Nothing is more stressful than finding that your laptop won’t turn on!
If your laptop doesn’t boot up like it usually does, then your problem might be that the power button isn’t working.
In this article, we’ll have a step-by-step tutorial for laptop power button not working issues. We have posted the 6 easiest and most reliable methods.
Before we get to our step-by-step guide, let’s look into some of the most frequently asked questions about a laptop that won’t turn on.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Why is my laptop not turning on?
You should also check that the power connector and battery are properly plugged in. Most of the time, laptops that don’t turn on only have issues with an interrupted power supply.
It may be as simple as a bad power jack. Here are a few ways to fix a faulty power jack (without soldering!).
However, if our laptop still doesn’t turn on, internal components are likely the issue.
If your laptop doesn’t boot up when you press the power button, most likely, your laptop has a faulty power supply, battery, RAM, motherboard, or video card.
If your power button isn’t working, you can always choose to get rid of the broken switch and replace it with a new one:
- Take out the battery and power source
- Remove the RAM and hard drive
- Remove the keyboard frame
- Remove the top frame and locate the power button
- Swap the faulty switch with the new one
- Reassemble the laptop
This method can get a little tricky and can go south pretty fast, especially if you’re not familiar with computer hardware.
If you want a quick solution to boot up your laptop, continue to the next section for six simple ways to turn on your laptop without a power button.
Step-by-step Guide to Turn on Laptop Without Power Button
How to turn on a Laptop using a Keyboard
Even before you experience a power button issue (which is quite common), enable your laptop’s BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) as a backup power button.
Here’s how you can turn on computer with keyboard (Windows 10):
- Access the BIOS by pressing the “F2”, “F10”, or “DEL” keys when you boot up the laptop. If you cannot access the BIOS, please read how to find the Dell Boot Menu Key.
- Locate the “power management” settings. This will vary by manufacturer, but you should find a similar option to “power on by keyboard”
- Configure the back-up power keys and save the settings
- Shut down your laptop and test if BIOS was properly enabled
This method is more of a preventive measure to save yourself from applying the more complicated methods on this list.
How to turn on a Laptop using the Motherboard
This method will work on every laptop, even if the power button is completely faulty.
Here’s what you have to do:
- Unplug the charging cable.
- Open the laptop case and locate the power button.
- Remove the power button.
- Find the 3 to 6 pins under the button.
- Use any conductor (like a screwdriver) to short circuit pins 1 and 3, or Connect the pins with a wire.
- Wait for your laptop to turn on.
Remember that technicians don’t recommend using this method every day because it can harm your motherboard and laptop chassis.
Watch this video to get a better idea:
How to turn on a Laptop with Clock Battery Method
The clock battery method requires a lot of technical skill, so make sure to practice with caution:
- Disconnect the battery cable (different from the charging cable) from the motherboard.
- Disconnect the clock battery from the motherboard
This cold-start method will allow you to power up your laptop when it’s attached to any power source. However, keep in mind that it’ll also cause your laptop to return to factory settings.
Check out this video to get a better idea of CMOS batteries:
How to turn on a Laptop with a Wall socket
This method works well for Dell, Toshiba, ASUS, Acer, Lenovo, and HP laptops. It’s also an excellent method for those who don’t want to short-circuit their laptop without a power button.
- Disconnect the cable that connects the power button to the motherboard
- Remove laptop battery
- Plug the laptop into a wall socket, and it will power on.
- Replace the battery into the laptop if you want to unplug it from the power socket.
You’ll have to configure your BIOS to turn on your laptop when connected with AC on some laptops.
How to turn on a Laptop using the Laptop lid
Usually, a laptop will only go to Sleep mode when the lid is closed, but you can configure the settings to turn the laptop on/off with the lid:
- Enter BIOS by pressing the “F2”, “F10”, or “DEL” keys when you start the laptop
- Enter “Power management”
- Adjust the settings under “power on with open lid”
How to turn on Laptop using wake-on LAN
Wake-on LAN is another preventive measure for power button issues:
- Enter BIOS by pressing the “F2”, “F10”, or “DEL” keys when you start the laptop
- Enter “power management”
- Enable Wake-on LAN and set the preferred keys for turning on your laptop
- Save the settings and reboot.
You will also need to configure your network card on another laptop or computer for this method to work properly.
- Open “Device Manager”
- Access “Network Adapter” and select “Properties”
- Enter “Power Management,” and select “Allow this device to wake the computer”
- Under “Advanced” enable “Wake on magic packet”
For Mac users, it’s even easier:
- Open System Preferences
- Go to “Energy Saver” and tick “Wake for network access”
Then access your router configuration and see if there are WOL settings. Otherwise, you’ll need to set up your port forwarding settings or download DNS service on your mobile phone.
This method will allow you to boot up your laptop remotely.
Conclusion
Is your laptop suddenly a brick because of a faulty power button?
There’s no reason to worry, though, because there are several ways to get your laptop up and running again!
For Windows laptops, you can use an external keyboard, enable LAN, or turn it on with a wall socket. You can also enable wake-on LAN on Mac.
Which method will you try? Let us know!