How to Fix Nintendo Switch Dock Not Working

Nintendo Switch is a prime pick to have a versatile gaming experience to its fullest. It has been at the heights of popularity in the marketplace since its inception back in March 2017 due to its extravagant features at a fair cost.

Actually, its extreme usefulness lies in its feasibility to be used as both a home console and a handheld gaming device. Because if you are at home, you can play the games that may require a wider display screen by attaching it to your Tv.

Here you can discover the plethora of games; the versatile e-games in both free & paid versions are available in Nintendo Switch with ease of accessibility. Surprisingly it won’t only meet your gaming needs, but you can also enjoy a smooth streaming experience with the Nintendo Switch console.

You can access numerous streaming choices on your Nintendo Switch system, such as Piano, Colors Live, Pokémon Tv, Hulu, YouTube, etc., as it fully supports third-party titles.

Nintendo Switch Dock

In the Nintendo Switch console structure, you can see the Dock is the most powerful module that is supposed to push on the significant & primary functions of the gaming console. It is responsible for powering up the Switch; the Nintendo Switch gets charged while docked. Moreover, it also plays a crucial role in connecting the Nintendo Switch to a Tv. However, being a peripheral device, sometimes it may get down too.

“Why my Switch won’t turn on even being docked for long?” We have gone through a common query on various online forums, so we have picked this subject under consideration in context to the respective issue. Here in this comprehensive debate, you would be able to explore the broader aspects of the problem encompassing the possible root causes of the encountered issue as well as the best approaches to deal with this out.

Why Won’t my Switch Turn On?

You may find your Nintendo switch Dock troubling apparently in variant ways, like sometimes your Tv display may be stuck on a black screen and you won’t be able to see any image on it; actually, this is the case that usually happens when you use you Nintendo Switch as a home console.

In contrast, the Dock may cause the whole Nintendo Switch to stop working because as this is the only source of operational power for the Switch, so if the Dock is not functioning correctly, you can anticipate an obvious pitfall in your Nintendo Switch console as that being the case, Nintendo Switch won’t turn on in any way.

The below-stated discussion will help you identify the actual causes behind your specific Nintendo Switch Dock issue.

Causes

The list of causes of this occurred error may go long because you might encounter various scenarios that ultimately lead to Nintendo Switch Dock’s working problem. Still, we have tried to cite the most likely causes that might be involved in your encountered error.

Faulty Nintendo Switch Dock

As the respective issue is associated with the Nintendo Switch Dock directly, so the situation firstly hints that the Dock you are using might be in a faulty state either because of any technical fault or a phony Dock model may also cause this issue.

Wrongly connected cables

People often tend to connect cables in a rush that many times results in wrongly established connections. This situation is common in Nintendo Switch, too; in case if you have connected cables to Dock poorly, then the Nintendo Switch won’t turn on certainly.

Incompatible resolution configuration

The output resolution of televisions varies with the used technology. If your Tv screen is not showing any output while connected with the Nintendo Switch Dock, then possibly the issue might be with variant & incompatible resolutions on both sides. Because a Nintendo Switch generally sends an input signal of 1080P HD, but it is not obvious whether the Tv is compatible with this resolution or not; the Tv might support only 720P HD display resolution.

Improper power source

As you already know, in the entire scenario of the Nintendo Switch console, the Dock acts as a peripheral device to cater to required operational power via the main power cable. So, in many cases, the Nintendo Switch won’t charge if the power cable attached to Dock is in power shortage and not in a state to provide enough power to a connected peripheral device.

The issue with the HDMI cable

Basically, Switch Dock is responsible for charging Nintendo Switch and establishing its connection with the Tv. If you are sure about the correct functioning of Dock but still constantly experiencing the black screen on Tv, that may hint the problem is associated with the HDMI cable you are using to connect your Nintendo Switch with Tv.

The HDMI cable might be defective or faulty; in some cases, it is possible you might have plugged it wrongly, that’s why the connection could not establish successfully.

Temporarily saved configurations

While using a digital device, some temporary configuration files might get saved, but you may be unaware of it. The saved configuration files can put you in considerable trouble because the Nintendo Switch won’t turn on consequently.

If you are going through any issue with the Dock or Nintendo Switch console not working, such temporarily stored configuration might also be the cause behind this problematic state. Therefore, you might require to reset your Nintendo Switch in order to get out of this trouble.

Best Fixes To Nintendo Switch Dock Not working Issue

Preferences while choosing the best fix to your encountered Dock issue is totally interlaced with the situation you are going through. For instance, if you are having a problem in charging your Nintendo switch, that illustrates the issue is actually with the console hardware essential for powering up the Switch. That’s why here we have put down the various possible fixing tactics you can choose for addressing out your specific troubling state.

Restart your Nintendo Switch console

Note that if the Nintendo Switch is not working, the Switch Dock may not always be causing the problem; sometimes, the issue may occur in the Nintendo Switch unit that can be addressed by way of restarting the system. In fact, based on the slightest degree of complexity, this should be your first preference to be chosen in dealing with the issue. To execute this tactic, you need to:

Press the power button and hold it for a while until you see a menu on the screen.
Tap on the option “Power Options” from the displayed menu.
Then proceed on by selecting the option “Restart” or “Power off.” (In case if you choose the “Power off” option, then you will need to turn it on again)
Now analyze the Dock working after the system restarts successfully.

