Why My Windows Laptop Won’t Turn and How to Fix It

Frequent glitches on your Windows laptop can break your workflow. One such common problem is when your Windows laptop fails to turn on in the first place. You may miss an important group call or relevant emails when your Windows laptop doesn’t switch on. Here are the possible factors and troubleshooting tricks to fix the issue.

1. Check Windows Laptop Battery

You should first check your laptop’s battery life. If it’s below 5%, your laptop may not turn on in the first place. You should put your laptop on charge and wait for around 20 minutes to hit the power button.

2. Check Power Button

Most laptop manufacturers offer a dedicated power button to switch on the device. You should closely check the power button on your laptop. If an LED light is on, it confirms that your power button is working. If not, visit the nearest service center to get your laptop’s power button fixed.

3. Disconnect Laptop From External Monitor

Do you often use your laptop with an external monitor? It may not turn on the display when you open the laptop lid. You should disconnect the laptop from your monitor and try again.

4. Disconnect External Drives

One of your connected external devices may interfere with your laptop’s functions. You should remove your pen drive, SSD, hard drive, and other devices from your laptop and try again.

5. Detach From Docking Station

Did you attach your Windows laptop to a docking station? It can mess up your laptop’s function. You should remove the laptop from any such docking station and turn on the laptop without any problems.

6. Try Another Power Adapter

If you have a faulty power adapter, it may not charge your Windows laptop properly. You should try another power adapter and juice up your laptop without any problem. Make sure to switch on the power supply and properly connect the charging cable to the laptop.

You should also ensure that your charging cable is intact and doesn’t have any major cuts on either of the sides. Otherwise, it won’t charge the laptop and it won’t turn on either.

7. Clean Cooling Vents

If your laptop’s fan is corrupt or not working properly, you should try cleaning the cooling vents. Grab a screwdriver and carefully open the bottom lid. Clean the cooling vents and turn on your laptop without any issues.

8. Cool Down the Laptop

Did you play some AAA titles for several hours on your laptop? Your device temperatures go abnormally high, and it may not turn on for a while. You need to wait for the temperatures to go down and switch on the laptop after some time.

9. Check Display Cable

It is another major factor affecting your laptop display. Windows laptops carry a display cable that sends the signal to the connected panel. When you have a lose or damaged display cable, your laptop screen may not turn on properly. It is often known as a black screen of death on Windows.

You should get help from a professional and get your laptop’s display cable checked.  

10. Get a New Battery

Your laptop battery wear and tear over time. It comes with fixed charging cycles only. In most cases, your laptop battery may have 1000 cycles. It’s good enough for 6-7 years of usage. After that, you must get a new battery from the manufacturer and use your laptop without any problems.

11. Remove New Components

Did you upgrade your laptop RAM or hard drive with more memory and SSD? If your laptop doesn’t turn on, remove such components and try again.

Tip: Update Graphics Drivers

Did you manage to turn on the laptop? To avoid such issues in the future, you should update the graphics drivers to the latest version. Graphics drivers play a major role in keeping your laptop’s display awake. Here’s what you need to do.

You should first download the latest graphics drivers from the OEM website. Now, use the Device Manager menu to install it.

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows key and select Device Manage.

Step 2: Expand ‘Display adapter’. Right-click on graphics and select Update device.

Find the latest graphics drivers on your PC and install them.

Start Your Laptop

A laptop not switching on can waste your productivity hours. Before you rush to the nearest service center, use the tricks above to bring it back to life. While you are at it, do let us know the trick that worked for you.

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Parth Shah

Parth previously worked at EOTO.tech covering tech news. He is currently freelancing at WindowsPrime, Android Police, and GuidingTech writing about apps comparisons, tutorials, software tips and tricks, and diving deep into iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows platforms.

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