Phone not charging? Try this simple DIY fix at home first
From broken power cables and old faulty plugs to damaged charging ports on your phone, there are multiple reasons why your iPhone or Android phone won’t start charging when you plug the power cable into the USB-C port. Some of these issues can be resolved simply by trying a different charging cable or plug, while others may be more difficult — or more expensive — to fix.
One common cause of faulty charging is simply that your phone’s charging port is clogged with gunk, dirt, and other debris from inside your pocket, and all that compact junk is preventing the cable from connecting properly.
This can easily happen with any charging port, whether it’s Lightning on the iPhone 14 Pro Or older iPhones, or USB-C on the newer iPhone 17 range and Android phones like the Google Pixel 10 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
However, this is one of the simplest and cheapest charging problems to fix. Here’s how.
Why is my charging port blocked?
There are no covers on your phone’s charging port, which means it’s exposed to every bit of dust, dirt, and debris it encounters. Every time you slip your phone into your pocket, your phone will be vulnerable to pocket lint, and if, like me, you have pockets full of debris from accidentally washing your jeans with old receipts in the pockets, that’s asking for trouble. And that’s to say nothing about cookie crumbs. Don’t ask me why I have cookie crumbs in my pockets.
Day to day, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but those little bits of dust and fluff will build up inside your charging port over the months or years that you have your phone, compressing and accumulating every time you plug in your charging cable until they form a strong barrier that prevents the charger from fully entering and allows it to connect and charge.
A wooden cocktail stick is a great tool for this task because the wood will not damage the internal parts.
If you’ve had your phone for more than a few months and find that the charger is becoming progressively less stable (especially if you have to move it to start charging or if the cable doesn’t reach all the way in) it’s very likely that dirt in your port is the culprit.
How to clean your phone’s charging port
Unblocking your phone’s port is simple. You’ll need a cocktail stick, toothpick, or other thin object that you can stick into the port to scrape out the dirt. Wood or plastic is better, because it is less likely to rub against anything inside and potentially cause damage. I did this using the metal SIM removal tool and the pin on the back of the earring, and while it works well, it’s not the most secure option for your phone.
Insert the tool of your choice into the charging port until it goes no further and begin gently scraping. With the older iPhone’s Lightning port, you can move back and forth, but with USB-C you’ll need to drill around the charging connector, which is in the middle of the port.
Get it there.
Eventually, it will begin to loosen the compacted debris and then remove it from the port. It’s a satisfying process, and you might be surprised at how much stuff actually comes out. Gently work the sides of the port as well, but be careful not to rub too hard on any of the metal charging connectors.
Soon, you’ll have almost all of that. It’s hard to check if you’ve got everything out, because it’s hard to see inside the port, even if you have a good light on hand. But once you get a large amount of debris, you can try the charging cable again.
It’s fun to remove debris from your phone’s charging port.
Hopefully it will plug in more securely and start charging. If not, keep trying to extract more dirt and then test the charger again. If that doesn’t solve the problem, it’s time to consider other solutions like a new cable or charger.