This guide will help you insalling Windows all manually on your Surface Duo.

You will end up with both Android™ and Windows on your Surface Duo.

Android™ and Windows will both split the internal storage (64GB and 64GB or 128GB and 128GB).

Android™ will boot normally, and you will have to use a PC to boot Windows when needed, unless you create a dual boot image (explained later).

Table of Contents:

• Install Windows on Surface Duo (1st Gen)
  • Files/Tools Needed
• Steps
  • Unlocking the Bootloader
  • Partitioning
  • Getting to Mass Storage Mode
  • Going to Mass Storage
  • Installing Windows
  • Installing the drivers
  • Boot Windows
  • Boot Windows again after initial installation

Files/Tools Needed

• You will need the following files from the BSP Release page:

UEFI Image:

Windows Drivers:

• TWRP image:

• Mass Storage Shell Script: msc.tar
• Platform Tools from Google (ADB and Fastboot)
• An ARM64 Windows build of your choice that meets the minimum system requirements (specifically the install.wim file). You can use UUPMediaCreator for this. Here's a guide on how to use it.
• A Windows PC to build the Windows ISO, apply it onto the phone from mass storage, add drivers to the installation, configure ESP

Disclaimers

PLEASE READ AND BE SURE TO UNDERSTAND THE ENTIRE GUIDE BEFORE STARTING

Steps

Acquiring all files

Here's how to acquire a Driver archive file and the matching UEFI image for Surface Duo:

Unlocking the Bootloader

If not already done, please first proceed with the Unlocking the Bootloader) guide for Surface Duo (1st Gen). Come back once you're done. If you already followed this guide, please skip the unlocking section.

Partitioning

If not already done, please proceed with the Partitioning guide for Surface Duo (1st Gen). Come back once you're done. If you already followed this guide, please instead follow the Reinstall Windows guide, not this one.

Getting to Mass Storage Mode

• Reboot into the Bootloader mode by running this command while inside Android™:

adb reboot bootloader

Image of what you should see right now: Surface Duo in Bootloader mode

Start by booting TWRP:

• Plug your phone to your PC, open a command prompt and start by typing the following text, but do not press enter just yet

fastboot boot

• Go find the surfaceduo1-twrp.img file you downloaded earlier, right click it, click "Copy as path"

• Then go back to the Command Prompt window we started writing text in previously, and simply, right click on it with your mouse (or long press if you're on a touch device), you should now see this:

• Now you can press enter

You will now boot to TWRP. Touch will not be working and the device will say it is locked. This is completely normal.

Going to Mass Storage

• Let's load the mass storage shell script in order to boot into Mass Storage from TWRP

adb shell "setenforce 0"
adb push <path to downloaded msc.tar> /sdcard/
adb shell "tar -xf /sdcard/msc.tar -C /sdcard --no-same-owner"
adb shell "sh /sdcard/msc.sh"

Surface Duo should now be in USB 3 SuperSpeed (or what the USB-IF currently calls it) Mass Storage Mode.

Installing Windows

• Make sure you are in Mass Storage Mode, that your Surface Duo is plugged into your PC
• Mount the partitions you have created using diskpart and assign them some letters:

⚠️ THESE ARE NOT ALL COMMANDS. DISKPART COMMANDS VARY A LOT, SO THESE ARE SOME ROUGH INSTRUCTIONS.
ACTUAL COMMANDS START WITH AN HASHTAG (which you will need to remove)
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE LETTERS WE USE AT ALL!!!, THEY ONLY NEED TO BE FREE LETTERS. IF LETTERS DON'T ASSIGN FINE, USE ANOTHER ONE.
IF ONE PARTITION IS ALREADY ASSIGNED, YOU ALSO DO NOT NEED TO ASSIGN IT AGAIN IF YOU DONT WANT TO.

# list disk
Find the Surface Duo Disk, and take note of the number.
# select disk <number>
# list partition
You will be able to recognize the partitions we made earlier by their size. take note of the ESP and WIN partition numbers.
# select partition <esp-partition-number>
# assign letter=<THE LETTER YOU WANT AS LONG AS IT IS NOT CURRENTLY IN USE IN FILE EXPLORER FOR ANOTHER DRIVE! (Example: X)>:
# select partition <win-partition-number>
# assign letter=<ANOTHER LETTER YOU WANT AS LONG AS IT IS NOT CURRENTLY IN USE IN FILE EXPLORER FOR ANOTHER DRIVE! (Example: Y)>:

• You will have two partitions loaded, one is the ESP partition, and the other is the Win partition. Take note of the letters you've used.

• We will need our install.wim file now. If you haven't it already, you can use this guide. When you are ready, run these commands:

dism /apply-image /ImageFile:"<path to install.wim>" /index:1 /ApplyDir:X:\

This will take a bit of time. Go make some coffee ☕ or some tea 🍵.

• Once that is done:

bcdboot X:\Windows /s Y: /f UEFI

Windows is now installed but has no drivers.

Installing the drivers

• Download the latest driver package from https://github.com/WOA-Project/SurfaceDuo-Releases/releases/latest

Note: Here's a table of what to download if you're a bit lost:

• Extract the driver package, and go to the folder where you extracted it.

• Double click the OfflineUpdater.cmd file.

• Accept the User Account Control warning when prompted

• Enter the drive letter of the connected phone in mass storage, as we previously mentioned, for us it's currently X:, but it may very well be different for you. In our example, we enter X: and then press enter.

• The process may take a while, once it is done, you will be prompted to press any key, press enter when that's the case.

Congratulations, you just installed your drivers!

• You can now reboot your phone using adb reboot bootloader. You will be able to boot to Android™ and your phone will work normally. Set it up if you need it.

You will be back into Surface Duo's bootloader.

Image of what you should see right now: Surface Duo in Bootloader mode

Boot Windows

We are ready to boot for the first time!

Reboot your device to the Bootloader mode, using adb or from the recovery.

Image of what you should see right now: Surface Duo in Bootloader mode

Let's boot the UEFI, from a command prompt:

fastboot boot uefi.img

This step above will be needed every time you will want to boot Windows and needs to be done from the Bootloader mode.

If you did everything right, Windows will now boot! Enjoy!

Note: If the Touch keyboard won't show up in OOBE, touch somewhere else (to let the text box loose focus) and then touch into the text box again. As an alternative, you can use the On-Screen Keyboard.

Let Windows set itself up, and come back once you're on the Windows Desktop on your Surface Duo

Boot Windows again after initial installation

You'll have two methods of booting Windows.

• Manual booting with a PC

  • Pros: You can freely update Android™
  • Cons: You will need a PC to boot to Windows

• Enabling Dual Boot

  • Pros: You'll be able to boot Windows directly from the device
  • Cons: Every time you update Android™, you'll have to follow this guide

In case you want the dual boot option, then follow this guide

fastboot boot uefi.img

© 2020-2026 The Duo WOA Authors

Snapdragon is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Microsoft, the Microsoft Corporate Logo, Windows, Surface, Surface Duo, Windows Hello, Continuum, Hyper-V, and DirectX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States. Android is a registered trademark of Google LLC. Miracast is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Other binaries may be copyright Qualcomm Incorporated and Microsoft Surface.

Limited emergency calling

Running Windows on your Surface Duo is not a replacement for a proper phone operating system and does not have emergency calling capabilities.

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