From broken and rusted charging ports to a damaged power cable, there are many reasons why your iPhone or Android phone won’t charge, and not all of them can be easily fixed at home. But a common cause of faulty charging is that your charging port, whether it’s Lightning on the iPhone 13 or the USB-C on a phone like the Google Pixel 6 Pro, is clogged with dirt and the cable can’t fit properly.
Thankfully, this is one of the simplest and cheapest solutions to the charging problem. Here’s how to fix it.
Why is my charging port blocked?
There’s no cover on your phone’s charging port, which means they’re exposed to every bit of dust, dirt, and debris they encounter. Every time you put your phone in your pocket your phone will be susceptible to pocket fluff and if, like me, your pocket is filled with dirt from accidentally washing your jeans with old receipts, it can be a hassle. asking for. And that is, I have nothing to say about biscuit crumbs. Don’t ask me why I have biscuit pieces in my pocket.
Day after day, this won’t be a problem, but tiny bits of dust and fluff will accumulate on your phone over months or years, compacting together every time you plug your charging cable in. until it becomes a solid barrier that clogs your charger allowing it to go all the way in and connect and charge it.
A wooden cocktail stick is a great tool for the job because the wood won’t damage the interior parts.
Andrew Hoyle / CNET
If you’ve had your phone for more than six months and you’re slowly finding the charger to become less and less stable (especially if you have to move it around to start charging it) then it’s highly likely The culprit is that there is dirt in your port.
How to clean your phone’s charging port
Opening your phone’s port is a simple task. You’ll need a cocktail stick, toothpick, or other thin object that you can poke into the port to get the mess out. Wood or plastic is better because it’s less likely to scrape against anything inside and potentially cause damage. I did it using metal sim removal tool and while it works well, it is not the safest option for your phone.
Insert the tool of your choice into the charging port until it no longer moves and begins to gently scrape. With the iPhone’s Lightning port you can scrape back and forth, but with USB-C you have to scrape around the charging connector, which sits in the middle of the port.
get it there.
Andrew Hoyle / CNET
Eventually you will begin to loosen the compressed debris and you will be able to encourage the carried material out of the port. It’s a satisfying process and you might be surprised how much stuff actually comes out. Work gently on the sides of the port as well, but take care not to press hard against any of the metal charging connectors.
Eventually you’ll have plenty of it all. It’s hard to know for sure if you got rid of it because it’s hard to see inside the port, even if you have good lighting at hand. But once you’ve got a good amount of crap out, you can try your charging cable again.
Satisfactory removal of rubbish from the charging port of your phone.
Andrew Hoyle / CNET
Hopefully it will now be more securely plugged in and start charging. If not, continue trying to remove more dirt and then test the charger again. If that still doesn’t solve the problem, it’s time to consider other solutions like a new cable or charger.
