No Power On Laptop

Troubleshooting laptop power issues can be difficult for both end-users as well as technicians because of the various form factors, batteries and power supplies used by different manufacturers. There are steps you can go through to do a process of elimination, and based on those results, you may need to take the laptop into the shop. You can try a new power supply, as they are external, and even replace the battery, but beyond that the laptop will need professional servicing.

Laptop Power Troubleshooting

1. Does the power come on when you wiggle the cord? If so, the cause can either be a loose solder join on the laptop, or a worn plug on the power supply. Inspect each carefully.
2. If your laptop can work without the battery, try removing the battery and plugging the laptop in. If it powers up, the laptop battery is likely defective or dead.
3. Does the laptop beep? Just as with a PC, there could be non-power-related issues that prevent the laptop from starting.
4. Do you hear fans? If so, it’s quite possible the display has gone bad. Try an external monitor to see if the laptop itself is working.
5. If the laptop still does not power up, you should test the power supply and then replace the battery if the power supply checks out. To test the power supply, see below.

Test a Laptop Power Supply

To test a standard laptop power supply, remove the plug from the computer and insert the red probe into the opening of the barrel connector of the power supply. The black ground probe needs to be placed on the outside of the power supply’s barrel connector. Just be careful not to touch the probes together. You should receive a reading close to what is printed on the power supply’s label. If not, it’s likely you have a bad power supply.