

Surface Book 3 stuck in PIN loop

Noel Wilcoxson 0 Reputation points
2026-03-25T17:29:27.5833333+00:00

My Surface Book 3 boots into a login screen for me to enter my domain credentials, I enter my username and password and the Surface goes to a screen for me to identify myself by my PIN. I don't know the PIN and have tried any possibilities that I would know and have been unsuccessful.

I can not get past the PIN screen to enter into Windows to try any of the solutions I have seen on the internet. It also seems that the Surface Books perform differently than the Surface Pro and other Surface products as I have tried several ways to try and enter a factory reset option, and none have worked. ( Shift + restart ) did not work, ( 'Windows key' + L ) did not work, ( Power + 'Volume -' ) did not work.

I was able to reset using the Power + 'Volume +', however this did not take me out of the PIN screen loop.

Can you tell me how to perform a factory reset on a Surface Book 3? I would like to completely wipe this computer and restart from scratch.

Thank you

Surface | Surface Book | Performance and maintenance
0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. S.Sengupta 30,906 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-03-27T03:02:38.8866667+00:00

    Hold Power button for ~10 seconds → device turns OFF

    Turn it ON → when Windows logo appears, force shutdown again (hold power)

    Repeat this 2–3 times

    On next boot, you should see:

    “Preparing Automatic Repair” → Advanced Options

    Click Troubleshoot

    Click Reset this PC

    Choose:

    Remove everything

    Choose:

    Local reinstall OR

    Cloud download (cleaner, needs internet)

    Confirm → Reset starts

    --

    You need a 16GB USB Drive.

    https://support.microsoft.com/surface-recovery-image

    Sign in

    Select: Surface Book 3

    Enter serial number (on bottom of device)

    Create Bootable USB

    Format USB to FAT32

    Extract downloaded recovery image to USB

    Boot Surface from USB

    Insert USB into Surface

    Hold Volume DOWN (-)

    Press and release Power button

    Keep holding Volume Down until Surface logo appears

    Reset

    Choose language

    Click Troubleshoot → Recover from a drive

    Select Fully clean the drive (complete wipe)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.