What to do if your Android phone won't turn on: A step by step guide

Jump to:

1. Check if your phone is plugged in
2. Is the problem just with the screen?
3. If your phone was dropped, or got wet
4. Was the phone buggy before breaking?
5. Check the battery
6. Charger and cable problems
7. Android stops at the logo screen
8. Use your computer to force it to turn on

1. Is it plugged in?

Just kidding - but seriously, when was the last time you charged it? Sometimes time flies when you're having fun watching cat videos and the next time you pick your phone up it won't turn on because you've YouTubed it to death. Grab a power supply and make sure you actually have some juice on your phone before we proceed. Remember, sometimes you need to charge for a few minutes before your phone can power itself on.

2. Is it on but the screen isn't on?

This is the next possibility, the phone is actually on but the display isn't working. The easiest way to check this is to long-press the power button to force it to shut off and then turn it back on. You should hear a boot sound or feel a vibration. This means your phone is working but you have a display driver or screen problem.

If you have a PC and a cable to connect your phone, then we have a guide on how to recover the data from your phone. As for a broken screen, that's a job for the repair store.

3. Did you drop it or get it wet?

This is one of the most common reasons a phone won't turn on. If you've recently dropped your phone or it has gotten wet, you might have some issues. Trying to turn a wet phone on too soon can short circuit your phone and fry it, so if it gets wet, follow our guide on what to do with a water-damaged phone.

To put things succinctly, if you dropped your phone in water and it won't turn on, you're going to need to take it in for repair as you most likely have a hardware problem or a damaged display. But before that, you can still try getting some data out of it by using the steps mentioned in the article below.

4. Did it gradually get buggy and then die?

If you started to notice some weirdness, like crashes, restarts, or other things that shouldn't happen in the lead-up to your phone no longer turning on, you might just have a software issue that can be fixed by replacing the firmware.

First, you're going to want to get as much data off as you can and then flash new firmware. We have guides for the popular devices on NextPit to help you out, and you can also try a factory reset to clear up any other problems. If this sounds too complicated, take it to your carrier store for assistance.

5. Is your battery bloated or leaking?

Another rather obvious reason your phone might not turn on is because the battery has simply given up the ghost permanently. This usually happens gradually over time, but it can occasionally happen suddenly, especially if your battery is bloated or leaking.

If your battery cover is removable, take it out and inspect it for damage, bulges, or leaks. If you find any, get a new battery pronto and dispose of the old one safely.

6. Is your charger or cable kaput?

Sometimes you're left wondering why isn't my phone turning on and it turns out that the phone isn't the culprit at all. There have been occasions even the smartest of people have not identified that the issue is because of afaulty charger cable, adapter, or even a wall socket.So make sure you try a different USB cable, different power adapter (if you have one), and another power outlet in your home before you know you can definitely blame your phone.

7. Are you just seeing the logo screen?

If your phone will actually turn on but won't go past the boot screen, this is what we call a boot loop. It generally means your phone will start as normal but just get stuck forever on the logo screen.

If you've recently updated to a new version of Android or flashed a custom ROM it might be as simple a solution as entering Recovery and wiping the cache partition or doing a data wipe/factory reset or, in the worst possible case, you might have bricked your phone.

For a tutorial, check our guide on how to factory reset your Android phone, or search our site for your specific device. If your phone is currently fine and you're reading this out of curiosity, we'd like to kindly advise you to back up everything on your phone, just in case this happens to you in the future!

8. Use your computer to force it to turn on

If you are faced with the 'phone not turning on' problem, there is another way you can try powering it on. This step involves your PC and this is a fix that has been endorsed by Google. Here's what you need to do.

If none of these tips have worked, it could be curtains for your device.

Have these tips helped you? Any other tips to fix a phone that won't turn on?