A solid white light means that your PS4 console is powered on – but when the light is on but the screen remains dead, it’s known as the “PS4 white light of death.”
Sounds like big trouble? It could be – but there’s still hope – your PS4 isn’t necessarily dead!
If your HDMI port, HDMI IC chip or other components have failed, you’re looking at a situation where you’ll need a professional repair job.
But before you assume the worst, there are a few easy fixes that can solve the PS4 white light of death caused by a basic glitch.
A PS4 flashing white light that never changes to solid white means your console is frozen. It’s a variation on the “white light of death” theme that you may be able to fix yourself.
There are several things that may work, so we’ll go through them with you in the hope that they get you back to your gaming fast.
Fixing PS4 White Light Issues
1. PS4 Solid White Light – Dead Screen: Start With Your HDMI Cable
First up, your screen isn’t receiving a signal, so the logical place to begin is your HDMI cable.
Try unplugging it at both ends and plugging it back in. You can also try moving to another HDMI port on your TV.
Some people seem to experience the white light issue when their PS4 comes out of rest mode or if the power supply was interrupted.
They report that just unplugging the screen, waiting a minute or two and then plugging it back in with the PS4 still on sometimes solves the problem.
While you’re trying various cable-related solutions, you can take a closer look at the pins. If you see bent or damaged pins, you might need a professional repair.
Of course, the HDMI cable itself might be faulty, so if you have a spare one, try it out to see whether it solves your problem.
2. Straightforward Reboot
Your next possible solution is a straightforward reboot or restart. Press the PS and Share buttons simultaneously and give your PS4 some time to restart.
With a bit of luck, this easy solution can do the trick. If not, it’s time to move to the next step and try a power cycle.
3. Flashing or Solid White Light: Power Cycle Your PS4
It’s possible that your hardware just needs to be reset to overcome a glitch. But a quick on-and-off probably won’t work for you.
What you need to do is unplug the PS4’s power cable and give it 15 minutes to “forget” the glitch that’s causing it to freeze up.
Power it back up and press the button on the front of your PS4 for a full 30 seconds for good measure. Now, see what happens.
Many gamers report that power cycling fixed their “white light of death” issues. So simple as this sounds, give it a try.
4. Try Another Power Outlet and Ditch Any Extension Cables
Power isn’t necessarily something that is either on or off with nothing in between. A faulty outlet can provide enough power to make things look normal but not work as they should.
To begin with, never use a power strip for your PS4, and it’s probably best to avoid plugging it into an extension cable, too.
But even if you aren’t doing either of those things, the power point itself might not be up to scratch. Try another one to see whether that changes your PS4’s performance back to normal.
5. Check That Your Console Can Air Cool
Overheating can cause all sorts of problems, and in some cases, the symptom is the PS4 “white light of death.” Check to see whether anything is getting in the way of its vents to prevent cooling.
Dust can block vents and cause overheating too. If you don’t have a compressor, you can use a can of compressed air to see whether cleaning them out helps.
6. Check the Remote Play App
Before you resort to drastic measures, there’s one way to check whether your white light of death is purely a video issue and not a software problem or “fatal” hardware issue.
The Remote Play app shows what your usual screen should display on your mobile phone. Unfortunately, you have to set the permissions before you have any HDMI issues, so here’s hoping you already have this feature set up.
If everything seems normal on your phone’s screen, it’s likely that your cable or ports are the cause of your gaming woes.
You might even be able to continue with your game, although things are going to be a bit cramped.
The good news here is that you won’t need to factory reset – but unless you’re experienced with electronic repairs, you’ll probably need help from a repair shop. There are also adaptors that allow you to keep playing with
7. Boot Up in Safe Mode and Check for Updates
A factory reset is a last resort once you’re sure the issue is deeper than just HDMi cable/port issues – but it will mean you lose all your data.
However, if you’re able to get Safe Mode working, you might be able to create a backup. Safe Mode also allows you to look for any missing software updates (check under Settings).
It’s a long shot, but there’s a chance that updates might solve your PS4 white light issues.
To get into Safe Mode, hold the power button in for seven seconds until you’ve heard two beeps.
8. Factory Reset (Back up Your Data)
If you don’t seem to have any alternative to a factory reset and have been able to recover your data, go to “Initialize PS4.”
It’s the point of no return – your PS4 ditches all its data and you’re starting from scratch.
9. PS4 White Light Fixes: What’s the Official Version?
In this article, we’ve covered the “official” version as well as a few tips and tricks that other users have tried successfully. If you’d like to know what Playstation says, here it is:
PS4 white light (steady) and no video: Look for updates or if that doesn’t work, factory reset.
PS4 flashing white light: Power cycle. If that fails, reinstall the console software in Safe Mode.
However, as this is the official approach, we think it’s missing some important (and rather obvious) points.
Repair shops and users alike have pinpointed the HDMI cable, HDMI ports, and even the accompanying chip as the top reason for PS4 white light issues.
And it makes sense. If your PS4 isn’t “talking” to your TV, nothing is going to work.
Top Fixes in Practice
Let’s rank these from the most common solutions to the outlying possibilities that sometimes work.
- Check HDMI cables and ports – our top pick
- Power cycle to unfreeze glitched software
- Check for updates (safe mode)
- Check the power supply (power outlet)
- Do a hard (factory) reset
Much as we get frustrated when our gaming gets nipped in the bud, we have to pay our respects to the PS4. Remember, it was launched in 2013, and it’s still loved by gamers over a decade later.
Sadly, though, nothing lasts forever – but it’s still worth checking whether a repair shop can fix it for you – even if you’ve run through all our steps withut success. It could just be a matter of replacing a component or two.
Meanwhile, we do hope that you’re regularly backing up your data: it will save you a lot of pain at times like these.
Tip: if you haven’t backed up or been able to recover it, ask the repairers if they can try data recovery for you.
We hope you’re back up and gaming soon!
