[2022] Why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON (Proven Steps)

If you are using an Oculus Quest device or an Oculus Quest 2 device, one of the issues most users face, is their Oculus screen going blank once they power it ON? 

Many are left confused as to what is going on and might ask themselves ” why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON.

If you are faced with this scenario, it is most likely due to the recent virtual reality update from Oculus (which is owned by Facebook). If you followed the recent news from Facebook, you’ll be aware of the fact that they changed their name to Meta. And since then they’ve implemented a series of updates across all the apps owned by them such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.

What all this means is this, you don’t need to fret as it could be a simple update issue which can be solved by simple troubleshooting steps.

Since you’re here, looking to figure out the question: why won’t my oculus quest turn On, below I will be breaking down what you have to do to resolve it

Let’s proceed.

Why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON

If you have an oculus quest device with a black screen there are a few things you need to check before starting any serious troubleshooting technique.

Below are some of the things you can do first

Confirm the battery level

If you’ve been using some power-hungry app before you drop down the Oculus Quest device you might want to charge it for a bit before you use it. 

But, having a low battery might not be the real cause of this, but it is something you should check before trying out the next step.

Leave the Oculus Quest Headset for some hours

You might ask why? Sometimes your Oculus Quest device might be undergoing an update in the background and maybe you’re using some power-hungry app while the update is going on.

The device may give a blank screen to prevent the headset from going hot. 

So what you have to do if it doesn’t come up for a while is to leave it somewhere charging for a few hours (1-2hours) and come back to it. If it’s an update issue. The blank screen should disappear when you pick it up. But if the issues persist, then you might have to try out the next step.

Hard Reboot Your Oculus Quest Device

To tackle the ” why won’t my oculus quest turn On? “ question you need to carry out a hard reboot

If you’re not sure how to do a hard reboot follow the steps below:

• Get your Oculus Quest device.
• Long press the power button for a minimum of 60 seconds till the LED light turns white.
• After doing this, Leave the device and give it some time to boot up.

Doing this should resolve this issue as many Quest users also attested to trying this out.

This method should work perfectly for you, however, if it doesn’t, try out the next troubleshooting steps below

Use the Boot Menu to Start the device.

Anytime you want to carry out a factory reset on your device, the menu you go to after holding the power button and the volume button is called the boot menu.

If you are not sure how to get here follow the steps below.

• Get your Oculus Quest Headset
• Now, long press the power button with the volume (-) button for 20 seconds.
• Release your hands when the boot menu loads up.
• Now, use the volume button to navigate through the boot menu by selecting “Exit” and boot the device.

This is a troubleshooting option you can try out, However, if the blank screen persists then maybe you’re device charger is having some issues.

Try out a different Charging cable

If your Oculus Quest device is low and not charging while the update is going on. Probably, the update is done but your battery is flat. If this is the case, the device might not come on.

Since you are faced with the ” why won’t my oculus quest turn On? question “ you want to be double sure that your Oculus charging cable is working perfectly. If the cable is faulty, then you might want to change it to another one.

Now, if you’ve tried all the steps above and your Oculus Quest is still having a black screen, Probably you haven’t figured out the solution to Why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON.

Then you should give your device a cool factory reset.

Factory reset your Oculus Quest device.

Carrying out a factory reset may not sit well with you since you have some purchased files like a paid app, games, settings, and a whole load of things you’ve installed on your Oculus Quest 2 device. However here is something you need to know.

Carrying out a factory reset will only remove your device to its factory state, however, you don’t need to fret. You only need to login into your account to access these things back. 

To carry out a factory reset here is how you go about it

• Get your headset
• Now, power the device off and wait for 10 seconds before you go to the next step.
• Hold down both the power button and the volume (-) button simultaneously till the boot screen loads up.
• Now, use the volume (up/down) button to navigate to the “factory reset” option.
• Press the power button to select the option.
• Now, navigate to “yes” and use the power button to select it.

After doing all these, simply restart your device. 

NOTE: If carrying out a factory reset doesn’t resolve the issue then you might have to contact the Oculus support team to resolve the ” why won’t my oculus quest turn On? ” issue

Also, A factory reset might not e an easy decision for you, however, you can enable cloud backup if you don’t want to lose all your saved data files.

Here is how you can do that

Go to the quick setting panel > Setting > Systems > Backup > Toogle cloud backup.

You can check which of your data has been backed up by logging in to this page here

If you are using an Oculus Quest 2 device and you are stuck with the question Why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON, follow the steps below?

Why won’t my Oculus Quest 2 Turn on

If your Oculus quiet 2 won’t turn on consider the following option.

Verify the battery level

The VR reality headset usually comes with some power-hungry apps most especially the heavy games that are readily available on the platform.

Sometimes a low battery might not be the real cause of this, but it is something you should check before trying out the next step which is leaving it for some hours.

Let the Oculus Quest Headset rest for some hours

Why? Recently Facebook changed its name to Meta, and meta is at the forefront of virtual reality which Facebook is pushing heavily for. Since Oculus Quest is owned by them it is normal for the device to undergo some updates at different times.

And you might be playing a power-hungry game while the update runs in the background leaving the device hot.

