My Samsung phone won’t turn on
We spend a lot of time on our smartphones, and so losing access to it can be a significant disruption, particularly if you use your phone for work or when travelling. Some issues can be corrected manually, whilst others may require deeper investigation.
If your Samsung phone won’t turn on, there are some quick and easy checks you can do to potentially fix the problem. Should you require a new device, we can quickly get you connected again with our range of affordable contracts and refurbished Samsung phones.
Check your phone’s battery
This may be an obvious one, but the first thing to check if your Samsung phone won’t turn on is the battery. It is possible your phone’s battery may have discharged fully, leaving it without any power to turn on.
Connect your charger and see if your phone begins to power on. Doing this will tell you the current battery level of the device and whether there is a deeper problem if your phone doesn’t start charging.
If you can see your phone is swollen, it is possible the battery has overheated or experienced other damage. If this is the case, it is advisable to seek the assistance of a phone engineer who can look into the problem further.
Examine the charging port
If your phone doesn’t charge when plugging the charger in or using a wireless pad, there may be a problem with the phone’s charging port.
Check the port at the bottom of your Samsung phone for any dust or damage. Any debris could impact your phone’s ability to charge, as can any damage to the port itself.
Boot in Safe Mode
Some apps can cause bugs and crashes if they are not certified for use on your phone. To check if any incompatibility is affecting your device, you can use ‘Safe Mode’ to identify apps or programs that may be causing a crash.
If your phone is working normally in ‘Safe Mode’ but not during normal use, this may be indicative of an app or other software causing a problem.
To boot in Safe Mode, press and hold the power button. When the Samsung logo is visible, continue holding the power button and also hold down the Volume button; this will then trigger Safe Mode.
Try uninstalling any apps you may have recently installed, as they may be the root cause of your phone not powering on.
Force restart
You can force restart your Samsung phone to try and engage its boot-up sequence. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds; if the phone begins to start, release the power button.
Hardware factory reset
If trying to force reset on your phone doesn’t work, you can also perform a factory reset. This will delete all information from your device, except any data stored online or on an SD card.
To factory reset your Samsung phone, you will need to use a specific button combination, depending on your phone model:
No Home or Power button
If your Samsung phone has no Home or separate power button (eg. S20, S21, Fold Z Flip), simultaneously press and hold the Volume Up and Side buttons. Only release once the Samsung logo appears.
No Home button
If your phone has a separate power button but no Home button (eg. S8, S9, S10), press and hold the Volume Up, Bixby & power buttons until the Samsung logo is visible.
Has a Home button
If your phone has a Home button (eg. S6, S7) press and hold the Volume Up, Home & power buttons. Once you feel a vibration, release the power button. Your phone will then vibrate a second time and display a menu; you can then release the other buttons.
After performing the appropriate button combination, you will see the Recovery menu. Use the Volume Up and Down keys to move through the menu. Select Wipe data/factory reset from the options available and press the power button to confirm.
Use the Volume keys again to highlight Yes, factory data reset, and confirm with the power button.
The phone will then proceed to wipe all its data. Once complete, press the power button to reboot.
Overheating is a very common problem for phones, and can be the cause of hardware or software issues. If your Samsung phone won’t turn on, take a look at our guide on why your phone may be getting hot and how you can cool it down.