Clear the debris
Not all smartphones have openings around the power button and even if it does, it is quite small. If your phone has it, you can use a sharp object to roll across the walls trying to squeeze out debris in an attempt to see if the debris is the reason why the button wasn’t working.
Report the issue to an authorized service center
If you are not willing to go to an authorized service center just yet, you can, of course, look at the ways you can use the phone with a broken power button. But anyhow, let’s assume that you believe it is a hardware failure and for this, you’ll have to walk-in to an authorized service center in order to get it repaired or replaced if needed. Fortunately, it wouldn’t cost you a fortune to fix a broken power button and you’ll be able to use the phone in a couple of days or even hours.
This particular question could pop up in your brain if the power button is not working. But you need to understand that there are three cases under this particular question for reference.
Case 01: Screen is ON
Raise screen time-out duration
One way you can avoid the screen from going blank and which means you won’t be able to revive the phone without pressing a power button, you need to increase the screen time-out duration. The maximum is 30 minutes and before the duration ends, you need to tap on the screen once to give it a push for the next 30 minutes.
Enable Always-On display
The feature is available on all flagship and some of the midrange smartphones as well. This feature keeps the screen off but shows timing on the display or notification icon, etc. This enables the knock to wake up the screen mechanism as well.
Enable Double Tap feature
Most of the smartphones have this feature where you simply double tap on the screen to wake it up. This resolves the battery draining problem that you will be facing after extending the time-out duration further.
Use apps to substitute
Well, there are a number of apps in the Google Play Store that you can use as substitutes for a broken power button. It includes the likes of Shake Screen On/Off, Power Button to Volume Button, Gravity Screens, Proximity Actions, etc. These apps have varying functionality that you can use to neglect the fact that your phone has a broken power button.
Scheduled On/Off
One of the best things to use is to enable scheduled on/off feature that’ll help determine if the problem is software or hardware related at the first place. Also, it will help by saving battery in the night when you might not be needing the device and don’t want the extended screen time-out feature to gargle all the juice from the battery as well. This feature can help tap into occasional reboots as well.
Case 02: Screen is OFF
Ask someone to ring or ping
Assuming that the screen is off but the phone is switched on, you can use a different phone or borrow it from someone to ring or ping you. This will trigger the screen to wake up and there you have it.
Charge to wake up
If the phone is turned on but the screen is off, you can connect it to charger mounted on a wall or use a power bank or even connect the device to computer or laptop to wake up the screen.
Use fingerprint scanner
Majority of the devices have FPS and it totally bypasses the need to click on the power button to turn on the screen, etc. Simply place the finger on FPS and voila, the screen is unlocked. But you’ll need to configure it beforehand for it to work.
Case 03: The phone is switched off
Unless you have enabled the Scheduled ON feature that I mentioned earlier or you can use PC Suite or fastboot tools, you might not be able to use a phone with a broken power button. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to use any of the methods explained in ‘Case 01’ and ‘Case 02’. Finally, the last resort is to visit an authorized service center to get the problem fixed.
