Computer won't turn on

A computer that won’t start is an unnerving thing to be looking at, so let’s take it steadily. Good news: most of the time this turns out to be something simple, and you’ll have it sorted in a few minutes.

Work down this list in order and stop when it starts. The checks are ordered from most likely to least likely, so most people are done in the first two.

1. Is it getting power at all?

Have a look for any sign of life: a light on the computer, a light on the charger, a fan noise, a beep.

• No light anywhere → it’s a power problem. Carry on to step 2.
• Lights and fans, but a black screen → it is turning on; the problem is the display. Skip to step 4.

2. Check the power, properly

This one feels obvious, and it’s still the most common cause we see. Worth going through carefully. It catches everyone eventually, including us.

1. Check the wall switch is on. (Australian outlets have switches, and they’re easy to knock.)
2. Try a different wall outlet.
3. Check the cable is firmly seated at both ends: the wall end and the computer end. Give it a push; a partially-seated plug looks perfectly fine.
4. On a laptop, check the barrel or USB-C plug is fully home in the socket.
5. Try a different power cable or charger if you can borrow one. Chargers fail far more often than computers do, and a dead charger looks exactly like a dead laptop.

3. Force a power drain

This clears a stuck power state, and it revives machines that look completely dead. It works more often than you’d expect, so it’s well worth a go.

Laptop: unplug the charger. Remove the battery if it comes out. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds (properly, count it out). Reconnect power and try again.

Desktop: unplug from the wall. Hold the power button for 30 seconds. Plug back in and try again.

4. It powers on but the screen is black

The computer itself is running, so what you have is a display problem. That’s much better news.

Laptop: shine a torch at the screen at an angle. If you can faintly make out the desktop, the screen backlight has failed rather than the computer. That’s a warranty repair, so contact us and we’ll sort it out.

Desktop:

1. Is the monitor on, and plugged into power itself?
2. Is the video cable connected to the graphics card (the ports lower down on the back) and not the motherboard ports higher up? If the machine has a separate graphics card, the motherboard ports usually don’t work.
3. Is the monitor set to the right input? Press its Source or Input button and cycle through.
4. Try a different cable, and a different monitor if you have one.

5. Listen and look

If it still won’t start, don’t worry, and have a note of anything the machine does: beeps (count the pattern), flashing lights (count the pattern), fans spinning up then immediately stopping. These are diagnostic codes, and they tell us a great deal.

Still dead?

Please get in touch. We’re glad to help. Let us know your order number, which of these steps you tried, and any beeps or light patterns you noticed. Telling us what you’ve already done just saves you repeating yourself.

The machine is under warranty for 12 months, so this costs you nothing. Please don’t spend money on parts before you talk to us.