Why Won't My Kindle Fire Turn On?

When the Kindle Fire won't turn on, the first thing to suspect is its battery charge. This happens when you leave it on too long – which is sometimes hard to tell because the Kindle screen goes black or gray when it enters sleep mode. Even though it is in sleep mode, the battery wears down over time, as it is still "on" and only has an 8-hour battery. The screen brightness and Wi-Fi settings can both drain its battery faster. Plug your Kindle in and allow it to recharge for at least 30 minutes before trying to restart it.

You may have to complete a hard reset to get your Kindle working again. If it is hung up in sleep mode, you can't tell because the screen appears as if it were turned off. After you've charged your Kindle Fire for at least 30 minutes using the power charger it came with, push the "On" button on the side of the Kindle screen. If nothing happens, let go. Wait a few seconds and then depress the button again, this time holding it for at least 20 to 30 seconds before releasing it. Give the device a few minutes to completely turn off. You won't notice anything happening because the screen remains dark through this process. Press the power button to restart your Kindle after waiting.

If you find that your Kindle Fire keeps hanging and won't start up when you touch the power button, you may have a software issue or other conflict. The best way to resolve this is to reset your Kindle to its factory default settings. This action removes all personal data, account settings, applications and downloads from your Kindle Fire, and returns it to its original factory settings. After charging your Kindle and completing a hard reset, turn on your Kindle to access the device settings. Swipe your finger down from the top of the screen where you see the time display. Select the "More" settings identified by the plus sign by lightly tapping it. Scroll down to "Device," tap it and scroll down to "Reset to Factory Defaults." A pop-up screen asks you to confirm and continue. Touch "Yes."

When you first set up your Kindle Fire, it offers you the option to set a lock screen password. This keeps your Kindle Fire information private as it prevents just anyone from accessing it. To reset your lock-screen password requires you to reset your Kindle to its factory default settings. After the fifth wrong attempt at entering your lock-screen password or personal identification number, a pop-up screen appears asking you to reset your Kindle. Once you have completed the factory default reset, restore your Amazon account information and sync your Kindle with your information held in the Amazon cloud for you.