Microsoft Surface Pro 3 User manual

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Getting Started with your
Surface Pro 3
& Surface 3
Tablet
A QUICK START GUIDE FROM LOVEMYSURFACE.NET
Version 3.2: July 2015

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Introduction
If you just got a new Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3 tablet and you want to start using it but you don’t
want to read the 100+ page User Guide from Microsoft then this is the quick-start guide for you.
This simple 24-page guide will get you up and running as quickly as possible on your new Surface
tablet. We’re going to use a no-nonsense format with many pictures to make it as easy as
possible.
We will start with showing you what all of the buttons and ports are for then we’ll move into
setting up your Surface, using gestures for the touch screen, and using the Surface pro 3 pen.
After that, we’ll go over the Modern interface and how to use it.
Next, we will help you get your Surface setup with some basic necessities, such as setting up your
email, setting a PIN or picture password to keep other people out of your business, and backups
to keep your data safe.
If you are looking for something more in-depth than this quick-start guide, feel free to search
through our posts on the Love My Surface website where we have a ton of information available
that goes into much more detail and depth on different Surface tablet topics.
Tim and Joanna

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Table of Contents
Setup Your New Surface Tablet............................................................................................4
Ports and Features...........................................................................................................4
Surface 2 or Pro 3 Setup ..................................................................................................5
Install the Battery in the Pen .........................................................................................6
Attach the Keyboard Cover ............................................................................................6
Connect the Power Supply .............................................................................................6
Ensure you Have WiFi Available......................................................................................7
Press the Power Button to Begin the Setup ......................................................................7
Gestures & Pen Input .........................................................................................................8
Using Touch (Gestures) ....................................................................................................8
Using Your Surface Pen ....................................................................................................9
Getting Acquainted with Windows 8.1 ................................................................................. 11
Modern Interface ........................................................................................................... 11
How to do Some Common Things in the Modern Interface .................................................. 12
Change the size of a tile .............................................................................................. 12
Make and name a tile group......................................................................................... 12
Move a tile between groups ......................................................................................... 12
See all installed program icons ..................................................................................... 13
Pin a tile to the Start Screen ........................................................................................ 14
Show the Charms Menu............................................................................................... 14
Switch between running apps....................................................................................... 14
Close an App.............................................................................................................. 14
Access an application’s menu(s) ................................................................................... 14
Uninstall an application ............................................................................................... 14
Split-screen multitasking ............................................................................................. 15
Classic Desktop ............................................................................................................. 15
Install Applications ........................................................................................................... 17
Windows Store .............................................................................................................. 17
Legacy Installs .............................................................................................................. 17
Setup a Picture Password or PIN ........................................................................................ 17

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Setup a Picture Password ............................................................................................... 18
Setup a PIN .................................................................................................................. 18
Backup your Surface ........................................................................................................ 19
Backup my Surface with File History ................................................................................ 19
Setup File History Backups (USB Drive)............................................................................ 20
Setup File History Backups (Network Drive) ...................................................................... 20
Restoring your files........................................................................................................ 20
Summary ........................................................................................................................ 22
Appendix A: Surface Pro 3 Type Cover................................................................................ 23
Important Keys .......................................................................................................... 23
Care and Maintenance................................................................................................. 24

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Setup Your New Surface Tablet
This section will cover getting your Surface ready when it comes out of the box. We’ll be covering
only the essential information to get you up and running as quickly as possible.
Ports and Features
First, let’s go over the physical hardware for your new Surface Pro 3 (SP3) and Surface 3. The
pictures below will show you the ports, controls, and cameras that you need to familiarize yourself
with, to use your Surface tablet. Below is the diagram for the Surface Pro 3:
As this is a quick-setup guide, I have not included any technical information about the features or
ports on the SP3. If you are curious, that information is readily available from the Microsoft
website.

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Below is a similar diagram for the Surface 3:
Again, as this is a quick-setup guide, I have not included any technical information about the
features or ports on the Surface 3. If you are curious, that information is readily available from
the Microsoft website.

