Dash Cam Not Turning On? 7 Fixes That Actually Work

A dash cam that will not turn on looks like a dead camera, but most of the time it is a power or SD card problem you can fix in minutes.

Before you write it off or send it back, work through these seven fixes in order. They are listed from most to least common, so you will usually solve it well before the end.

1. Check the power source is actually live

The most common cause is no power reaching the camera, not a broken camera. If it runs from the cigarette lighter socket, check that socket actually works, as on many cars it is only live when the ignition is on. Plug a phone charger into the same socket to confirm it is delivering power. A blown socket fuse or a socket that only works with the engine running catches a lot of people out.

2. Try a different cable and adapter

Dash cam cables and USB adapters fail more often than the cameras do. A frayed cable or a dead adapter will leave the camera completely lifeless. Swap in a different cable and a different power adapter and try again. Use the correct cable for your camera, since some use the power cable to also carry data or GPS and a generic phone cable will not always power the unit properly.

3. Reseat or remove the SD card

This one surprises people. On some cameras a corrupted or failing SD card can stop the unit booting at all. Power the camera down, take the card out, and try turning it on with no card inserted. If it springs to life without the card, the card was the problem, and our guide to dash cam SD card errors covers how to sort or replace it.

4. Do a hard reset

Like any small computer, a dash cam can freeze. Most have a small reset button, often a pinhole you press with a paperclip, or you can reset by disconnecting all power for a couple of minutes. This clears a locked-up unit and is one of the quickest things to try.

5. Check the hardwire kit fuse

If your camera is hardwired into the fuse box rather than plugged into a socket, the fuse in the hardwire kit, or the fuse it taps into, may have blown. Check and replace it if needed. This is also worth checking after any garage or dealer work on the car, since a fuse can be pulled or disturbed and the camera left without power.

6. Let it cool down or warm up

Temperature extremes can stop a camera powering on. In extreme heat, a camera may refuse to start until it cools, which is its way of protecting itself. In very cold weather, some cameras are slow to start. If the car has been baking in the sun or sitting in freezing conditions, let it return to a normal temperature and try again. Our guide to dash cam overheating covers the heat side in detail.

7. Suspect the internal power or the unit

If none of the above works, the issue may be inside the camera. Cameras with a small internal battery or supercapacitor can fail over time, especially after years of heat, leaving the unit unable to start. At that point, if a known good cable, adapter, and power source still produce nothing, the camera itself has likely failed and needs replacing.

Still nothing? Rule it in or out cleanly

To be certain whether it is the camera or the power, test the camera on a completely different power source, for example a USB power bank or a socket in another vehicle. If it powers up there, your car’s power supply to the camera is the fault. If it stays dead everywhere, the camera is the problem.

Why a dead camera is a bigger deal across a fleet

For one car, a camera that will not turn on is something you notice and fix. Across a fleet it is a quiet gap in your coverage. A driver may not report a dark camera, and a camera that fails to power on records nothing, so you find out only when you go looking for footage after an incident and there is none.

That is the weakness of a camera whose only status indicator is a light the driver has to notice. A connected setup reports each camera’s status back to one dashboard, so a camera that has stopped powering on shows up as offline and you can act on it, rather than discovering the gap weeks later. You can see how that works on our connected dash cameras page.

Summary and next steps

If your dash cam will not turn on, check the power source and cable first, then try it with the SD card removed, then hard reset it and check any hardwire fuse. Temperature and a failed internal component are the less common causes. Test it on another power source to confirm whether the fault is the camera or the car.

For a fleet, the real fix is knowing the moment a camera goes dark instead of finding out after the fact. Book a demo to see it in action →