Computer won't turn on

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

1. Is it getting power at all?

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. Continue 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

Obvious, and it’s still the most common cause.

1. Check the wall switch is on. (Australian outlets have switches. It gets everyone eventually.)
2. Try a different wall outlet.
3. Check the cable is firmly seated at both ends: the wall end and the computer end. Push it in; a partially-seated plug looks 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 revives machines that look completely dead. It works more often than you’d expect.

Laptop: unplug the charger. Remove the battery if it comes out. Hold the power button down for 30 seconds (properly, count it). 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 is running; you have a display problem, which is 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.

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, note 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?

Contact us with your order number, which of these steps you tried, and any beeps or light patterns you noticed.

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