Why won't my Android charge? 7 ways to fix charging issues on your Android device

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra iPhone 11 Pro Max Google Pixel 4XL smart phone — There are a number of reasons why your Android may not be charging that you can troubleshoot yourself.

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If your Android phone isn’t charging, the problem could be anything from a broken charger to a software bug to a phone battery that needs replacing.
To pinpoint why your Android phone isn’t charging and fix it, you’ll need to do some troubleshooting.
Here are seven ways to test and check why your Android won’t charge.
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It can be stressful when your phone dies, but even more stressful when you plug it in and find that it won’t charge.

When this happens with Android phones, it could be for a few different reasons. There may be an external issue, like a bad power outlet or worn charging cable. It may also be an internal problem like a software glitch.

Accordingly, you’ll likely have to try a few different troubleshoot methods until the problem is solved.

How to fix your Android phone when it won’t charge

galaxy s20 fe camera — Antonio Villas-Boas/Insider

If you find your android phone suddenly won’t charge, here are seven potential fixes you can try yourself.

Try a different power outlet

Woman plugging in iPhone to wall outlet — Maskot/Getty Images

Before you assume that something is wrong with your technology, make sure it’s not the outlet your Android is plugged into that’s the issue. It could be switched off, or you could have blown a circuit.

Check your Android’s charging cable

Android smart phone charging cord — Valeriy Lushchikov/Getty Images

Charger cables go through a lot. They’re rolled, unrolled, bent, frayed, shoved into bags and pockets. It’s easy for them to become worn over time and, eventually, break entirely.

Inspect your charging cable and look for any fraying or damage to the wire. Also, look at both ends, ensuring that nothing is stuck inside, and nothing is bent out of shape. If it is, try a different cable if you have one.

Test your Android’s wall adapter

Wall adapter for smart phone — Adil Chelebiyev/Getty Images

If there’s nothing wrong with the cable, the charger could still be the problem. Look at the wall adapter and make sure the cable is plugged totally into the port. If that’s not the issue, next inspect it and make sure nothing is stuck inside and that none of the pieces are bent.

If you can’t see anything wrong with it, either test your charge with a different adapter or, if you don’t have a spare, plug your cable into your computer. If your phone begins charging, then the adapter was to blame.

Examine your Android’s charging port

Samsung Galaxy 7 charging port — Joby Sessions/T3 Magazine/Future via Getty Images

Our phones are everywhere with us, and they’re subject to a lot of wear and tear, including small things like dust and crumbs. So take a look at the phone’s charging port and make sure neither are present. If there is any, you can clean them out using a can of compressed air.

You should also make sure the port itself isn’t misaligned. If it appears to be, you can attempt to fix it with a safety pin, but it’s strongly recommended that you instead take it to a repair center to have a professional fix it.

Try restarting your Android phone

Someone restarting their Android phone — -aniaostudio-/Getty Images

Your issues may not be anything serious. They could be a minor bug that will fix itself with a quick reboot. You may also be running apps or games in the background that are draining your battery faster than it can charge. A simple restart should fix this.

To restart your Android, hold down your phone’s power button until the Power menu appears. Then select “Restart” to automatically reboot your device.

Try rolling back your Android’s software

Android Huawei P20 lite software update — Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

If you just updated your software and have an older phone, your phone may be charging. It’s just that the new OS is eating so much of your phone’s battery that it can’t charge fast enough to keep up. It’s also possible that a bug in the new software has caused your phone not to charge.

Either way, the solution is to roll back the software update, restart your phone, and then see if the charger works. If it does, then you may either need to wait until a patch comes out for the update bug or keep your phone on the old OS until you can get an upgrade.

Replace the battery of your Android phone

Woman inserting a new battery into an Android phone — AntonioGuillem/Getty Images

If you go through all these items and none of them seems to fix the problem, the most likely issue is that your battery has reached the end of its life.

If this is the case, you’ve probably also noticed your phone needing to charge more and more often. Luckily, on Androids, this isn’t a big deal. You can easily order a new battery to replace the one in your phone, and it should charge just fine.