My Raspberry Pi 5 will not boot

The Raspberry Pi 5 is more power-hungry than earlier models, and needs a stable USB-C power supply for reliable booting.

• Always use an official Raspberry Pi 5 27W USB-C Power Supply (or the 45W version).
• If you’re using an older Raspberry Pi 4 power supply (or a phone/tablet charger), the Pi 5 may power on, but you may see limitations or instability (especially with USB devices connected).
• When troubleshooting, disconnect everything non-essential: HATs, USB drives/SSDs, cameras, and other peripherals.
• Check the red PWR LED: it should be solid. If it’s off or flickering, focus on power first.

⚠️ Important: If your Pi 5 has no LEDs at all, try a different USB-C PSU and cable before troubleshooting the microSD card or software.

A “blank screen” doesn’t always mean the Pi 5 isn’t booting — it can be a display connection issue.

• Use the HDMI port labelled HDMI0 for your primary monitor.
• Make sure you’re using a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable/adapter, and that your monitor is set to the correct input.
• Connect the HDMI cable before powering on the Raspberry Pi.
• Try another cable - sometimes cables have failed, it happens!
• Raspberry Pi does not output video over USB-C (so a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter won’t work for display output).
• If you have two HDMI ports connected, test with one display only during troubleshooting.

✅ Tip: If the red PWR LED is solid and the green ACT LED is blinking, the Pi may be booting even if the display is blank — jump to the LED flash codes section below.

Raspberry Pi 5 needs an operating system image that supports the board's hardware. The simplest way to avoid compatibility issues is to create (or recreate) your microSD card using Raspberry Pi Imager.

• Download and use the latest Raspberry Pi Imager.
• In Imager, filter Raspberry Pi 5 as the device and select a current Raspberry Pi OS image.
• When troubleshooting, please use Raspberry Pi OS and not a 3rd-party operating system..
• If you’re reusing an older microSD card/image from another Raspberry Pi, re-imaging is strongly recommended.
• If you’re using a custom image, note that Raspberry Pi 5 requires a non-empty config.txt in the boot partition.

⚠️ Warning: Writing a new image will erase the contents of your microSD card. Back up anything important first.

✅ Tip: If you don’t have an SD card reader handy, we stock official A2-class microSD cards with Raspberry Pi OS pre-installed: Raspberry Pi microSD card with Raspberry Pi OS pre-installed.

Unlike earlier Raspberry Pi models, the Raspberry Pi 5 includes an on-board power button. If the Pi has been safely shut down, it may appear “dead” even though power is still connected.

• If you previously shut the Pi down, press the on-board power button briefly to start it again (or remove and reapply power).
• If the green ACT LED is flashing 0 long flashes + 10 short flashes, that indicates the Pi is in a HALT state.

✅ Tip: If your Pi 5 is inside a case with a power button, double-check the case button is aligned and not constantly pressing (or not reaching) the Pi’s button.

This is simple, but very common: the microSD card isn’t quite fully inserted, or is making poor contact.

• Power off the Pi and disconnect the USB-C power.
• Remove the microSD card and insert it again until it clicks fully into place.
• Check the card for damage, dirt, or anything stuck in the microSD slot.
• If possible, try a different microSD card to rule out a card fault.

⚠️ Important: Always disconnect power before removing the microSD card to avoid corruption.

Not all microSD cards are equal. Poor-quality cards can cause failed boots, freezing during first boot, or random restarts (especially under load).

• Use a reputable card (we strongly recommend A2-class cards for Raspberry Pi).
• Avoid unbranded or counterfeit cards — they’re a frequent cause of boot problems.
• If your Pi boots sometimes but is unstable, testing with a known-good card is a quick way to narrow it down.

✅ Tip: Browse our recommended cards here: Raspberry Pi microSD cards.

If the Pi was powered off unexpectedly, or the image write was interrupted, the microSD card can become corrupted and fail to boot.

• Re-write the image using Raspberry Pi Imager.
• If Imager offers a verify step, allow it to complete.
• Try a different card reader/USB port on your computer if writes are failing.

⚠️ Warning: If your Pi only boots after re-imaging but quickly corrupts again, revisit the power supply section — unstable power is a common cause of SD corruption.

Raspberry Pi 5 can boot from different storage types (not just microSD). If you’re booting from an external drive, start simple and prove the basics first.

• Remove all external drives (USB sticks, USB SSDs, NVMe adapters) and test booting from a freshly imaged microSD card first.
• If the Pi boots from microSD, write Raspberry Pi OS to your USB/SSD/NVMe using Raspberry Pi Imager.
• If you’re using an NVMe solution, ensure your adapter/case is fully seated and that you’re using a stable, Pi 5-suitable power supply (USB storage can increase power demand).
• If you need to update the EEPROM/bootloader from Raspberry Pi OS, a common approach is: sudo rpi-eeprom-update -a (then reboot).

✅ Tip: If you’re troubleshooting boot issues, keep it to the essentials: Pi + official PSU + microSD + HDMI0. Once that’s stable, add SSD/NVMe and other peripherals one at a time.

If a Raspberry Pi fails to boot, the green ACT LED can flash a pattern (long flashes followed by short flashes). If you see a repeating pattern, count it and compare against the table below.

Long flashes	Short flashes	Status
0	3	Generic failure to boot
0	4	start*.elf not found
0	7	Kernel image not found
0	8	SDRAM failure
0	9	Insufficient SDRAM
0	10	In HALT state
1	2	SD card overcurrent detected
2	1	Partition not FAT
2	2	Failed to read from partition
2	3	Extended partition not FAT
2	4	File signature/hash mismatch - Pi 4 and Pi 5
3	1	SPI EEPROM error - Pi 4 and Pi 5
3	2	SPI EEPROM is write protected - Pi 4 and Pi 5
3	3	I2C error - Pi 4 and Pi 5
3	4	Secure-boot configuration is not valid
4	3	RP1 not found
4	4	Unsupported board type
4	5	Fatal firmware error
4	6	Power failure type A
4	7	Power failure type B

✅ Tip: If you still can’t boot after following the steps above, note the LED flash pattern (long + short), what power supply you’re using, and what storage you’re booting from — then contact support with those details.