iPad Mini Won't Turn On? Try These Fixes

If your iPad Mini won't turn on after you push the Home button, don't panic. In most cases, bringing the tablet back to life takes only a few easy steps. We'll show you what you need to do to get your device working again.

1. Wake up the iPad. It may be in a sleep state and not turned off. If pressing the Sleep/Wake button once or twice doesn't do anything, the iPad might be powered off. When an iPad is powered off completely, the battery isn't being used. You'll know the iPad is turning on when you see the Apple logo.

2. Turn up the brightness on the iPad screen. The tablet might be on but the screen may be too dark. Take the iPad into a dark room, open the Control Center, and increase the brightness. To open the Control Center in iOS 12, swipe down from the upper right corner; in iOS 11 and earlier, swipe up from the bottom.

3. Plug in the iPad and charge it. If the iPad is off and won't turn on when you press and hold the Wake button, the battery may be completely drained. Wait several minutes after plugging in the iPad to see if a battery indicator shows up or if the device turns on. It will power on automatically when the battery has enough energy to wake the device. If you don't see this indicator within an hour, or you see a "connect to power" indicator, make sure everything is plugged in firmly. Also, try using a different USB cable or outlet.

   If an iPad Mini is left in a hot car or out in freezing temperatures, it may shut down and may not charge. Bring it to room temperature before starting it or charging it.

   Clean out the charging port if the iPad has been plugged in for an hour and won't charge. Dirt or dust may be blocking the port, which can hinder its ability to charge. Use a wooden or plastic toothpick to scrape out any debris.

4. Fix cable connections inside the iPad. Some users have been able to power on their iPads after they burp the iPad. Lightly patting it may realign loose cables that aren't making solid connections.

   Make sure to turn the tablet off before you do this, and cover the front and back securely with a towel.

5. Reset the iPad. Rebooting an iPad Mini using an iPad restart procedure works when the iPad is turned on. If the iPad is turned off, do a hard reset on the iPad Mini.

6. Put the iPad into recovery mode and update the software. Recovery mode won't erase your data but will update the iPad software and reinstall the latest version of iOS.

7. Erase the iPad remotely. When an iPad won't turn on, you can try using recovery mode or partially starting it and do a remote wipe to reset the software. If you can erase the iPad this way, update it to the latest iOS version to fix whatever was causing it to not start.

   A normal iPad reset involves accessing the iPad's settings from within the device. You can't reset an iPad if the iPad won't start.

8. Take the iPad to an expert. If the above solutions didn't work, take the iPad to an authorized repair service. There might be a hardware problem that software fixes won't solve. Look for an expert in the Apple Genius bar or at an Apple Certified Repair Center.