Smartphones can be extremely powerful hardware-wise, but physically even the more robust one can break. And yes, there are all sorts of screen protectors and special ultra-tough cases but even those have their limitations. If you need to turn on an Android phone with a broken Power button there are some things you can try.
Sure, a broken Power button is less expensive to replace than a cracked screen (especially for flagships) but you still need your phone until you get it fixed.
How to turn on an Android phone with a broken Power button
If your button has fallen you can use a thin object like a hairpin, a needle or a toothpick to simulate the key press. Even if that doesn’t work, you still have some options left.
If your phone is also out of battery, you can connect it to your computer via a USB cable. Let it charge for a while – it might turn on itself.
Turn on the phone using other hard keys
While not many devices have physical home buttons anymore if yours does you can try the key combination below:
Volume keys + Home button
Before you try this, make sure your device is charged. Then, hold down both volume up and down keys and connect the phone to your computer via a USB cable. While still pressing both volume keys, hold down the Home button. You might need to wait for a few minutes. You can release the buttons when the menu appears.
Don’t feel intimated by all the commands shown on the screen. Navigate through the options using the volume keys and select the turn on or restart option. Your device should turn back on.
Volume button
If your smartphone doesn’t have a physical Home button, not all is lost. You can still try to turn it on using just the volume buttons. As always, make sure the phone has enough charge before you try this.
While pressing on the volume down key, connect your phone to your computer. Keep holding down the button until a boot menu is displayed. Then, all you need to do is use your volume keys to select the ‘Start’ option and your smartphone should turn on.
Samsung Devices
Samsung devices have a slightly different Bootloader but they can still be turned on even with a broken Power button.
Press and hold the volume down and home buttons as you connect the device to your PC. If you own a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ as well as future Samsung smartphones without a physical home button you will need to press and hold Volume up and the Bixby button.
ADB
The above solutions usually work, but not always. If you haven’t managed to turn on your phone using any of them, you can try to boot using ADB.
Once you install ADB and Fastboot tools on your computer, it’s time to launch your phone into Bootloader. We already covered Samsung, so here’s how this works for smartphones from other manufacturers:
Depending on the device you will need to press the volume up and/or down keys, then connect it to your PC.
For Nexus and Google Pixel smartphones, press and hold the volume down key, then plug in the device. Release the button when the Google splash screen is displayed.
For HTC devices, press and hold volume down, then power up the device while still holding down the volume down key.
If you have a Motorola smartphone, simply press and hold volume down then connect the phone to your computer.
For LG devices, press and hold volume down until the LG logo is displayed. If it doesn’t work, release the volume button for a second and press it once more.
Assuming you’ve managed to enable bootloader mode on your phone, run the following command in ADB on your computer:
fastboot continue
This would turn on your phone right away.
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