Trying to reset surface Pro X

Because the reset from the built‑in environment is looping and BitLocker is involved, the next step is to use a Surface USB recovery drive and reinstall Windows from there.

Follow this path:

1. Create a Surface USB recovery drive on another PC
   1. On a working Windows PC, go to the article about creating a Surface USB recovery drive:
      • "Creating and using a Surface USB recovery drive" (see reference below).
   2. Download the correct recovery image for Surface Pro X and follow the steps in that article to prepare a USB recovery drive.
2. Boot Surface Pro X from the USB recovery drive
   1. Turn the Surface off.
   2. Insert the USB recovery drive.
   3. Turn the Surface on and boot from USB (follow the boot instructions in the USB recovery article if needed).
3. Reinstall Windows using the recovery drive
   1. When the recovery environment loads, choose the option to reinstall or recover Windows from the USB drive.
   2. Choose the option that removes everything (factory reset). This process:
      • Reinstalls Windows and the apps that came with Surface
      • Deletes all personal files
      • Resets all settings and removes installed apps
   3. Let the process complete; it may take some time. Do not turn the device off during this.

If Windows will not start or the reset continues to fail even from USB, the device may need service. Use the Device Service and Repair option mentioned in the "Surface shows Choose an option screen" article.

Note: If BitLocker is enabled and the recovery key cannot be provided, data on the drive cannot be recovered; the recovery drive reinstall will erase the encrypted data and return the device to factory condition.

References:

• Reset or recover your Surface
• Surface shows Choose an option screen