Here's how to dual-boot Windows 11 on Microsoft Surface Duo

Installing Windows 11 on Microsoft Surface Duo

Keep in mind that the steps described below apply to unlocked and AT&T models of Surface Duo. Surface Duo 2 powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor is completely incompatible with this module.

WARNING: Before we learn how to dual-boot Windows 11 on Microsoft Surface Duo, remember to take an off-device backup. This is because the process requires erasing all data on the phone, including files on the internal storage. You may permanently brick your device, so only try this if you know what you're doing.

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Step 1 - Download Windows 11

Microsoft Surface Duo uses an ARM64 processor, so we need to use the ARM64 variant of the Windows 11 installer. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't provide an official ARM64 ISO, and the official VHDX build for Insider Preview users isn't suitable for installation on physical devices.

But don’t worry, because we can use third-party tools to download Microsoft’s Unified Update Platform files and prepare the ARM64 installer ourselves. The UUP Dumps project provides a number of resources to get started with this domain. Alternatively, use Monce's cross-platform UUP Media Creator tool to create an ISO.

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Step 2 – Unlock Surface Duo’s Bootloader and Execute Partition

1. On Surface Duo, go to Settings => About => Click on Build Number , until developer options are enabled.
2. Go back and select System => Developer options. Next, enable the OEM unlocking toggle.
3. Boot to the bootloader interface.
   • You can do this by booting into recovery mode and then selecting the Reboot into bootloader option.
   • If USB debugging is turned on, with the Surface Duo connected, execute the following command on your PC to force it to boot into bootloader mode:

     adb reboot bootloader

4. Now that the device is in bootloader mode, use the following Fastboot command to unlock the bootloader:

   fastboot flashing unlock

   Please note that this step will factory reset the device.

The bootloader is now unlocked, which means we can manually change the partition layout of the device and make room for the Windows instance. The developers have compiled a semi-working TWRP image for Duo so that we can parted run binaries from TWRP's internal shell to modify partitions. Click the link below to browse the latest partitioning tutorials.

Making the required partitions on Surface Duo

The initial version of this tutorial is for 128GB devices only. You have to calculate the partition size value yourself for the 256GB variant.

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Step 3 – Boot Custom UEFI

If everything went fine during partitioning, you can now boot a purpose-built custom UEFI image (internally called "SurfaceDuoPkg") that Can help you start Windows.

1. Download the precompiled boot.img from the latest releases section of the project's Github repo.
2. Boot the UEFI image:
   fastboot boot boot.img
   You need to perform this step every time you want to boot Windows.
3. You should see the developer menu. Use the volume up/down buttons to navigate to mass storage mode and press the power button to confirm.

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Step 4 – Install Windows and Drivers

Mass Storage Mode exposes the internal partitions of the Surface Duo’s internal flash memory to the host PC’s operating system so we can Use the Disk Management console to easily mount them and prepare for Windows installation.

Make sure the target Surface Duo device is in mass storage mode and you have prepared the Windows 11 ISO beforehand. Next, click the link below to view the latest tutorial from the developer on how to apply a Windows image and then install the driver using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool.

Apply a Windows image using DISM || Install drivers using DISM

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Step 5 - Boot Windows on Surface Duo

Windows 11 has been successfully installed on Surface Duo, but the default boot path always points to Android OS. If you are booting Windows, boot into bootloader mode, start custom UEFI (from step 3), and Windows should start loading instead of Android.

The current driver set is only mature in handling CPU frequency, side buttons, and sleep/wake events (depending on folding position). Everything else, including the touch interface, doesn't work. Custom UEFI images, on the other hand, are sufficient to boot mainline Linux with the necessary adjustments.

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