This alone might lead to the device may giving a blank screen. If you are faced with this. Leave it somewhere charging for a few hours (1-2hours) and come back to it.

If it’s an update issue. The blank screen should disappear when you pick it up, However, if the issues persist, then you might have to try out the next step if you want to resolve the why won’t my oculus quest turn On? question

Give your oculus Quest 2 device a Hard Reboot

Since you are still on unsettled about why won’t my oculus quest turn On?. then you should try out a hard reboot.

If you’re not sure about how to do a hard reboot on your Oculus Quest 2 device follow the steps below

• Get your Oculus quest 2 device
• Long press the power button for a minimum of 60 seconds till the LED light turns white.
• After doing this, Leave the device and give it some time to boot up.

Doing this should resolve the issues as many Quest 2 users also attested to trying this out

This method should work perfectly for you, however, if it doesn’t try out the next troubleshooting steps below

Start up the device from the Boot Menu.

If you are not sure how to get here follow the steps below.

• Get your Oculus Quest 2 headset
• Long press the power button with the volume (-) button for 20 seconds.
• Don’t release your hands till the boot menu loads up.
• Now, use the volume button to navigate through the boot menu by selecting “Exit” and boot the device.

This is a troubleshooting option you can try out to resolve the ” why won’t my oculus quest turn On? ” issue, However, if the blank screen persists then maybe you’re device charger is having some issues

Try out an alternative Charging cable for your Oculus Quest 2 device

As I said earlier if your Oculus Quest 2 device is low and not charging while the update is going on, Due to a low battery the device might not come on.

so you want to be double sure that your oculus charging cable is working perfectly.

If it isn’t then you might want to change it to another one.

Now, if you’ve tried all the steps above and your oculus quest is still having a black screen. Probably you haven’t figured out the solution to Why won’t my Oculus Quest turn ON. The last troubleshooting step you should take is a factory reset.

Factory reset your Oculus Quest 2 device.

If you’ve decided to undergo a factory reset, you don’t need to fret since you haven’t figured out: why won’t my oculus quest turn On?

Carrying out a factory reset will only remove your device to its factory state, however, you don’t need to fret. You only need to login into your account to access these things back. However, you might have t re-adjust the settings

To carry out a factory reset here is how you go about it

• Get your headset
• Next, power the device off and wait for 10 seconds before you go to the next step.
• long press both the power button and the volume (-) button simultaneously till the boot screen loads up.
• Now, use the volume (up/down) button to navigate to the “factory reset” option.
• Press the power button to select the option.
• Now, navigate to “yes” and use the power button to select it

 If you have an Oculus Go you can check here to figure out how to factory reset it

Oculus quest 2 not working

If you are faced with these issues the easiest way to resolve them is by rebooting your device.

Hard reset

All you have to do over here is to long press the power button till you see the shutdown option.

Once it is off, give it some time before you restart it. Doing this should resolve the issue completely.

Verify Wifi and Update

If none of this is working, you should check the wifi and verify that the Oculus device is connected to the internet. if it is, then maybe you are not updated to the latest version.

However, if none of these is coming on, then you might have to carry out a factory reset.  

Perform a factory reset

A factory reset might not be an easy decision for you, however, you should ensure that you’ve enabled cloud backup if you don’t want to lose all your saved data files.

Here is how you can do that.

Go to the quick setting panel > Setting > Systems > Backup > Tooggle cloud backup.

You can check which of your data has been backed up by logging in to this page here.

If you are unsure about how to carry out a factory reset follow the steps below 

• Get your headset
• Next, power the device off and wait for 10 seconds before you go to the next step.
• long press both the power button and the volume (-) button simultaneously till the boot screen loads up.
• Now, use the volume (up/down) button to navigate to the “factory reset” option.
• Press the power button to select the option.
• Now, navigate to “yes” and use the power button to select it

Oculus Quest Black Screen with Audio

 If your Oculus Quest device is giving off a black screen then you might want to with the audio not audible. It is most likely due to an update from Facebook. The black screen would make not make the audio audible.

So it’s all the same.

All you need to do is go through the troubleshooting steps above to get your Oculus quest resolved

Oculus Quest Black Screen on Startup

Many Oculus Quest 2 users usually go through this sometimes it could happen after long usage or after a software update. Sometimes a third party accessory could add distance before the proximity sensor.

Also, it could be the changes that occur in the intensity of the sensor after a major update. 

All these could cause your Oculus Quest to give off a black screen.

Now, before thinking of giving your device a hard reset or factory reset, get a thin tape and apply it to the proximity sensor. Doing this in most cases will remove the black screen and show the image through the lens

Second method

if after trying this your screen is still black here is what you can do 

• Go on your oculus deice and download the developer’s hub or get sidequest into a PC
• Now disable the proximity sensor from either the developer hub or sidequest

NOTE: This won’t work unless you turn on the developer option on your phone via the app and allow the device.

After a few seconds, it will shut down and then restart.

Oculus Quest won’t turn on or Charge

if your Oculus Quest device won’t charge the likely issue is your charging cable. All you have to do here is to replace your charging cable to see if the device would charge.

If after charging it the device isn’t charging then you might have to report it to the Oculus support team, it could most likely be a technical issue