Long booting time on Surface Go 3

Artur_277 150

Hi,
Recently, I’ve been experiencing very long booting times on my Surface Go 3. I tried repairing Windows and even reinstalling the entire system, but the booting was still much slower than before. Finally, I decided to perform a full recovery using the Surface Recovery Image, but without success. These are my latest boot times.

I have all latest updates (for example UEFI 16.106.143). And furthermore, I think the computer is stuck on the first loading screen with the Windows Logo (maybe something with the UEFI ?), booting on the second loading screen with the Win logo and rotating circle is quick as ever. Is there anything I can do?

EDIT: If anyone experience similar issue please upvote in the feedback hub: Updated Issue at Feedback Hub Zrzut ekranu 2025-10-30 220404

Maszi 60 Reputation points

2025-12-06T19:10:46.8066667+00:00

New UEFI version available, but only for win 11 users. I have win 10 on my surface. Can anybody with installed win 11 test it ? Problem solved ? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-go-3-update-history-f2a4db71-d2e3-42f5-8e8c-640f5acfe27b
Georges Abens 30 Reputation points

2025-12-06T19:14:52.7533333+00:00

Installed it,but as slow as with the old version 😑
Galton Lai 15 Reputation points

2025-12-19T07:23:57.5266667+00:00

I have installed 16.110.143.0 firmware update on surface go3, but it is still slow to boot UEFI. What can I do?
Robin Huang 20 Reputation points

2026-01-05T02:27:42.85+00:00

Same Problem.
Alpensturm 10 Reputation points

2026-01-08T14:35:33.36+00:00

Same here, I installed firmware version 16.110.143.0, long UEFI boot time is still not fixed!
Xiaoyong Lai 40 Reputation points

2026-01-18T02:54:15.7666667+00:00

Same here, I installed firmware version 17.103.143.0, long UEFI boot time is still not fixed!
G K 0 Reputation points

2026-02-27T01:42:08.48+00:00

Same here. already happened few months ago, still not fixed
Robin Huang 20 Reputation points

2026-04-11T04:24:04.08+00:00

I downgrade the uefi firmware in ubuntu,follow R X's answer,it works,now the go3 start quickly.The latest uefi contans bugs make you go3 slower.When i downgrade the uefi to 11.200.143,the slow-start problem is gone,just like pic below.
Gary Kwok 5 Reputation points

2026-04-15T11:41:24.3966667+00:00

When will Microsoft solve this problem? Did Microsoft know this problem? Already half year ago, the problem still here.
Brian 5 Reputation points

2026-04-30T03:16:32.57+00:00

Finally, update released 4/30 fixed the slow bootup! https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=103504
Jesús González Díez 45 Reputation points

2026-04-30T10:57:50.1333333+00:00

I installed the update and it's still exactly the same. Nothing has been resolved!
Matthias K 5 Reputation points

2026-04-30T11:27:01.7166667+00:00

On my Surface 3 Go the problem is fixed with the update today, login screen comes up max. 20 seconds after power on
Georges Abens 30 Reputation points

2026-05-01T17:56:10.1166667+00:00

works again for me, about 15-20 sec until login screen, yay :-)

33 answers

Ice Sky 20 Reputation points

2026-03-11T01:23:39.32+00:00

Five months already, any update?
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André 5 Reputation points

2026-03-14T20:26:28.7166667+00:00

None, the problem persists.
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Artur_277 150 Reputation points

2026-03-14T21:07:17.4766667+00:00

The problem still persist. About two months ago I spoke to the Microsoft customer service via phone call. The agent didn't understand the problem and consistently asked if my device has sufficient ram and assured that minute booting time is normal because Surface Go 3 Is an "old device". Finally after my pressure he agreed to relay the problem to the "Programmers". As we see they didn't do anything about it. Recently I bought Huawei tablet and this is my daily driver as I am an University teacher. I was a MS fan. My first good Smartphone was Lumia 950. But that is a thing of the past. I will never bought anything from Microsoft again.
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Georges Abens 30 Reputation points

2026-04-04T06:07:45.1766667+00:00

Jeeeez, already nearly 6 months and nothing happened...
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R X 15 Reputation points

2026-04-04T23:36:00.1433333+00:00
Had the same poblem after re-installing windows 11 on some linux-only surface go 3. This upgraded the UEFI during the installation to 17.103.143 and I had the slow-start issue.

