If your Samsung Galaxy S25+ won't turn on, the first thing to try is a force restart. Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Side button together for about 10 seconds. Keep holding until you see the Samsung logo appear on the screen, then let go. This is the equivalent of pulling the battery and often clears up temporary software glitches that can cause a black screen.
It's a simple step, but I've seen it resolve the issue more often than not, especially if the phone was acting sluggish or unresponsive before it went dark.
Check Your Charger and Cable
Your S25+ might have a completely drained battery. Since Samsung no longer includes a charger in the box, you might be using an older or underpowered one. For the fastest charge, you need a USB-C cable and a charger that supports Samsung's 45W Super Fast Charging 2.0 standard.
Plug it into a wall outlet, not a computer or a weak power strip, and leave it for at least 30 minutes. If you have a wireless charger, try placing it on a Qi2 pad for an hour. Sometimes a completely dead battery needs a little time to wake up before the screen will show any sign of life.
While it's charging, inspect the USB-C port on the bottom of your phone. Lint and pocket debris can get packed in there, preventing the cable from making a proper connection. Use a plastic toothpick or a can of compressed air to gently clear it out.
Boot Into Safe Mode
If the phone turns on but gets stuck on the Samsung logo or in a boot loop, a recently installed app could be the culprit. Booting into Safe Mode temporarily disables all third-party apps.
First, force restart the phone as described earlier. The moment you see the Samsung logo appear, release the Side button but keep holding the Volume Down button. Keep holding it until the phone finishes booting. You should see "Safe mode" in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
If your S25+ starts up normally in Safe Mode, you know a downloaded app is causing the conflict. You'll need to restart normally and then uninstall apps one by one, starting with the most recent, to find the offender.
Clear the System Cache
Corrupted system cache files from apps or an interrupted update can prevent a clean boot. Clearing this cache is safe, it won't delete your personal data like photos or messages, and it can fix a lot of weird software behavior.
To do this, you need to enter the Android Recovery Menu. With the phone off, connect it to your computer with a USB-C cable. Then, press and hold the Volume Up button and the Side button at the same time. When the Samsung logo appears, let go of both buttons.
You'll see a blue menu with yellow text. Use the Volume Down button to highlight "Wipe cache partition," then press the Side button to select it. Confirm the action, and once it's done, select "Reboot system now."
Consider a Factory Reset
If none of the above steps work, a factory reset is the final software fix. This will erase everything on your phone, all your accounts, apps, photos, and files, and return it to its original out-of-the-box state.
This is a last resort because you will lose all data not backed up. To proceed, enter the Recovery Menu using the same steps for clearing the cache (Volume Up + Side button while connected to a computer).
Navigate with the volume buttons to "Factory data reset" or "Wipe data/factory reset" and select it with the Side button. You'll have to confirm this choice on the next screen. After the reset completes, choose the option to reboot the system.
Potential Hardware and Known Issues
If the phone shows absolutely no signs of life, no vibration, no charging indicator light, no warmth when plugged in for an extended period, after trying different chargers and cables, the issue could be physical. A damaged charging port, a failed battery, or a motherboard problem would require professional repair.
For newer S25+ units, there are a couple of software-related points to remember. After the initial setup, the phone works hard for a day or two indexing files and optimizing performance, which can cause significant battery drain. Give it 24 to 48 hours to settle.
Also, some early units have exhibited a faint green tint on the display at very low brightness levels or occasional Wi-Fi 7 disconnections. These are typically addressed by subsequent software updates, so if you can get the phone on, make sure it's updated to the latest version of Android 15 and One UI 7.
