Why doesn't my tablet or mobile phone turn on? Ways to fix it
Publicado por PabloIn today's article, we discuss the main reasons why a tablet or mobile phone won't turn on, as well as possible solutions to fix it.
Without a doubt, one of the most frustrating moments when using our mobile phone or tablet is having it charge all day and then finding that it won't start when we need it.
At that moment, cold sweats begin as we see it won't start, but it's important to stay calm, as there are some things you can try to solve the issue.
These are steps you should try before taking it to a trusted technical service, which will surely save you time and money.
This problem can occur with any type of mobile phone or tablet, whether it's from Lenovo, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Motorola, etc. These devices share the Android operating system, although some more general solutions can also be tried on an iPhone.
What to do to fix a tablet or mobile phone that won't start
In the following lines, we go step by step through the possible problems that might prevent our tablet from turning on and what we can do, whether it charges or not.
Sometimes, the screen may flicker, stay stuck on the logo, or the processor might overheat, increasing the temperature.
These steps are also valid for Android phones.
Issues with the device's charging
Possibly the simplest reason why the tablet or mobile phone won't turn on or charge is that the device hasn't been charged.
In these cases, several things might fail, including:
- The outlet where the adapter was connected doesn't work.
- We plugged the adapter into a power strip but forgot to turn on the switch.
- The tablet or mobile phone's USB charging cable is defective.
- The adapter has stopped working.
- The connections might be dirty, which often happens in the charging port.
For this reason, you should test these points to rule out this option, as well as try alternative charging methods, such as connecting the USB cable to our computer to see if it charges.
Perform a power cycle
Once the tablet or mobile phone is off, it might remain in standby mode and refuse to start. In older phones, it was possible to remove the battery and reinsert it to solve this issue and perform a power cycle.
Now the solution involves pressing and holding the power button for a few seconds to see if it can restart and turn on.
Check the mobile phone or tablet battery
As you may know, batteries have a certain lifespan, so after a certain amount of time or charge cycles, the battery may start to fail, and in some cases, stop working altogether.
This can happen with older phones where the battery loses its properties over time.
You can verify that the battery is indeed receiving power. To do this, check if the battery icon lights up when charging or if the charging LEDs are on. You can leave the tablet charging to see if it eventually starts.
If the indicators show no activity, the battery may not be receiving power.
Check the screen
This is another issue that can give the impression that our mobile phone or tablet won't start when in reality, nothing is being displayed on the screen.
This could be due to a failure in the device's LCD.
To check this, pay attention to the charging LEDs to confirm that the device is receiving power.
Restart the device
If the previous solutions haven't worked, you can try resetting the tablet or mobile phone. Remember that depending on the type of reset performed, the data stored on the device may be lost.
To perform a soft reset or light reset/forced restart, press and hold the power button for a few seconds, which works similarly to a power cycle.
If you want to perform a hard reset (all data stored on the device will be lost), follow these steps:
- Press and hold the power button and volume down button simultaneously for a few seconds. A menu will appear on the screen.
- Use the volume + and - keys to navigate the menu, and use the power button to select the recovery mode option.
- Select factory reset and confirm by pressing the power button, then choose the Yes option.
This will erase all stored data and restart the phone as it came from the factory.
After flashing or installing firmware
This issue may occur when performing a software/firmware update on the phone and running out of battery during the process. It is always recommended to connect the device to power when performing an update, as the device typically warns when starting the update.
Installing a modified version of the software on our phone or flashing it. This may happen to users who install alternative versions to the official ones, and as a result, the tablet or mobile phone may not turn on.
In addition to the operating system, it's possible that an application we installed is causing this issue. This can happen if we install an APK from outside the official repository.
In these cases, it's recommended to perform a soft reset and uninstall the apps we installed previously.
