Why Won’t My Laptop Turn On?

It is a scary situation when your laptop refuses to turn on. Many things start to go through your mind, particularly your files, if you don’t have a backup elsewhere. While there are several solutions, you can try to fix this issue and recover your files; however, this depends on what caused the issue. So, what could be preventing your laptop from turning on? 

The good news is that with a little bit of technical know-how, you can troubleshoot a laptop that refuses to turn on. This guide will explain some common solutions you can try to fix this issue yourself. 

How To Fix a Laptop That Won’t Turn On

There are several reasons your laptop may refuse to turn on. If you face an issue like this, we recommend you resolve the issue by trying out the most likely causes, which are easier to fix, then work your way to the most difficult. If none of the methods seems to help, we recommend taking your laptop to a professional technician to inspect it.  

Method #1: Check Power Supply and Battery 

One of the first and most obvious things to look out for when your laptop refuses to turn on is the power supply and battery. If your laptop’s battery is completely low, it will not turn on. Similarly, when you are having issues with the power supply to the laptop, the battery will not charge; hence, the laptop will not power on.

Here’s how to diagnose if your battery or power supply is causing your laptop not to turn on.

• Check if the battery is well connected to the laptop, be it an external or internal battery. 
• Check the battery health; if it is low, you need to replace it. 
• Check if the AC adapter you are using for your laptop is the recommended voltage and amperage. 

Method #2: Check if Overheating 

When you work extensively with your laptop, there is a high tendency for it to overheat. Due to the design of most laptops, their internal component features thermal protection that shuts it down when the temperature increases to a level that it can’t handle. Hence, the laptop shuts down and won’t start again until it cools to an optimal temperature. 

Here’s how to fix a laptop that won’t turn on due to overheating.

• Check the laptop’s air vent and ensure nothing obstructs it from displacing hot air. 
• Check if the cooling fan of the laptop is functioning correctly or if it would need a replacement. 
• If the tasks you perform on the laptop causes it to overheat, invest in a cooling pad for the laptop. 

Method #3: Hard Restart 

If the problem persists, it is time to bring out the bigger guns and try a hard restart on your PC. A hard restart is like taking out the laptop’s battery for a few seconds and replacing it. 

Performing a hard restart will help in situations such as when an electric shock causes the laptop’s safety mechanism to disconnect power from the motherboard. This safety measure protects sensitive components of the laptop from electrical overload. When you do a hard restart on your laptop, it removes any residual electricity in the laptop. 

Here’s how to fix a laptop that won’t turn on by hard restarting it.

1. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds to ensure it shuts down completely. 
2. Connect the laptop to a power source. 
3. Press and hold the power button for another 30 seconds or until the laptop turns on. 

Method #4: Boot in Safe Mode 

If you recently installed corrupted software, this can also cause issues such as preventing your laptop from turning on successfully. Starting your PC in Safe Mode helps you narrow down the source of a problem. 

Here’s how to fix a Windows laptop that won’t turn on by booting into Safe Mode.

1. Hold the power button for 10 seconds to power down the laptop; then, press the power button to power on the laptop. Repeat this step two more times. 
2. The third time, allow the laptop to restart into “Automatic Repair” and select “Advanced Options” to enter winRE. 
3. In winRE, navigate to “Troubleshoot“, select the “Advanced Options“, click “Startup Settings“, and tap the “Restart” option. 
4. Select 5 from the list when the laptop restarts or press F5 to boot into Safe Mode. 

Here’s how to fix an Apple laptop that won’t turn on by booting into Safe Mode.

1. Ensure the Apple laptop shuts down completely. 
2. Press and hold the power button until the startup options appear. 
3. Hold the Shift key, then select “Continue” to load in Safe Mode. 

Method #5: Check Hardware

Also, your laptop may fail to turn on when dealing with hardware issues such as a bad screen, faulty motherboard, bad RAM stick, and even a storage disk. Inspecting your hardware can save you a lot of hassle trying to fix a laptop that won’t turn on. 

Here’s how to check if your hardware is causing your laptop not to turn on.

• If you recently installed hardware like a new RAM, it could cause this issue, so remove it and try rebooting.
• Similarly, if you recently installed a new hard drive, try using another one; it might fix the issue. 
• Inspect your screen; perhaps there might be a faint image, the brightness button is broken, or an external display device is connected, thus interfering with the startup process. 

Conclusion 

If you rely on a laptop for your school, work, or daily multitasking, it not coming on will throw a wrench in your productivity. Most of the time, a laptop wouldn’t come up due to a power issue. And even if the reason your laptop refuses to turn on is more complicated, there is always that budget-friendly fix for it.