Phone Won't Turn On? Causes & Fixes for iPhone & Android (2026)
A phone that won't turn on feels like a disaster, especially with your photos, messages and two-factor apps all on it. The good news: in most cases the phone isn't dead at all. It's flat, frozen, or has a single failed part that can be replaced – and the data on the storage chip is almost always safe even when the screen stays black. This guide walks through the same triage ladder a repair bench uses, and is honest about which steps are safe at home and which need a technician.
Direct answer: A phone that won't turn on is most often (1) completely flat – put it on a known-good charger for 30–60 minutes before judging; (2) frozen – a force restart with the correct button combo wakes it; or (3) faulty in one part, usually the battery, charging port or screen. Truly dead boards are the rarest cause. Start with charging, then force restart, then read the symptoms. Your data is normally safe even on a phone that won't power on.
Step 1: Is it actually charging?
The most common reason a phone "won't turn on" is a completely flat battery – and a deeply drained battery can take several minutes on the charger before it shows any sign of life. Rule this out properly before assuming the worst.
- Use a known-good cable and wall plug. Frayed cables and failing plugs cause a huge share of "dead" phones. Don't test a suspect phone with a suspect cable, and use a wall socket rather than a laptop or car port.
- Leave it 30–60 minutes before deciding anything. Watch for a charging symbol, a buzz or a flicker.
- Check the port for debris. Pocket lint compacts into the port and physically blocks the connector. Shine a torch in; a grey plug of fluff means the phone simply isn't making contact.
- Try wireless charging if supported. If the phone wakes on a pad but not on a cable, that points to a charging-port fault rather than a dead phone.
Step 2: Force restart (exact button combos)
Phones freeze. Software hangs, the screen goes black, and the device looks dead when it's actually on but locked up. A force restart reboots the phone without deleting anything – it is completely safe to try. The sequence differs by model, and using the wrong one is why people give up too early. If the battery was near-flat, charge it first and keep it plugged in while you try.
iPhone 8, X, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and SE (2nd/3rd gen)
Press and quickly release Volume Up, press and quickly release Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button – ignore the power-off slider – until the Apple logo appears (15–20 seconds).
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
Hold Volume Down + the Side button together until the Apple logo appears.
iPhone 6s, SE (1st gen) and older
Hold the Home button + the Side (or Top) button together until the Apple logo appears.
Samsung Galaxy (S, Note, A and Z series)
Hold Volume Down + the Side/Power key together for about 7–10 seconds until the screen flashes and it restarts. This works even on a black screen.
Google Pixel
Hold the Power button for about 30 seconds until the phone vibrates and reboots.
What each symptom is telling you
If charging and a force restart don't help, the pattern of behaviour points to the cause. Match what your phone is doing to the list below.
- No reaction at all – no light, no vibration, nothing on the charger. Most often a failed battery, or no power reaching the battery (a charging-port fault). Less often a board-level power fault. A failed battery is a routine, low-cost replacement.
- Charges wirelessly but not on a cable. A worn or damaged charging port, or debris blocking it. The phone is fine; the doorway to the battery isn't.
- Buzzes, rings or makes notification sounds, but the screen is black. The phone is on – this is a screen or backlight failure, not a dead phone.
- Shows the logo then switches off, or loops on the logo. A boot loop – usually software, sometimes a weak battery. Different from truly dead.
- Got wet, got hot, or was dropped just before it died. Points to liquid ingress or impact damage at board level – the cases that genuinely need the bench.
Black screen but the phone is on
This is the symptom people most often misread. A phone that vibrates, rings or connects to your computer but shows a black screen is not dead – the processor, storage and battery all work; the display has failed. To check, shine a torch at an angle across the screen in a dark room. If you can see a faint ghostly image, the backlight has gone but the panel is alive; if you hear it but see nothing, the panel has failed. Either way the fix is a screen replacement, and your data is completely untouched.
Liquid damage and board-level faults
If the phone died after getting wet, the rules change and speed matters. Do not charge it, press buttons repeatedly, or put it in rice (rice does nothing and leaves dust inside). Powering a wet phone is what causes the real damage: liquid plus current corrodes and short-circuits the board. Power it off if it's still on, dry the outside, and get it to a technician quickly so the board can be opened and cleaned before corrosion spreads. See what to do first with a water-damaged phone.
"Board-level" faults – a failed power chip, a damaged charging IC, or an impact short – are the genuinely involved cases. They can't be fixed by swapping a shelf part; they need micro-soldering under a microscope. They're also the least common cause, so don't assume the worst until the simpler causes are ruled out.
Stuck on the logo or boot-looping
A phone that lights up, shows the logo, then restarts and repeats is in a boot loop – a very different problem from a phone showing nothing. It means the hardware has power and the screen works, but start-up is being interrupted: usually a failed update, a corrupted system file, or a battery too weak to sustain the surge a phone draws while booting. Some clear with a force restart or a full charge; others need recovery-mode steps that vary by phone and can risk your data if done wrong. We cover the safe sequence in our guide to fixing a phone stuck on the logo or boot loop.