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Surface 3 & Pro 3 Setup
Now that you’re familiar with the buttons and ports on your new Surface, let’s quickly setup your
hardware to run the setup wizard. The setup wizard is designed to help guide you through most of
the setup process but there are five things you need to do to ensure it will run smoothly. Here
they are in order:
1: Install the Battery in the Pen (If Applicable)
You must install the battery in the pen before you turn on the Surface Pro 3 for the first time to
ensure the First-Time Setup Wizard (or just setup wizard) will detect it when it runs. To do so,
follow these instructions…
Unscrew the top of the pen from the bottom.
Insert the battery, with the positive (+) end toward the writing tip.
Screw the top back on.
If you are setting up a Surface 3, this is not as critical as the setup wizard on it does not assume
you have a Surface Pen (which is sold separately). As a result, you will need to manually pair the
Surface pen to your Surface 3 after it is configured.
2: Attach the Keyboard Cover
Attach the keyboard cover (if you have one) to ensure the required drivers are
installed during the first-time setup.
It is also handy to have attached to enter things like passwords, which will be
required during the setup wizard.
3: Connect the Power Supply
Ensure the power supply is plugged into AC power and properly attached to the
Surface.
If connected correctly in either model, there is a white LED light that will
illuminate to let you know the Surface is charging.

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4: Ensure you Have WiFi Available
The setup wizard will not be able to fully configure your Surface, if it cannot find
a network connection. It is easiest to do the setup if you have an “open”
network (one without a password) available for use; however, you can use a
WiFi network requiring a password if an open one is not available.
5: Press the Power Button to Begin the Setup
Now you are ready to begin the setup wizard. Press the power button on the
top left of the Surface and follow the instructions provided on screen.
This process can take a while to complete and will require you to enter some
information, such as a name for the computer and a user account. You may
want to decide on those things before starting the setup wizard.

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Gestures & Pen Input
Now that you have started your Surface and have an account, it is time to familiarize yourself
with the basics of how to interact with Windows using touch and the pen.
Using Touch (Gestures)
Windows 8.1 was designed assuming that most people will be using a touch screen device like a
Surface. To accommodate touch screens, Windows uses “gestures”.
Gestures are really just simple motions you make with your finger(s) while touching the screen.
While there are more, the five gestures below will allow you to do most things and should be the
ones you master first.

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Keep in mind that gestures are contextual which means that they may do different things
depending on when or where you use them. Keep that in mind as you play with your Surface.
Using Your Surface Pen
Using the Surface Pen can be a bit confusing if you haven’t tried it before. Before we get into how
to use the pen, let’s go over some situations when you might want to use it instead of touch.
In general, the pen tends to work better than touch in the following situations:
Writing notes by hand
Drawing
Marking up documents
Taking signatures (like digital ink)
Writing math formulas
To make the pen easier to use, Microsoft included a few features that really improve the user
experience, like:
Palm Blocking: Your Surface is smart enough to know when you are holding the pen and
it will ignore your palm resting on the screen when the pen is near. This means that you
can write/draw on the screen of the Surface like you would on a piece of paper!
Pressure Sensitivity: Your Surface can tell how hard you’re pushing on the stylus and
differing degrees of pressure may have different results (depending on the application
you’re using). For example, Fresh Paint is a really cool drawing application that takes full
advantage of the stylus. Unfortunately, not every application supports pressure
sensitivity but the ones that do, are much better for it.
Next, let’s get into the basics of using your Surface pen. The pen has a writing tip, two buttons
and, an end button. You can see those parts listed in the picture below.
There are many applications that let you use the pen in different ways (like Fresh Paint,
mentioned above) but in general, the Surface pen simply acts much like a mouse.

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To that end, below is a list of common mouse actions and how you would use the stylus to make
them on your Surface tablet:
Left Click: Tap a shortcut with the “Pen tip”
Right Click: Tap and hold OR Press the Right-Click Button then Tap
Mouse Over: Hover the tip of the stylus about 1/4″ (or about 6mm) above the screen
Or as a finger in the Modern interface:
Tap: Tap on a tile with the Pen tip
Tap and Hold: You can tap and hold using the pen tip OR you can hold the right-click
button down as you touch the screen with the pen tip.
Now that you have a good grounding on interacting with your Surface let’s move onto getting
more acquainted and using Windows 8.1 on your Surface tablet.

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Getting Acquainted with Windows 8.1
The Modern (formerly called Metro) interface is quite a bit different than what you would see in
previous versions of Windows but there is a more “traditional” Desktop interface included in
Windows 8.1 that you can access with just a tap. We’ll briefly go over some of the things you’ll
need to learn, in order to use your new Surface effectively.
Modern Interface
This is the interface for Windows 8.1. It is called a “tile based interface” and is optimized for touch
screen devices like the Surface.
The screen you’ll see most often is known as the Start Screen. It’s where you’ll select and run
applications most frequently. It has the following features you’ll need to be familiar with. The
Modern Start Screen looks like the picture below.

