If the touchscreen driver disappeared after a reset, start by checking whether the touchscreen is still detected at the firmware level and then force Windows to re-enumerate the device.
- Test touch in UEFI:
- Go to Start > Power > Shut down.
- When the device is off, press and hold the volume up button and press the power button until the Microsoft or Surface logo appears.
- In UEFI, try tapping different menu items.
- If touch does not work in UEFI, that points to a hardware failure and the device needs service.
- If touch does work in UEFI, restart Windows and continue with the driver steps.
- In Windows, open Device Manager:
- Expand Human Interface Devices.
- If HID-compliant touch screen is missing, use View > Show hidden devices.
- Right-click the computer name at the top of Device Manager and select Scan for hardware changes.
- If the touch device appears, reinstall the touch drivers:
- Under Human Interface Devices, right-click Intel(R) Precise Touch Device > Uninstall device > Uninstall.
- Right-click HID-compliant touch screen > Uninstall device > Uninstall.
- If two HID-compliant touch screen entries appear, uninstall both.
- From the Action menu, select Scan for hardware changes.
- Restart Windows if needed. When connected to the internet, Windows should automatically download and install the touchscreen driver.
- Check Windows Update for driver updates:
- Go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates > Driver updates.
- Install any available driver updates.
- If Windows still does not restore the device, install the platform drivers from the PC manufacturer in this order when available: chipset first, then related hardware drivers. Missing chipset-level support can prevent Windows from detecting touch hardware after a reset.
- If the original vendor site is gone and no driver is available there, check whether the device uses a generic Windows touch driver. In that case, the goal is not to find a separate touchscreen package, but to get Windows to detect the hardware again through hardware scan, updates, and the correct base drivers.
Important: if this is a Surface Pro X, do not uninstall touchscreen drivers, because restoring them requires a full system reset.