Windows Hello Face Recognition stopped working – HelloFace driver error

Akrom Mo'ydinov 0 Reputation points
2026-10-07T09:30:36.61+00:00

Hello Microsoft Support,

I am having an issue with Windows Hello Face Recognition on my Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Intel) running Windows 11.

Windows Hello Face Recognition has stopped working and I am unable to use facial recognition to sign in to Windows.

I checked Event Viewer and found the following error:

Device: ROOT\WINDOWSHELLOFACESOFTWAREDRIVER\0000 Driver Name: helloface.inf Service: WUDFRd Problem: 0x25 Problem Status: 0xC0000034 Event ID: 411 Source: Kernel-PnP

The error says:

"Device ROOT\WINDOWSHELLOFACESOFTWAREDRIVER\0000 had a problem starting."

I also checked Device Manager. The Surface IR Camera Front is detected by Windows and appears to be working. Its events show "Device started (usbvideo)".

The IR camera driver information is:

Driver Provider: Microsoft Driver Date: 06/21/2006 Driver Version: 10.0.26100.9444

My processor is an Intel Core i7-1065G7, so this is the Intel version of the Surface Laptop 3.

I also checked Optional Updates → Driver updates, but there are no available driver updates.

I tried looking for Facial Recognition (Windows Hello) under Optional Features, but it does not appear there, so I cannot uninstall/reinstall it from Optional Features.

I would like to know how I can repair or reinstall the Windows Hello Face / HelloFace software driver (helloface.inf) and restore facial recognition.

I would appreciate instructions specifically for the Surface Laptop 3 Intel model.

Thank you.

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Surface | Surface Laptop | Sound and camera
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  1. Lychee-Ng 29,075 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-10-07T14:12:58.08+00:00

    Thanks for sharing the screenshots, Akrom Mo'ydinov,

    This does look more like a problem with the Windows Hello Face component than with the IR camera itself. Before going further, one thing worth noting is that Surface 3 has reached the End of Servicing, so it's no longer being updated with newer drivers and firmware. Since you said Facial Recognition is also missing from Optional Features, let's try:

    1 - Repair the Windows component files

    • Right-click Start and select Terminal (Admin)
    • Run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
    • After it completes, run sfc /scannow > restart your PC.

    2 - Use the built-in Surface specific tools

    • Refer to: Fix common problems using the Surface app and Surface Diagnostic Toolkit | Microsoft Support  
    • Open Start, search for Surface Diagnostic Toolkit / Surface app > run it and follow the prompt
    • If they're not already installed, you can download them from Microsoft Store.
    • Once finished, restart PC > open File Explorer > C:\Windows\System32\WinBioPlugIns\FaceDriver
    • If you found the folder, look for HelloFace.inf > right-click it and choose Install, then restart Windows again.

    3 - Reinstall the Windows Hello Face software device

    • Open Device Manager > select View > Show hidden devices.
    • Look for Facial Recognition (Windows Hello), especially under Software devices.
    • If found, right-click it and select Uninstall device > restart Windows and let it auto-detect again.

    4 - Manually reinstall the Surface Laptop 3 Intel driver/firmware package

    If none of the above restores the Windows Hello software device, the next option I would consider is a Windows 11 repair reinstall/in-place repair. Let me know the results after the steps above and I will give instructions for that later.

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