The laptop will not turn on at all
My laptop is completely dead and will not power on. What should I check?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
In most cases power is not reaching the board. A drained battery, a dead charger, or leftover static charge stops everything. The quickest thing to try first: charge it properly for thirty minutes — A deeply drained battery will not respond straight away. Plug in the original charger, check that the wall socket works with another device, and leave it alone for half an hour before trying again. Most people are done in about 15 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 5 steps for Windows and Mac, rated easy.
Sounds like this
- •No lights
- •No fan sound
- •Nothing happens when you press power
Why it happens
In most cases power is not reaching the board. A drained battery, a dead charger, or leftover static charge stops everything.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Charge it properly for thirty minutes
A deeply drained battery will not respond straight away. Plug in the original charger, check that the wall socket works with another device, and leave it alone for half an hour before trying again.
- 2
Do a power drain
Unplug the charger, remove the battery if it comes out, and hold the power button down for thirty seconds. Put everything back, plug in, and press power. This clears trapped charge and revives a surprising number of dead laptops.
- 3
Look closely at the charger
Check the light on the charger brick and feel the cable near both ends for kinks. Borrow a matching charger to test. Charger failure is far more common than motherboard failure.
- 4
Listen and look for any small sign of life
A brief light, a short fan spin or a beep means power works and the fault is elsewhere. Total silence points to the charger, the battery, or the power socket on the laptop.
- 5
Try the manufacturer reset
Many Dell and HP laptops reset with the power button held for thirty seconds while unplugged. Apple laptops made before 2018 reset with Shift, Control, Option and power held together for ten seconds.
If none of that worked
If a known good charger changes nothing and there is no light at all, the power socket on the laptop or the board needs a technician.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
Writer and researcher
We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
- Everyday repairs
- Windows and Mac
- Plain language
CommonFixes review desk
Technical editor
Before a guide goes live, a second person walks through it on a real machine and checks each instruction against the maker's own support pages. Anything we cannot confirm is removed rather than guessed at.
- Fact checking
- Safety warnings
- Source links
This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
A gentle reminder: back up anything you cannot afford to lose before major repairs. If a step ever feels risky, stop and ask a technician. There is no shame in that.