How to Troubleshoot a Laptop
Laptops fail in a handful of familiar ways. Work through the matching steps below before you book a repair. They often save you one.
The laptop will not turn on
- Plug in the charger and look for a charging light.
- Try a different wall outlet.
- Unplug the charger and anything connected by USB, then hold the power button down for 30 seconds.
- Plug the charger back in, wait a minute, and press the power button normally.
- If it starts, let it charge fully before using it on battery.
When to stop: Call if there is no light and no sound at all, or the laptop was recently dropped or got wet.
The battery will not charge
- Check the charger is pushed in fully at the laptop, the brick and the wall.
- Look along the cable for kinks or breaks, and into the charging port for lint or a bent pin.
- Try another outlet, and another compatible charger if you can borrow one.
- Restart the laptop with the charger connected.
- Check battery health: on Windows, search for “battery report”; on a Mac, look under Battery in System Settings.
When to stop: Call if the charger tip gets hot, the port is loose, or the battery looks swollen. Stop using a laptop with a swollen battery.
It overheats or the fan is very loud
- Use it on a hard, flat surface, not a bed or a cushion.
- Check that the vents on the sides and underside are not blocked.
- Close programs and browser tabs you are not using.
- With the laptop switched off, blow dust out of the vents with short bursts of compressed air.
When to stop: Call if it shuts itself off from heat, or the fan grinds or does not spin at all.
The laptop is on but the screen is black
- Press the brightness-up key several times.
- Connect an external monitor or TV. On Windows, press the Windows key and P to choose the display.
- If the picture is fine on the external screen, the laptop display or its cable has failed.
- Shine a flashlight at the screen: a very faint picture means the backlight has failed.
When to stop: Call in either case: both are repairs, but your files are safe.
The keyboard or touchpad does not respond
- Restart the laptop.
- Look for a touchpad on/off key in the top row, often used with the Fn key.
- Plug in a USB keyboard or mouse. If that works, the fault is in the built-in one.
- Check for a recent spill, even a small one.
When to stop: Call if keys stopped working after a spill, or only some keys work.
Liquid was spilled on it
- Switch it off right away by holding the power button down.
- Unplug the charger and anything else connected.
- Open it and stand it upside down, like a tent, so liquid runs away from the keyboard.
- Do not use a hair dryer, an oven or rice.
- Do not switch it back on to check.
When to stop: Call right away. Corrosion starts within hours, and a laptop that seems fine after a spill often fails days later.
Questions
Will holding the power button for 30 seconds hurt the laptop?
No. It drains leftover charge and clears a state many laptops get stuck in.
Do these steps apply to MacBooks?
Mostly, yes. The charging, heat, spill and black-screen steps are the same.
My laptop turns on but will not load Windows. Which guide?
Use the “Windows will not start” steps in the desktop guide. They are the same for a laptop.
Still not working?
Call us or book online and tell us the make, the model and what is going wrong. For IT support a technician comes to your home or office. For a repair we pick the computer up from your door, fix it at our own workshop in Burbank and bring it back. We have no storefront, so there is nowhere to drop a machine off. Outside our area, you can mail it to us.