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Tiles: Tiles are the multi-colored squares or rectangles all over the Start Screen. They are
the new version of program shortcuts. To start an application, you just need to tap on a
tile. You’ll probably notice that some of them are animated. These are called “Live Tiles”
and are usually used to display dynamic information like the time or the latest email
message to hit your queue.
Tile Groups: Notice how the tiles are divided into groups? Those are referred to as tile
groups. They allow you to easily organize your tiles.
Charms and the Charm Menu: The Charm Menu is used to access the Charms and is usually
hidden off-screen. Charms are different than the other tiles and icons as they allow you to
access program options or tools such as search or computer settings. Think of it like the
Control Panel in previous versions of Windows.
Power and Search: You can easily access the search and power functions from the
respective icons on the Start Screen. This was added with Windows 8.1 and is a marked
improvement over Windows 8.0 for convenience.
All Apps Icon: You can tap this icon to see a sortable list of all applications installed on your
Surface and not just the ones pinned to the Start Screen.
How to do Some Common Things in the Modern Interface
Below we’ll cover how to do some common things in the Modern interface. This is not a complete
list of everything you can do but it covers the basics you’ll need to start using your Surface
quickly.
Change the size of a tile
To change the size of a tile, select it with a tap and hold. You’ll get a menu at
the bottom of the screen. Choose Resize and you’ll be given a list of sizes to
select from. Different tiles will have preset size selections so don’t be surprised
if some tiles won’t let you make them the size you would like.
Make and name a tile group
There are a few ways to make a new tile group but the easiest is to tap and hold
a tile you want to be in a new group then drag it between two of the existing tile
groups. A grey bar will appear when you do so. Let go of the tile and a new
group will be created.
To name it, simply tap the title at the top of the group.
Move a tile between groups
Select the tile you want to move with a tap and hold then drag it to the new group. You can place
it where you want in the new group - the existing tiles will shuffle around to accommodate it.

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See all installed program icons
You probably noticed that you don’t see tiles for all of your installed programs.
This is because the home screen only shows tiles you specifically tell it to show.
Think of it like the bookmarks bar in your web browser.
To see all of your installed applications, just tap the All Apps icon in the lower
left of the Start Screen. Alternatively, you can scroll down (with a slide gesture)
anywhere on the Start screen to see the same list. Once there, you may need to scroll left or right
to see all of the install applications.
To return to the Start Screen, press the Windows Button on the Bezel of your Surface.

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Pin a tile to the Start Screen
If you want to pin a tile to the Start screen, simply select it with a tap and hold.
When the menu appears at the bottom of the screen, tap the Pin to Start icon.
Once it’s pinned, you can go back and put it in a Tile group.
It will be in a new tile group all the way to the right. You may need to scroll
your screen to see it. You can unpin a tile by doing the same thing and selecting
Unpin from Start instead.
Show the Charms Menu
To access the Charms Menu, simply swipe in from the right side of the screen. You’ll find that
you’ll need to actually start your swipe from slightly off the right side of the screen.
Switch between running apps
To switch between running apps, simply scroll left or right. It will let you scroll through all the
applications you have running.
Close an App
To close an open application, simply slide from the top of the screen to the bottom in one motion.
Access an application’s menu(s)
Applications often have their own menu(s) for things like options or settings. To access a running
application’s menu, simply swipe in from the bottom of the screen. On occasion, an application
will have additional menus that you can access by swiping in from the top or right side of the
screen. You can see the Mail application’s menu in the picture below.
Uninstall an application
To uninstall an application, select its tile with a tap and hold. You’ll get a menu
at the bottom of the screen. Choose Uninstall.
The application may switch to desktop mode to uninstall depending of whether
or not it’s a Modern or Legacy application.

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Split-screen multitasking
To show two applications on screen at
the same time, simply start swiping
the application down (as if you were
going to close it) until it detaches then
scroll left or right slowly. A vertical bar
will appear. When it does, let go.
You can move the vertical bar by
dragging it left or right. This will make
the application stretch to use more of
the screen on one side while the
application on the other side will use
less.
Sometimes, an application will bring up a split-screen on its own. For example, when you open a
PDF attachment in the Mail app. It will automatically split the screen and show the PDF side by
side with the Mail app.
Classic Desktop
Microsoft included the classic desktop from Windows 7. You can access it by clicking on the
“Desktop” tile. Note the new Start Button in the lower left corner.

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The Start button will no longer bring up a menu when you tap on it.
Instead, in Windows 8.1, it simply switches you back to the Start
Screen. However, you can tap and hold it to bring up a menu with
more options, as shown to the right.
After a while, you get used to it and probably won’t miss how the
button used to work in previous versions of Windows.
However, if you just can’t get used to the new Start button, you can
install a 3rd party software to make it look and work more like it did in
Windows 7.
Our favorite replacement Start button app is from Stardock for about
$5 USD and is called Start8.
http://www.stardock.com/products/start8/
UPDATE: At the time of this writing, Microsoft has announced that Windows
10 (due out July 29th 2015) will mark the return of a functional Start button
and menu. So, if you can wait, you could consider holding off on the
purchase of Start8.

