Why Is My JBL Speaker Not Turning ON

When you’re wondering Why Is My JBL Speaker Not Turning ON, we found that this could be due to one or more issues. First, the speaker might be defective. Or the battery is dead and needs recharging. Furthermore, if the battery won’t charge, then your charger or AC power source might be faulty. Or, you accidently put the speaker into service mode a.k.a. secret or weird mode. So, we cover here these common cause and easiest fixes to restore correct speaker operation.

Picture of the left front of a typical JBL Speaker. — Left front view of a typical JBL Speaker.

Why Is My JBL Speaker Not Turning ON: Causes

The Battery is Dead

When this happens, pressing the Power button does not turn on the speaker. So none of the other buttons work either. Indeed, you may notice for a little prior to this, the battery meter flashing red. This indicates that the battery is about to run out of power. And if you kept playing the speaker without recharging it, then you might have completely run it dead. Thus the speaker does not power up at all now.

Picture of the red light flashing on a common JBL Speaker. — The red light flashing on a common JBL Speaker.

To fix this, simply recharge the speaker. Then almost immediately, the battery meter starts flashing white. Then soon after that, punching the Power button does indeed activate the speaker.

The Battery Has Failed

After roughly a thousand charge-discharge cycles, the battery begins losing its ability to hold a charge. And eventually, its capacity shrinks so much, that it can no longer take on enough charge to power the speaker. Not even for a short time without the charger. Thus again, you may see that the JBL Speaker is not turning on.

So to fix this problem, replace the battery.

The Charger or Cable is Faulty

Anything that prevents the JBL Speaker from taking on a good charge can cause this not turning on issue. E.g. The lights won’t come on, nor will you hear the signature JBL Speaker startup sounds. One cause for this includes a faulty charger. If you can’t recharge the speaker, then you won’t be able to turn it ON.

The solution here is to try a different charger and / or cord that are both good. You can do this easily. Why? Because USB chargers and cables are so readily available these days. Get them online and at electronic and larger department stores.

The Speaker is in Service Mode

First, when in service mode, the speaker does not power up without the adapter. Thus, it will not run on the internal battery. Furthermore, when you do apply outside power, it powers up without you pressing the Power button. I.e. It comes on as soon as you connect a charger.

Further, you cannot turn off the JBL Speaker while it is in Service mode without disconnecting external power. And then, it powers off without pressing the Power button. So when this service mode is active, the Power button appears to not work.

Indeed, none of the buttons work in this mode, except for the ones that exit service mode. E.g. The speaker won’t pair with any devices or other speakers. And as mentioned, the Power button does not switch it off either.

How You Might Have Accidently Turned On Service Mode

This is what you may have done at some point just prior to your speaker’s buttons not working… To turn on this Service mode, power up the speaker first. Then press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause buttons at the same time. Hold them in until the unit shuts OFF, which usually takes ten seconds or so.

Note that you can enter this mode as long as the speaker is ON. It doesn’t matter whether you connect external power or not.

Picture of the Play-Pause and Bluetooth buttons on the JBL Speaker. — The Play-Pause and Bluetooth buttons on the JBL Speaker.

How to Turn off Service Mode

Now you can restore proper operation by deactivating this mode. Note that to switch it back off, you must connect external power again. Why? Because when in Service mode, the JBL Speaker won’t come on without outside power. Yet you can’t change modes without powering up the unit first. So, you need a charger with a USB-C plug to make this fix.

So, connect your speaker to external power. Next, the speaker comes on.
Then, with the Power button glowing, you press the Bluetooth and Play-Pause button combo. Hold them in for ten seconds or so, until the unit powers off.
Finally, normal speaker operation returns.

Finally, at this point, the speaker should turn ON again, whether or not you connect the AC adapter.

The Speaker is Defective

Finally, the electronics inside the speaker may have failed. The USB charging port may be faulty. Or the power switch itself could be defective. In these cases, unless you have skill repairing Bluetooth speakers, your best bet is just to get a new one.