Guides · Battery

Phone won't turn on? Try these 6 things first.

Free fixes to try before you pay for a repair.

Oct 10, 2026 · 5 min read

A phone that won't turn on isn't always broken. Try these in order before you bring it in.

1. Charge it for 30 minutes with a different cable and wall plug. A fully flat battery can take several minutes before the screen shows anything. Cables fail more often than phones.

2. Force restart it. iPhone 8 and newer: press and release volume up, press and release volume down, then hold the side button until the Apple logo shows. Samsung: hold the side key and volume down for about 10 seconds. Pixel: hold the power button for about 30 seconds.

3. Check the charging port. Shine a light in. Pocket lint packs into the port and stops the cable from seating. Don't dig with metal. A wooden toothpick, gently, or bring it in and we'll clean it for free.

4. Plug it into a computer. If the computer sees the phone, the phone is on but the screen may be the problem, not the power.

5. Listen and feel. If it vibrates, rings or makes sounds but the screen stays black, it's almost certainly the screen.

6. Think about what happened. A drop, water or a hot car narrows it down. Water damage needs attention fast. Don't keep trying to charge a wet phone.

Still nothing? Bring it in. Diagnosis is free. It could be the battery, the charging port, the screen or the board. We do board-level repair in store, so phones that other shops call dead often come back to life, and we can usually recover your photos even when the phone can't be saved.