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Install Applications
A computer without any applications is not very useful. The Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3 is no
exception. So, this section will cover the two mechanisms you will need to know in order to install
applications onto your Surface.
Windows Store
The Windows Store is a virtual marketplace where you can find free and for pay applications that
can be easily installed on your Surface. It is very similar in function to the Apple and Google Play
stores that you may be familiar with on your smartphone.
This is the primary mechanism for getting new Modern applications onto your Surface. To install
something from the Windows Store, follow these steps:
Click on the Windows Store tile: It’s the tile pictured to the right that you’ll find on the Start
Screen in Modern Mode. You will need to make sure you have a good WiFi connection
otherwise you’ll get an error when you try to access it
Search or Browse for an app to install: The Windows Store has thousands of applications
and that number grows every day.
Legacy Installs
A lot of Windows applications were created before Windows 8.1 was created or the publisher was
unable to get their application into the Windows Store. In either case, you will need to do a legacy
installation in order to use the application on your Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3.
Setup a Picture Password or PIN
Microsoft allows you to setup a Picture Password or a 4 digit PIN to simplify logging into your
Surface tablet.
If you don’t know about picture passwords, they’re a mechanism to let you draw a
pattern on the screen with your finger or Surface pen to act as the password to unlock
or log in to your Surface.
A PIN is just a 4 digit Personal Identification Number (if you ever wondered what PIN
stood for) like you use for your ATM card.
Both options are a lot more convenient than typing out a long password but could have some
security ramifications because they may be easier to guess than a long password.

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Setup a Picture Password
Use this procedure to easily setup a picture
password on your Surface tablet.
Find a picture that you want to use for your
picture password
Make sure it’s in your Pictures folder on
your Surface or in your OneDrive
Go to the Charms bar (swipe in from the
right side of the screen)
Click the Settings charm then select Change PC Settings
Select Accounts then Sign-in Options
Next select Add under the Picture Password section
You will be prompted for your full password, enter it and you’ll get a screen with a Choose
picture button. Tap it
Browse to the picture you want to use and select it
Tap the Use this picture button when the How’s this look? screen appears
Draw your gestures on the screen. You will have to have 3 different gestures
Confirm those gestures. If you make a mistake, click Start over to try again
Setup a PIN
Now let’s go over how to setup a PIN instead. It’s
pretty much the same thing but not quite as many
steps.
Go to the Charms bar (swipe in from the
right side of the screen)
Click the Settings charm
Select Change PC Settings
Select Accounts
Select Sign-in Options
Tap Add in the PIN section
You will be prompted for your password, enter it
Next, you’ll be asked to enter and confirm a 4-digit PIN number. Do so then tap Finish
So now, instead of needing to enter a long password, you’ll just have to enter a 4 digit PIN to
access your device. It’s a lot quicker than entering a long alphanumeric password.
If you want, you can have both a picture password and a PIN. You can switch between them via
the sign-in options item below the password or PIN fields. If you’re using a picture password,
you’ll have to click the Switch to password button first to see it.

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Backup your Surface
If you’ve been using computers for any length of time you probably
know that you should backup your files.
You need to protect your data in case something bad happens. This is
especially true with tablet computers (like the Surface) and laptops
since they are more likely to be dropped or stolen.
In this section, we’ll go over what you can do to make sure your data
stays safe, even if the worst happens to your Surface.
We’re going to be using the File History functionality built into your
Surface to perform backups of your data because it is simple to set up
and works well.
Backup my Surface with File History
File History is built into Windows 8.1 and can back up your files either manually or automatically
depending on how you have it configured. It will, by default, get the files in the following
locations:
Libraries
Contacts
Internet Explorer Favorites
Desktop
Local OneDrive files
If your files are lost, damaged, or deleted, you can simply restore them. You can also do what’s
called a “point in time” restore where you can get a particular version of a file. This is especially
handy if you accidentally changed a file but can’t remember exactly when it happened. You can
just go back far enough to a day you’re sure it was correct.
To begin backing up and creating a history of your files, you’ll first need to set up File History and
select a save location. You have two choices for the save location: External Drive or Network.
The External drive option has the advantage of allowing you to take your backups with you
anywhere whereas the Network drive option will allow for continuous backups to happen when
your network drive is mounted.