You're trying to use your phone but it just won't power up. No matter what buttons you press or functions you try to use, your screen just stays black and unresponsive. In this article I'll show you everything you can try if your Google Pixel 4 is not turning on.
Try Charging Your Pixel 4
Some of you may have already tried this step, but it's an important place to start nonetheless. Your Pixel 4 won't turn on if it doesn't have enough battery life to sustain itself. If you plug your phone into a charger and it still won't turn on, at least you've ruled out the battery as what's causing the problem.
To make sure that it's not just a matter of battery life keeping your device from turning on, try using a few different types of chargers to get it to power up. If your Pixel 4 won't charge when plugged into a wall, try plugging it into your laptop's USB port or a car charger. You'd be surprised how differently some smartphones react to different power sources.
Force Restart Your Pixel 4
If your Google Pixel 4's experiencing a software crash, it's possible that the phone itself is still on but the screen has been rendered black and unresponsive to touch. To rule out if this is the case on your phone, you'll want to force restart the device.
To force restart an unresponsive Pixel 4, press and hold the power button and volume down button at the same time. Continue holding both buttons simultaneously for at least 7 seconds, your phone should restart from there.
If your phone successfully restarts, that's good news! You can now use your phone again. However, you might not be totally in the clear yet. If a smartphone's working how it should, crashes like this shouldn't just occur at random. There's likely a relatively serious software issue occurring within your device that's causing it to malfunction.
If this problem persists, or if you want to have a clearer idea of why your phone crashed in the first place, keep reading for more tips!
Backup Your Google Pixel 4
When a smartphone experiences a serious glitch in its software or hardware, you can never predict when the problem will go from bad to worse. In anticipation of your phone's malfunction worsening unexpectedly, you'll want to back up your Pixel 4 while you can. Otherwise, you may permanently lose any personal information you keep stored on your device.
Your Pixel 4 includes an automatic backup feature in its settings. When automatic backup is turned on, much of your personal data, such as photos, videos, messages and contacts get directly uploaded to your Google account. To check whether automatic backup is currently enabled on your phone, open Settings, select System and then Backup. You'll want to know that, if you turn off automatic backup, any data that the feature's previously backed up will get deleted and you'll need to back it up manually if you want to preserve it again.
If you keep any other files saved on your smartphone that you would like to backup, you can do so manually by uploading them to your Google Drive account. Open Drive on your Pixel 4, then tap the Add icon. Tap Upload, followed by Upload files. You can then select ever file you would like to upload to Drive should you need to access them later.
Factory Restore Google Pixel 4
The final step you can take to determine whether or not a software malfunction is keeping your Pixel 4 from turning on is to perform a factory restore. The factory restore process will delete all of your personal data and settings from your device, and hopefully get rid of any bugs causing your phone to malfunction as well. It's due to this mass data erasure that you'll want to make sure all of your information is backed up somewhere else before initiating the restore.
A factory restore can take up to an hour to complete, so you'll want to plug your Pixel 4 into a power source before you begin. If your phone dies in the middle of the restore process, it could retain even further damage. On a similar note, you'll want to connect to a Wi-Fi or cellular network before restoring, or else you might not be able to log back into your device after the restore completes.
Open Settings and tap System followed by Advanced. Select Reset options, then Erase all data (factory restore). Next, tap Reset phone, and enter your security code or pattern if you have one. Finally, select Erase everything. Once the data on your Pixel's erased, select Restart.
When your Pixel 4 boots backup, log back into your Google account, all of your backed up data should automatically restore into your device.
Get Your Pixel Repaired
If you've completed the factory restore and your Pixel 4 still isn't turning on, it's time to seek out help from an expert. Visit the Google Repair Center to get in touch with a technician, together you might be able to identify exactly what's wrong with your smartphone. The Repair Center's page also offers information about the best way to get your Pixel 4 fixed if it needs some work done on its hardware.
Power On, Pixel 4!
A smartphone that won't turn on really isn't good for much besides weighing down paper. If your Google Pixel 4's not turning on, make sure your battery's working and start with simple solutions like a restart. If it still won't activate, try to save a backup before performing more serious home repairs. Good luck!
