Black Out: What to Do If Your Tablet Won’t Turn On

Attempting to use a tablet that won’t turn on can be a frustrating experience. But don’t worry. Just because it won’t turn on doesn’t mean it’s broken.

You just need to know the proper steps to take.

Continue reading and we’ll walk you through the most common causes for why your tablet won’t turn on and how to fix them.

Common Causes

If your tablet won’t turn on, don’t just panic and purchase yourself a new one.

Before anything else, it’s important that you figure what is causing this issue. Let’s look at some of the most common ones and how to quickly fix them.

The Battery Is Dead

This is the first thing you should suspect. Plug your tablet into a charger and wait a few minutes to see if anything happens.

If the tablet doesn’t turn on, then remove the charger. Plug something else into the outlet to make sure that the outlet actually works.

Overheated

If you left your tablet in somewhere like a hot car, it may be overheated. If this is the case, put your tablet somewhere that is cool and shaded. If you can, place it under a fan and wait for it to cool down.

Dirt and Debris

If you are in a dusty environment, then some of that dirt may have gotten into your tablet and may need to be blown out. Dirt in your charging port can stop your tablet from charging.

Get a can of compressed air and try to blow out the dust. If there’s visible large debris, you might also want to get something like a toothpick and gently pick it out.

Water Damage

A common but unfortunate culprit, moisture and water damage is one of the most frequent causes for why a tablet won’t turn on. If your device is wet, you want to dry it out as quickly as possible.

First, dry your device off. Use a hairdryer on the coolest setting to make sure it is completely dry.

Next, place your tablet in a large bowl filled with a desiccant. A common and convenient desiccant is uncooked rice. The rice should help soak up whatever moisture is left in your tablet.

If its none of the causes listed above, continue reading for some general troubleshooting solutions.

Long Press Power Button

As smart as our smart technology is, our devices are sometimes subject to breaking down from simply being overworked.

Known as a “power cycle” or hard reset, this method cuts the power to your device, shutting it off completely. You accomplish this by holding down the power button for about 15-30 seconds.

If your tablet has a removable battery, you can achieve the same effect by taking off the battery and then putting it back.

Your tablet should hopefully restart and be good to go.

Do a Factory Reset

Some Android users who do hard resets have reported that their tablet boots up but then freezes or crashes.

In order to fix this, you need to boot your Android tablet straight into the recovery mode menu. When you get to this menu, you will be able to force a factory reset.

A factory reset is sometimes referred to as the “nuclear option.” This is because when you perform the factory reset, all of your device’s settings will be reset to how they were when they left the factory floor. That means your stored files, accounts, and data will be wiped from the device.

With that said, it is often a pretty reliable way of fixing a variety of bugs.

First, you are going to have to power down your tablet. Then, when you boot it back up, you need to direct the operating system to open the recovery mode menu.

To get to the recovery mode menu, you have to hold down multiple buttons at the same time. The specific buttons you need to hold vary by device. You can find this online by looking up the manual for your device.

A common combination of buttons is Home + Volume Up + Power.

Once in recovery mode, you can select to perform a factory reset.

Restore the Tablet’s Firmware

If the factory reset doesn’t work, then the software itself might be damaged. If this is the case, you may have to restore the Android operating system.

Because of the open nature of Android’s operating system, it is possible to make tweaks to the system’s software and cause it to malfunction.

Restoring firmware is not the simplest thing to do but it is possible. Google actually provides firmware images that are easily installable. You can install these images manually as a way to restore the firmware.

Get It Repaired

Your tablet still won’t turn on? Don’t worry as there are many companies around the country who are experts at tablet repair.

Just make sure that you pick a repair center where the technicians are certified, trained, and have experience working with your type of device.

Know the Steps If Your Tablet Won’t Turn On

You shouldn’t lose all hope if your tablet won’t turn on. No technological device is perfect and they are all subject to breaking down once in a while.

By knowing what to do when your tablet stops working, you can save yourself from making a large and unnecessary purchase.

Are you having trouble with your device? Don’t worry! We’re here to help. Our technicians are trained and certified to repair a variety of Apple and Samsung devices.

Contact us today and let’s get your repair started!