What To Do When Xbox Won’t Stay On?(4 Easy Fixes)

The Xbox is a pretty great gaming platform, but if you can’t get yours to stay on, you obviously won’t be able to enjoy it. What do you do when you just can’t get your Xbox to stay powered on?

There are several potential reasons your Xbox may fail to stay powered on. It could be a bad electrical connection, a hardware or software malfunction.Use a different wall outlet, plug your device directly into the working wall outlet, clean all the dust from your console and the cables, ensure proper ventilation, reset your Xbox to solve the issue.

Of course, we understand that such an assessment is not particularly helpful. Don’t worry: in this article, we’ll cover these potential problems in more detail, along with the solutions you can try to get your Xbox operational once more.

Why Won’t Your Xbox Stay On?

The fact of the matter is, there is no one particular reason an Xbox will fail to power up. There are many potential culprits that could be responsible for this problem.

Unfortunately, this means that finding a solution is often a lot of trial and error. That said, knowing the potential causes helps narrow it down.

A bad electrical connection is easy, for example. That just means the Xbox is not getting the power it needs to function, which could be as simple as the outlet you are plugging into going bad.

It could also be that the actual power block and cord you are using are damaged. 

You could also have a much more complicated problem, such as a software glitch or error in the Xbox itself. Those issues are much harder to troubleshoot since you can’t investigate the issue if your Xbox can’t stay powered on long enough for you to do that.

Software issues are the hardest to fix.

However, none of these issues are impossible to solve. We’ll go over in detail the various courses of action you can take to hopefully get your Xbox back up and running. 

What To Do When Your Xbox Won’t Stay On

Because there could be many explanations for your Xbox failing to stay on, the best thing to do is run down a checklist of potential solutions, from simplest to most complicated.

After all, you wouldn’t want to waste a bunch of time trying something complicated when something brief would have worked.

1. Check For Electrical Errors

If you’re lucky, the issue with your Xbox is simple, and it’s just an electrical problem. The very first thing you should do is try plugging your Xbox into another outlet.

Also, if you were using a power strip, try plugging your Xbox directly into the wall outlet.

Sometimes, the outlet you’re using just isn’t any good any longer. This is true even if you’re using a power strip or surge protector.

Also, double-check and ensure that your connections are clean. Make sure the cable ports for both your cord and your Xbox are free of dust. Dirty or obstructed connections can cause power problems sometimes.

If that doesn’t work, the problem could be with the power cord itself. If you have a friend with the same Xbox as you, ask if you can borrow their cord and see if your Xbox can stay powered on when using that one. 

If it can, then the cord was clearly the issue, and you’ll need to buy a replacement. Also, if were using a power strip, try plugging your Xbox directly into the wall outlet.

You can also try resetting your power supply be following these steps:

1. Unplug your power cables from the system.
2. Wait for about 10 seconds.
3. Plug the power back into the system except for the Xbox.
4. Check the LED indicator to confirm whether the power supply is delivering adequate voltage.
5. If the light is steady orange or steady white, plug the cable into the console.

If none of that works, there could be a hardware issue inside of your Xbox, but we do not recommend opening up your console and tinkering.

You’re more likely to cause damage than fix things, and it could also void your warranty. If your Xbox still won’t turn on, try the following solutions.

2. Check the Settings

Sometimes your console is not the culprit. Instead, let’s try adjusting a few settings to see if it will fix the issue with your console not staying on:

1. Go to Profile & System.
2. Go to Settings > General.
3. Select Power &  Start-Up.
4. Select Turn off after.
5. Set it to Don’t turn off automatically.

Now try playing your favourite gane and see if the issue is gone. If that setting was on, this is very likely to do the trick.

3. The Xbox Could Be Overheating

Because extreme heat can damage sensitive computer parts, your Xbox is likely designed to force a shut down if there is a problem with the heat dissipation of the console.

In other words, there may be something wrong with your fan or the exhaust areas of the console.

While it is not always the case, you will often hear your Xbox make loud whirring sounds just before a shutdown if this is the problem.

Ensure that your Xbox’s exhaust vents are free of dust or any other sort of obstruction, and make sure those vents have plenty of empty space near them to expel hot air.

Because the fan is usually easily accessible, you could try and take your Xbox apart to see if it is damaged or simply needs cleaning.

But be aware that this may void your warranty. If none of the above fixes your problem, you may have a more serious issue on your hands.

We have a dedicated article to instruct you on how to avoid the Xbox overheating issue, take a look at it below.

Related Post: 5 Quick&Easy Tricks To Stop Your Xbox One From Overheating

4. Software Issues

It is possible that your Xbox cannot stay on because of an internal software issue. To try and fix this, you’ll have no choice but to try and reset your Xbox, and pray that the issue is rectified. Here is how you can reset your Xbox even if you can’t access the menu.

1. Hold the “Xbox button” (the big button with an “X”) located on your console for more than 10 seconds. This will turn off your console. It may make a beeping sound indicating it has been turned on/off.
2. To complete the reset, you need to press this “X” button again. It will power up again.
3. This reboot allows all components to reset themselves. Try reconnecting the controller now.

If a soft reset doesn’t work, you may have to attempt a full factory reset, but be aware that this will clear everything off of your Xbox: profiles, games, and all save data.

Here is how to factory reset your console:

1. Go to Profile & System.
2. Go to Settings > System.
3. Select Console info.
4. Select Reset Console.

Don’t worry though, all of that stuff is linked to your profile, so while you will have to download everything again, you won’t have to buy your games again, and all of your save data should be accessible from the cloud.

Final Thoughts on Your Xbox Power Problems

Remember to try all of these solutions from simplest to most complicated, to hopefully save yourself some time. Try out different outlets, clean your cord ports, or try a different power cord altogether. Make sure the fan and exhaust vents are clean. If that doesn’t work, attempt a reset of your Xbox.

But what if none of this works? Well, if that’s the case you have a problem that you probably won’t be able to fix on your own regardless of what you do. In that case, you will likely have no choice but to send your Xbox in for servicing by professionals.

If your warranty is still in effect, it should be free. That is why we don’t recommend opening p your Xbox on your own since that could void your warranty. Hopefully, though, these potential fixes solved your problem!