One of the best things about the Surface Book is that it can double as a tablet with the press of a button, so it converts from laptop to tablet for what Microsoft calls the best way to unleash your artistic side, either with touch or with a Surface Pen.

But detaching the keyboard from the screen on a Surface Book doesn’t seem to be that easy for some people, although the process is quite straightforward.

So Microsoft has decided to provide some guidance on how to correctly do this, not only to make sure that everyone knows how to do it but also to prevent any damage that might be caused.

How to detach the keyboard

First and foremost, it’s worth knowing that there are two different ways to detach the keyboard: you can either press the dedicated button on your keyboard, or in the Windows 10 taskbar, press the Detach icon. Both have the very same purpose and work in a similar way.

We’ve heard people complaining that pressing the Detach button and lifting the display upwards doesn’t work, but it’s very important to know that you first need to hear the click sound and only then proceed to pull the screen out. The process is not instant, and when you hear this click, you can also see the Detach button turning green. The tablet should then come off the hinge easily.

Re-attaching the screen to the keyboard is easy as pie: simply put in the hinge, and it automatically connects. The attached message will show up on your screen.

Things to keep in mind

As you can see, the process is very straightforward, but there still are a bunch of things that you should bear in mind.

Simply press the Detach button if the battery is above 10 percent

First of all, you cannot detach the screen when the batteries of both the tablet and the keyboard are below 10 percent. If this is the case, you won’t hear any click, so you won’t be able to pull off the screen.

It’s also worth knowing that you can charge the tablet separately, even when the keyboard is not connected. The port used to connect to the keyboard can be used for charging too!

Also, in order to prevent any battery impact, you are prompted to close apps that require the graphics processor when trying to detach the screen. The graphics card is integrated into the keyboard, which is automatically disabled to prevent accidental presses when working on the tablet.

The video below should provide you with a closer look at how this simple process should go, so make sure you watch it if you’re still not figuring out how to do it.