There is nothing more frustrating than a PC that won’t turn on, despite repeatedly pressing the power button. A computer that shows no signs of life after pressing the key may have suffered hardware or software damage prevent Windows from starting correctly (in milder cases) or booting the motherboard (much more serious problem).
In the following guide we have collected all the suggestions for start a PC with broken power buttontrying to discover the source of the problem and intervene as far as we can. On desktop PCs it is easier to resolve the problem, while on laptops the problem could be so serious that it requires replacing the entire computer.
READ ALSO -> All the ways to turn off Windows
1) Check the power cables
The first tip is very simple and can be applied to both desktop PCs and notebooks: Let’s carefully check the power cablestrying to remove them from the electrical socket and from the power supply socket on the back of the PC or on the side of the notebook.
Any bend in the cable can cause electricity problemswithout forgetting the problems generated by the laptop’s external power supply (the main cause of sudden blackouts).
To try to remedy this we can also buy a new power cord or a new notebook power supplyusing the quick search buttons available below:
- PC power cables
- Universal notebook power supplies
- Caricatore USB Power Delivery (MacBook and modern notebooks)
If we suspect that the problem involves the internal power supply of the desktop PC (PSU) we suggest you read our guides on symptoms of a faulty or broken power supply come on How to change PC power supply.
2) The PC remains suspended even when the button is pressed
Another cause of the power button not working is the activation of the Windows sleep mode: this mode does not always respond correctly to the shutdown button, giving the illusion that the PC is turned off and that the button does not work correctly.
In this case, just press any other key on the keyboard, move the mouse or use the notebook trackpad to bring the computer out of sleep; on some laptops the key is also present Suspendto be used to bring the notebook out of sleep.
To avoid a problem of this type it is enough replace sleep with PC hibernationas seen in our articles on differences between sleep and hibernation on PC come on how to shut down your PC in hibernation and then turn it on quickly.
3) Reconnect the power button cable
On desktop PCs the power button is connected to the motherboard via a cable, which reaches to the port POWER SW o PWR SW (usually present on the bottom of the motherboard).
If the problem only concerns the cable that has come loose, simply remove the power plug from the PC, open the side panel of the case, identify the power cable and reposition it in the port assigned to control the electricity.
On laptops it is not so easy to access this type of cablegiven the enormous difficulty we can encounter in dismantling a notebook to get to the right cable: in this case we strongly advise you to take the notebook to a qualified technician, explaining the problem in detail.
4) Use an external power button
If the power button of our desktop computer is broken or damaged we can purchase an external power buttonto be placed on the desk and to be connected (inside the case) to the port dedicated to switching on (POWER SW o PWR SW).
Below we have collected the best external power buttons that we can use for the purpose:
- OYIAG – Power Button for Desktop Computers
- Desktop PC Power Button with PCI Slot Port
- PC Power Switch- 1.6m
- PC Remote Start with power button, 2 USB and audio output
- Power button for Desktop PC with PCI plate
We connect one of these buttons to the specific port on the motherboard, remove one of the protective slots of the PCI e slots we place the new button on the deskso you can very well replace a broken power button.
Conclusions
A broken power button can become a big rip-off, but fortunately we can solve it ourselves in most casesparticularly if the problem It appears on a desktop PC. As first checks we check the power cable, the power supply and the activation of sleep mode.
If these checks fail we try to reconnect or replace the power button of the desktop PC, installing a nice colored power button with LEDs on the desk.
To learn more we can read our guides on reasons that prevent your PC from booting from BIOS come on How to turn on your PC if Windows won’t start.