Wepairs expert tip
Nintendo Switch won’t turn on or charge in the dock
Asked at the counter: “My son’s Nintendo Switch won’t turn on. The screen is black and it doesn’t seem to charge in the dock. Is the battery dead or the port broken?”
Most of the Switches brought to us for this are frozen with the screen off, or flat and being charged through a dock that is not being charged itself.
1 reply
Two things to do in order, and both are free.
Force the console off and on
A Switch can be on but frozen with a black screen, which looks exactly like a dead console. Nintendo’s fix: press and hold the POWER button for at least 12 seconds to force it fully off, then press POWER once to turn it on. If that works, it was frozen, not broken.
Charge it properly
- Use the original Nintendo Switch AC adapter (model HAC-002) plugged straight into a wall socket, not a power strip, and straight into the console rather than through the dock. That is Nintendo’s repair-page guidance, and it removes the dock and cable from the picture.
- Reset the adapter first: unplug it from the wall and from the console, and leave it unplugged for at least 30 seconds.
- When power is connected you should see the charging indicator in the top-right corner of the screen. Leave it for at least 15 to 30 minutes, then hold POWER for a few seconds. A fully flat Switch takes about three hours to fill.
- If the console charges from the adapter but not from the dock, the dock or its cable is the problem, not the console.
When it probably needs a repair business
- No charging indicator at all with the original adapter, after the 12-second hold: the USB-C port or the battery is the likely cause. A bent or wobbly port, or a console that charges only at an angle, points to the port.
- The charging indicator shows but the console never gets past a black or blue screen.
- Third-party docks are a known cause of damage; if one has been used, mention it.
A repair business can check the port, the battery and the charging circuit separately. Your saved games are stored on the console; ask whether they will be affected before agreeing to anything.
Sources checked: Nintendo UK Support: Power issue, the console doesn’t turn on (Nintendo Switch repair); Nintendo Support: Nintendo Switch system has no power, a blank screen, or won’t wake up from Sleep Mode.