How To Power-On Mobile Phone With A Damaged Power Button

Ever ended up breaking your cell phone’s power button and found yourself unable to turn its screen on when it times out, or power the device on once it runs out of battery? It can be a frustrating situation, especially if you don’t have a backup device and need to be able to use your phone till you can send it for repairs. Fortunately, you aren’t entirely out of luck, as there is a simple solution to this problem that can work on many phones and save the day for you. Read on for further details.

When recently attempting to repair my HTC Touch HD’s malfunctioning power button, I accidentally ended up breaking it. I was outdoors and couldn’t afford the phone’s screen to turn off since that would leave me unable to turn it back on, so I changed its settings to keep the screen from turning off automatically. This however, presented another problem – the battery was draining quickly and once it ran out completely, there didn’t seem to be any way for me to power the device on even after charging it, once I got back home. By trial and error, I came across an easy solution.

While the phone was charging using a standard wall socket charger, I tried pulling the battery out and inserting it back in. It did not work. Then I connected the phone to my computer using a mini USB cable, pulled the phone’s battery out and inserted it back in and viola! The phone powered on, and I could use it. I tried the same on a friend’s HTC HD2 and it worked the same way. Achievement unlocked: Eureka moment!

Although this might not work on all phones and was tested by me only on the above mentioned devices, it could prove to be a handy trick to try out when such a situation arises. It does require a PC and a USB connector cable for your cellphone. Let’s hope it helps others get those few critical hours of use from their phones before they can have a chance to send them in for the repairs.

Tried out this method with your phone? Did it turn out to work fine, or did bad luck refuse to give up? Don’t forget to share your experience with us and our readers in the comments below, with your device make and model, and whether the method worked for you or not.

nrgk.z
fuck you!
Raven_aerial
OMG…GENIUS. It worked exactly how you described it. Thank you sooooooo much
wsimmons
You are a life saver! The power button on my HTC Hero broke off the other day and when it died last night I had no way to turn it back on. This worked like a charm!
love
didnt work on my g2
Kevikev2006
Ok, thanks for posting this. By the way this very method also works for the HtC Evo.
Crawley Obara
Everytime I pull out the stylus it automatically unlocks. Instead of leaving your battery to dry out just pull out your SD card…
Staci
Worked for the HTC G2 with broken power button!!!!! Thanks so much!
Savannah
Well that sucks for me, my power button and my charge outlet in the phone are both broke -____-
lala
ur a life saver mein this really wotk thank you!!!!!!!!!!:-)
Orion
works on impulse 4g thank you man!
Dian
…this works!!!!!!! I was just about to take apart the HTC HD2 and possibly ruin it (again) and my day, but thanks for a smart solution!!!
Karol
Yes ! It definitely works. Power button is broken. Nothing happens in socket charger (when removing and put back battery) but it works with computer USB connection … thanks so much. HTC Desire
bree
evo3d WE GOTS POWER thank youx874874983704704
Ben
It works for the samsung epic (4g galaxy S w/ slider). Really thank you
ObamaBabyMamaDramaMaybeLlama
Works with the HTC Amaze. The only crappy thing about this is that powering down the screen is a pain in the butt. To wake it up after it sleeps on you, you’ll have to use the buttons on the side right below the volume buttons.
- notoriginalenough2pikacoolname
  It didn’t work for mine. When it comes to my phone, the power button is either completely pushed down, or not there. I’m assuming that it’s just pushed down because I haven’t done anything that would remove my power button. Now it just doesn’t work at all even when I try using the volume buttons and taking out the battery. The orange light comes on when it’s charging. Before my button was completely broken, it was just very difficult to push down. I had to push really hard in order to power my phone back on after it died. Sometimes when I got it back on, it would just power off unexpectedly and it took a long time to get it back on. But later, the button just barely ever worked, so I cut back on using my phone.(I don’t have service, I just use it for online, the camera, and music) When I started trying again, I used a knife to try to push in the power button because my hand started to hurt when I tried. Now when I try to push the power button, it doesn’t even click. Its just completely flat. I really want to get it to turn back on so I can get my pictures back and send them to myself because when i used to connect my phone to my PC, it didn’t give me the option to import my photos, but that’s not really important now that my phone won’t even turn on. >:l Can you please help?
sammythebull
It worked on the HTC LEO. I plugged it in to the PC took the battery out long pressed the power button. Put the battery back and it went on.
THANKS!!!! life save had a client meeting and was going crazy to call in
Jhulisa
didnt work for Samsung Infuse 4G, sad mode!
pra
did not worked on htc desire
Simon Lacoste-Julien
Thanks so much, you saved my phone! The power button no my HTC Desire is now totally broken; with CyanogenMod I can use other buttons instead — but for this, I must first be able to turn in on! Your USB trick works wonder on the HTC Desire as well!
Aisha
omg it worked thanks alot!!!!
x_devil
awesome!! had to try it 3 times but I guess third times the charm.. its a spare and I use it to read ebooks… thank you so much
NWNorwegian
Worked with my HTC EVO 4G. The only difference I had with my experience is that the phone batter had to be removed from the phone before plugging the USB cable into the phone. Wait for 5 seconds, make sure the charge light didn’t come on. Then I placed the battery into the phone and it switched right on. Way better than using the load wire.
Kiki
This worked on my htc merge! Thank you so much!
faixan
thanx it worked for me
Dot
Well, I have a damn Microsoft phone with a dented button, what should I do? Actually get it fixed?
Kamar
Hi, guys. I have lost my phones(htc amaze) power button. now i cant on my phone .. please advice me
Sebastian
Unfortunately I can not take the battery out of my phone 🙁
desire-601
worked on htc desire 601! took 2 tries and had to wait a while before it started up but managed to turn it on to back up all my files left in the phone
- hahabye
  it didnt work for me how?:(((
- mike
  Bro, you have to explain how you did it. Still not working for me
- Taz
  how long did you wait??
- Poe
  How did you do that? I have HTC Desice 601 too and it didn’t work.
Enrico
On my Sony Experia mini pro it does not work
jamalm
Htc601desire didnt work
- me
  works if you have a charged battery, does not if you let the battery drain and he phone had shut down already
hatake_kakashi
It cant be done on an HTC One Max, because the battery is totally glued inside
Shane Copley
I broke my connection for the power button on the board after trying to replace the screen, this worked for my Samsung Galaxy alpha, hadn’t not been for this info I was looking at buying another phone but for now I have power thankyou
Shin
but my batter is not removable :'(
erineko
it didnt work?????!!! tssss…. wiw
Shelli
ive been tryin for 3 years and it worked
Lej Andro
It worked perfectly at the fist attempt for my Lenovo cellphone. Thanks for the post
Denharo Francis
thanks…it worked im using a blu studio x plus