What's safe at home vs what needs the bench
Some checks are genuinely safe to do yourself; others risk turning a cheap repair into an expensive one.
Safe to try at home
- Charging with a known-good cable and wall plug, and waiting 30–60 minutes.
- A force restart with the correct combo for your model.
- Gently lifting lint from the charging port with a wooden or plastic toothpick (never metal – it can short the pins), or a short burst of compressed air.
- The torch-in-a-dark-room test to tell a screen fault from a truly off phone.
Leave this to a technician
- Opening the phone – modern phones are glued and sealed, with a battery that can catch fire if punctured.
- Battery, charging-port and screen replacement – these involve heat, adhesives, soldering and recalibration; they're quick bench jobs, not kitchen-table ones.
- Anything liquid- or board-related – DIY here is how recoverable phones become unrecoverable.
What a repair costs
Once the cause is identified, most "won't turn on" repairs are a single, well-understood job. Below are celltech's published starting prices for the three most common culprits. We publish pricing openly – many UK repairers hide behind a "contact us for a quote" wall.
| Repair | iPhone (from) | Samsung Galaxy (from) | Google Pixel (from) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery replacement | £44.95 | £64.95 | £59.95 |
| Charging-port repair | £44.95 | £64.95 | see cost guide |
| Board-level diagnostics | £24.95 | £24.95 | £24.95 |
Prices vary by exact model. For full per-model pricing see our iPhone battery replacement cost guide, charging-port repair cost guide, and the screen-replacement guides for iPhone and Samsung. Diagnostics are free on standard repairs; the £24.95 fee applies only to board-level investigation and is deducted if you go ahead. Every standard repair carries celltech's 27-month guarantee – more than double the 12 months most independent UK repairers offer, and far longer than a manufacturer's typical 90-day repair warranty.
Can you get your data off a phone that won't turn on?
Usually, yes – and this is the part that worries people most. Your photos, messages and files live on a storage chip that is separate from the parts that usually fail. A flat battery, a broken charging port or a dead screen does not touch your data; fix the faulty part and everything is as you left it.
Even with a board-level problem or liquid damage, data is often still retrievable – a technician can frequently bring a board back to life long enough to extract everything, or recover the storage directly. A phone looking "dead" says almost nothing about whether your data survives. If you can still turn the phone on intermittently, back up immediately. For how this works, see our guide to recovering data from a dead phone.
Getting it diagnosed and fixed
If you've worked through charging and a force restart and the phone still won't turn on, the next step is a proper diagnosis, not guesswork. celltech is a UK-wide, mail-in repair specialist covering around 2,467 device models, rated 4.8 stars, with transparent published pricing. You post your phone to us tracked and insured both ways, we diagnose the real cause, confirm the price before any work begins, and post it back fixed. You can start an iPhone repair here, and the same mail-in process covers Samsung, Pixel and almost every other phone. If it turns out to be a simple flat battery or a bad cable, we'll tell you that too.
Frequently asked questions
My phone won't turn on even when plugged in – is it dead?
Not necessarily. A deeply drained battery can take several minutes on the charger before showing any life, so leave it on a known-good cable and wall plug for 30–60 minutes, then try a force restart while it's still plugged in. If it stays black, the likely causes are a failed battery, a charging-port fault, or a screen failure – all repairable.
How do I force restart my iPhone if the screen is black?
On iPhone 8 and later, quickly press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button for 15–20 seconds until the Apple logo appears. On iPhone 7, hold Volume Down + Side together. On iPhone 6s and older, hold Home + Side together. A force restart never deletes your data.
How do I force restart a Samsung or Pixel?
On most Samsung Galaxy phones, hold Volume Down + the Side/Power key together for about 7–10 seconds. On a Google Pixel, hold the Power button for about 30 seconds until it vibrates and reboots. Both work with a black screen and neither erases anything.
Will I lose my photos and data if my phone won't turn on?
In most cases, no. Data lives on a storage chip separate from the battery, charging port and screen – the parts that usually fail. Replacing a faulty part leaves your data intact, and even with board or liquid damage it is often still recoverable.
My phone vibrates and makes sounds but the screen is black – what does that mean?
The phone is on; the display has failed. If you can hear notifications or feel it vibrate, only the screen or its backlight is faulty. Shine a torch across the screen in a dark room – a faint image confirms a backlight failure. The fix is a screen replacement, and your data is untouched.
My phone won't turn on after getting wet – what should I do?
Don't charge it, don't keep pressing buttons, and skip the rice myth. Power it off if it's still on, dry the outside, and get it to a technician quickly – applying power to a wet phone is what causes corrosion and short circuits. See our guide on what to do first with a water-damaged phone.
How much does it cost to fix a phone that won't turn on?
It depends on the cause. Battery replacement starts at £44.95 for iPhone and £59.95–£64.95 for Samsung and Pixel; charging-port repair starts at £44.95 on iPhone and £64.95 on Samsung. Standard repairs include free diagnostics; board-level investigation is £24.95 and is deducted if you proceed. We confirm the exact price before any work, and standard repairs carry a 27-month guarantee.