Solved as follows:
- disable any further UEFI firmware upgrades coming with windows updates as described in https://www.trishtech.com/2025/02/preventing-unwanted-bios-uefi-updates-in-windows-11/
  
  disable "firmware" device in device manager, else it will be updated again to the last version on windows restart
- start linux (I had some partition, but you ca use a live cd)
- download SurfaceGo3_Win10_19044_24.022.17233.0.msi from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=103504 which will contain UEFI version 11.200.143
- clone repository from https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-uefi-firmware and follow the instructions there
  
  you might need to add the line "OnlyTrusted=false" to your /etc/fwupd/fwupd.conf
restart and everything is working again as before. At least UEFI shows now 11.200.143 and the slow-start problem is gone for now.
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Robin Huang 20 Reputation points

2026-04-11T04:11:27.1066667+00:00

Thank u Very much,it works,Slow-Start problem is gone.

Steve Williams 55 Reputation points

2026-04-11T08:39:35.8366667+00:00

Thank you for posting this. TBH, I have very little experience of Linux so attempting this is likely to end with a bricked Surface or one with vulnerable firmware. It's a shame Microsoft can't be bothered to do a proper fix.

Galton Lai 15 Reputation points

2026-04-11T15:32:54.57+00:00

Thank you very much. My problem has been solved. However, I still hope that Microsoft can release a completely new UEFI version that has no issues regarding booting speed at all.(I have been waiting for this for a long time)

ej_tech 15 Reputation points

2026-04-16T01:24:09.23+00:00

Finally, a solution that actually works, but it is difficult to fully understand even for someone like me who does dabble into Linux a bit. So I'm going to break down R X's solution a bit further.

Disclaimer: There is a risk of bricking your Surface. This processes is effectively a UEFI BIOS flash. Do this at your own risk, backup your data, and all that. We are also downgrading to an older version so there's the security risk associated with that.

This guide is all assuming you only have Windows installed on your Surface.

After disabling "Firmware" in Device Manager, disabling Device Encryption or BitLocker, and disabling Secure Boot in the UEFI BIOS:

Create a bootable Linux USB

In my case, I personally chose Fedora Workstation as it's a distro that I had the best experience with on a Surface tablet, but Ubuntu will also work well. I used Ventoy to create a bootable USB so I can just copy the ISO straight to the USB.

Partition style is GPT, Partition configuration is NTFS, I checked "Preserve some space at the end of the disk" so I can have a separate partition to use as a sort-off second storage.

You may also use Rufus to create a Linux bootable USB and to add persistent storage.

Boot into your live Linux environment and plug in your charger. Do not unplug the live USB.

Download the following files to your persistent or second storage

"SurfaceGo3_Win10_19044_24.022.17233.0.msi"

Clone the repo (download the zip) https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-uefi-firmware

extract the zip file

At this point, start following the guide in https://github.com/linux-surface/surface-uefi-firmware and it involves doing everything in the Terminal, but in a nutshell:

Install msitools, gcab, and dos2linux

Add the line "OnlyTrusted=false" in /etc/fwupd/fwupd.conf

You will need sudo and a text editor like nano or gedit

cd to where you saved the surface-uefi-firmware folder

run the repack.sh script

cd to the fwupdates folder it made, and inside the folder, one of the .cab files will have the name "uefi"

You can à la carte install just the UEFI. This is the risky BIOS flash part.

The Surface will restart multiple times and the entire process can take several minutes. Don't unplug anything. You know it's done once it gets back into your Windows operating system.

I'm starting to have little hope that Microsoft actually fixes this. So as an optional step, because you already have a bootable Linux drive and you already got the chance to test drive it using the live environment...
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SF Jiang 0 Reputation points

2026-04-16T08:01:21.24+00:00

1.tried anything to fix this but still a not go.(at win11)

2.saw a videoclip showed a way through a temporary linux OS to update the uefi to a old version "19044" can fix this thing.but need to shutdown windows update & surface app to prevent auto update to the newest version of uefi.

3.still waitting the ultimate solution...hope slove this quick.
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Long booting time on Surface Go 3

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