What should I do when a device stops working?
A general troubleshooting method that works for almost any device — isolate the variable, change one thing at a time, and know when to stop.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 3 min
Short answer
Restart it, check the physical connections, then change one variable at a time to isolate where the fault is — different cable, different socket, different device. Note what you've tried. Most faults are found by the third or fourth substitution, and the discipline of one change at a time is what makes that work.
Troubleshooting is a method, not a set of facts, which is why it transfers between devices you've never seen before. The method is: reproduce the problem, form a guess about which component is at fault, change exactly one thing to test that guess, and record the result.
Step by step
- Describe the problem precisely — what happens, when, and what changed recently.'It stopped working' isn't actionable. 'It disconnects after about a minute, since the update' points somewhere.
- Restart the device properly — a full power cycle, not a sleep.For anything with a battery, hold the power button for a forced restart. For anything mains-powered, unplug for 30 seconds.
- Check every physical connection, including at both ends.Cables fail, sockets get loose, and things get half-unplugged. This finds more faults than anything else on the list.
- Substitute one component at a time: a different cable, a different socket, a different device.One at a time is the whole method. Changing two things means you learn nothing from the result.
- Test the same function elsewhere to isolate the fault.If the printer fails from one computer and works from another, the problem is the computer, not the printer.
- Check for pending updates on the device and anything it connects to.And check whether a recent update coincided with the problem starting — rolling back is sometimes the answer.
- Search the exact error message, in quotes, plus the device model.Exact wording matters. Someone has almost certainly hit the same fault.
- Write down what you've tried as you go.It stops you repeating yourself, and it's exactly what any support person will ask for.
- Know when to stop — a factory reset loses data, and some faults are hardware.Back up before any reset. If it's under warranty, an attempted repair may void it.
Tips
- The question 'what changed?' solves a large proportion of faults on its own. Devices rarely fail spontaneously in the middle of stable use.
- Test with the simplest possible setup — one cable, one device, nothing else connected. Then add things back one at a time.
- If it works in safe mode, the fault is software or a third-party addition rather than hardware.
- Take photos before disassembling anything. Reassembly is far harder than it looks.
Common mistakes
- Changing several things at once — If it works you don't know why, and you can't fix it next time.
- Skipping the restart — It genuinely resolves a large share of faults, and it costs a minute.
- Factory resetting early — It loses data and often doesn't fix hardware faults. It's a late step, after a backup.
- Not recording what's been tried — You repeat steps, and you can't give a useful account to anyone helping you.
Questions people ask
Why does restarting fix so many things?
It clears accumulated state — stuck processes, exhausted memory, half-completed operations, stale connections. Most software faults are state problems, and a restart discards all state.
When should I stop and get help?
When the next step risks data loss, voids a warranty, involves mains electricity, or when you've isolated it to hardware. Also when you've spent longer than the repair is worth.