Your Android phone has a black screen and isn't responding. Start by holding its Power button for 5–7 seconds. If nothing happens, the charging steps and brand-specific restart instructions below give you the next moves.
Start with the Power button
Use this method when your phone is powered off. The button's location and required holding time vary by manufacturer.
Press and hold Power for 5–7 seconds. If the phone doesn't respond, move on to charging it.
On a Google Pixel, hold Power for a few seconds. For Pixel 6 and later, keep holding until you feel a vibration, which takes up to 7 seconds.
On a Samsung Galaxy with a Side button, press and hold that button while the phone is off. There's no need to change its assistant assignment; that setting doesn't change how you start a powered-off Galaxy.
For a Sony Xperia 1 VII, hold Power until the phone vibrates.
Wait for the Xperia to finish starting and show the lock screen.
Give a drained battery time to charge
A fully discharged battery needs time to recover. Connect a working cable and compatible charger to a functioning outlet, then check for a charging indicator.
Leave the phone charging for at least 30 minutes before trying Power again.
A deeply discharged Samsung Galaxy needs at least 1 hour of charging. Its charging indicator takes up to 10 minutes to appear, so a blank screen right after plugging it in isn't the end of the road.
After charging the Galaxy, disconnect the charger, then hold Power or Side for 15–20 seconds.
If wired charging fails and your phone supports wireless charging, use an approved compatible wireless charger, then try its normal Power-button startup procedure. If there's still no response, try your manufacturer's forced restart below, followed by the computer charging procedure.
Force a restart when the phone won't respond
A forced restart recovers an unresponsive phone and differs from ordinary startup after shutdown. On a Pixel, hold Power for up to 60 seconds. Release it when rebooting begins and the G logo appears.
On a supported Samsung Galaxy, hold Power or Side together with Volume Down for at least 7 seconds, releasing when the Samsung logo appears and the phone vibrates. If Maintenance Boot Mode opens, use a Volume key to highlight Normal Boot. Select it with Power or Side, or with Bixby on models that use that key.
On Motorola phones covered by its startup troubleshooting instructions, hold Power for 10 seconds. If that fails, retry while connected to a wall charger, following your model's instructions if they specify a different holding time. On supported OnePlus, OPPO, and realme phones covered by the OxygenOS 16.0, ColorOS 16.0, and realme UI 7.0 manuals, hold Power and Volume Up together for more than 10 seconds.
On the Xperia 1 VII, hold Power and Volume Up until the phone vibrates, then release both buttons. Don't keep holding: continuing until three vibrations forces shutdown instead.
Try charging through a computer
Connect the phone to a powered computer using a working USB cable.
Wait 10–15 minutes.
Disconnect the cable.
Reconnect it within 10 seconds.
If a battery icon appears, leave the phone charging for at least 30 minutes.
Hold Power to try starting the phone.
Tap Restart if prompted.
Remember that this charging recovery procedure still requires the normal startup action.
Check whether only the screen is asleep
A sleeping display leaves the screen black while the phone is still running.
Press Power once on a Pixel, or briefly press Side on a Galaxy, to wake the display.
Unlock the screen if required.
For a remote check, open Find Hub on another Android device or through its web interface. The phone must have Find Hub configured and connectivity available to receive the command.
Sign in to the Google account associated with the phone.
Select the phone.
Choose Play sound. If it rings, the phone is already running; this command cannot turn on a powered-off phone.
Double-tapping, lifting, fingerprint unlocking, and voice assistants also require the phone to be running. They don't start Android after a full shutdown.
Use supported alternatives to the Power button
There's no universal Android startup shortcut that bypasses Power. Selected Xiaomi and POCO phones, including the POCO F7 Pro and POCO X7, start automatically when connected to a charger, either immediately or once enough battery power is available. Connect the charger and allow the battery to recover; there's no user-facing switch to enable this behavior.
A startup schedule requires setup while the phone is running. On the Xiaomi 13T Pro, open Settings > Battery > Additional features > Schedule power on/off. Enable Schedule power on and configure the schedule before shutting down.
On supported phones using OxygenOS 16.0, ColorOS 16.0, or realme UI 7.0, open Settings > Accessibility & convenience > Schedule power on/off and configure the power-on schedule before shutdown. The realme UI Android 16 edition uses the label Scheduled power on/off. Availability depends on the model, and scheduled startup requires sufficient battery power.
Computer restart commands have their own prerequisites: ADB requires a running phone with debugging configured and the computer authorized. Fastboot reboot requires a phone already in a compatible Fastboot environment. Installing computer tools alone won't turn on a fully powered-off phone with broken buttons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an alarm turn on a phone that is shut down?
The REDMI 15 supports this feature. While the phone is running, open Clock > three-dot menu > Settings > Additional alarm settings. Enable Shutdown alarm, then set an alarm for at least 10 minutes after shutdown. Sufficient battery power is required, and Xiaomi recommends at least 20%. This feature is not universal across Android phones.
Does Samsung Auto restart turn on a shut-down Galaxy?
No. Samsung's Auto restart is a maintenance feature for an already-running phone. Automatic restarts normally require the phone to be unused, its display off, and at least 30% battery.
Will a forced restart delete my photos or apps?
Motorola explicitly states that its documented Power-button forced restart does not delete phone data. A forced restart is different from selecting a factory reset or data-wipe option.
How do I leave Android Recovery on a Pixel?
If your Pixel is already in Android Recovery, use the Volume keys to highlight Reboot system now, then press Power to select it. This uses the reboot entry in Google's documented recovery menu; don't select a data-wipe option merely to restart.
Why does my Pixel ask for a PIN after I turn it on?
Pixel phones require your PIN, pattern, or password after a reboot. Fingerprint unlocking cannot replace that first unlock.