Use a Fully Functioning Dock

At the time of purchase, you should make sure to buy a genuine model of Dock (Model # HAC-007) with your Nintendo Switch console to avoid any sort of functioning issues afterward. The only way to get a real Dock is to purchase via Nintendo Switch Online website.

If you are still encountering the same working issue, even though you have bought the genuine Dock model from the official site, it may depict that Dock is faulty by default; as this case is quite common in newly purchased Nintendo Switches, so in such a case you need to replace your Dock.

If your warranty period is not over, you just have to take your Dock to the Nintendo service center for this replacement. If you can’t manage to go to the service center, you can opt to contact the Nintendo support team via their official website; just state your encountered issue over to officials and get your issue resolved readily.

Contrarily, if you think the Dock is not working due to any power outage, then you should take it to a repair center for further assistance.

Connect cables in the correct order

Inserting the cables in the correct order ensures the successful connection between the output source (Tv screen) & the input source (Dock). Suppose you notice that unknowingly you have inserted the cables wrongly. In that case, this isn’t a critical factor to worry over as this is entirely an apparent blunder that can be resolved in a few seconds.

What you would have to do is take out the wrongly inserted cables firstly. Then follow the prescribed cables insertion sequence as stated below:

In the first place, insert the AC adapter power cable at the back of the Dock.
Afterward, connect the HDMI cable to the port located right below the AC adapter port.
Now test the Dock working again, with Tv screen as an output source to check whether the issue has been resolved or not.

Reconfigure the Dock input resolution

Suppose you continuously see a black screen on your TV irrespective of the consistent attempts to establish a connection with the Nintendo Switch Dock. In that case, even if you have ensured the correct insertion of cables, the problem might be with internal configurations.

So, you must head over to configuring the input resolution of the Nintendo Switch. In this situation, you would have to make the Switch input resolution compatible with the TV output resolution. Therefore:

Navigate to the System setting of Nintendo Switch.
Select the option TV output from the menu.
Here you can choose a resolution that would be fully compatible with your TV; it can be either 720P HD or 480P HD.

Ensure the required power supply

The Dock, being the core functioning device in the Nintendo Switch console, requires an abundance of power supply to carry on the regular functioning of the Switch. You can’t even take the risk of a minor breach; otherwise, the whole setup may go down, and the Nintendo Switch won’t turn at all.

So, to bypass such a mishap, it is necessary to use an original power cable with your Nintendo Switch Dock; you can get the original power cable of Model # HAC-002 from the Nintendo official store. Unfortunately, if you have been stuck in a Switch not charging or working state, you need to ensure the provision of enough power supply required by Nintendo Switch Dock.

So, you must make sure to plug the power cable of the Dock into an independent power source or outlet; the respective power source should be dedicated to supplying the power solely to the Dock as this is one of the crucial aspects in order to eliminate the risk of power shortage.

Check HDMI cable

It is known to everyone that Dock is responsible for carrying significant operations of the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch won’t turn on if the Dock is undergoing an issuing state.

However, in a few contrasting situations, you may yet come across another related error even if the Dock is functioning correctly on its end; you may still experience erroring situations on each attempt to connect your Nintendo Switch to TV.

In such a case, you actually need to check your HDMI cable in the first place. Here the question may arise how you can check an HDMI cable? The answer is quite simple; obviously, you can check your HDMI cable by attaching it to any other device, either a computer or laptop.

What you have to do in this case is attach one end of the HDMI cable to the alternate device (i.e., laptop) and the other end to the Tv. If the cable works fine in this scenario, it depicts that there is no issue with the HDMI cable.

Contrarily, if you find any error there, then you would need to get your HDMI cable replaced with a new one.

Reset the Nintendo Switch entirely

When nothing goes right in spite of your ultimate fixing efforts, then the power cycling process often proves to be highly effective in dealing with the uncertain erroring factors.

For sure, you would have tried out all of the above-stated tactics depending on your needs, but resetting the entire setup of your Nintendo Switch can work wonders in many cases, irrespective of the unidentifiable error causes.

You would need to unplug the entire console setup and then build it up again to reinitialize all the processes in the power cycling procedure. This measure will be sufficient to eradicate many issues associated with Nintendo Switch simultaneously as it will reset the temporary configurations of the system and prove to be an effective way to ensure the correct insertion of cables.

So, for this, what you would have to do is:

Detach the power cables & HDMI cable from the Nintendo Switch Dock.
Then press & hold the power button for almost 10 seconds.
Now, wait for at least 30 seconds; meanwhile, unplug the Nintendo Switch & TV also.
After a specific time, re-plug your cables and turn on the peripheral devices also.
This time the Nintendo Switch Dock issue would have been resolved most likely.

Conclusion

Nintendo Switch is a hybrid gaming console that enables its users to play games and offers a fascinating streaming experience; the Nintendo Switch Dock plays a chief role in such functioning.

Being the core module of Switch, the Dock can’t afford to have a minor breach even. If it gets down in some cases, the whole system fails to function correctly; the Nintendo Switch won’t turn on even if the Dock is faulty. Therefore, this is a matter of concern.

Given this erroring state of Switch Dock, we have analyzed the case more deeply and concluded that you can get out of this problematic phase by implementing a few basic tactics, such as you should ensure the correct insertion of genuine cables only. In extreme cases, you may need to reset the whole system.

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