When your Dell docking station is not charging your laptop, check your laptop for overheating.
If your laptop feels hot, simply turn it off, unplug the charger, and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Once it has cooled down, reconnect it to the dock to check if it charges properly.
Next, confirm if the issue is with the laptop or the dock by directly charging it from its charger.
To confirm whether the issue is with your laptop or the dock, try charging your laptop directly from its charger connected to the wall socket. If it starts charging, then the culprit is the docking station.
If the issue is with the docking station, the quick fix is to connect your laptop to the docking station before plugging the docking station power adapter into the wall. This method has worked for many users!
If the quick fix doesn’t work for you, try resetting your Dell dock, updating its driver, or charging its adapter.
You need to use the A/C adapter that came with your docking station to power the dock. Dell USB-C docking stations typically come with a 90W charger, so using a charger with less power will not charge the laptop properly.
Reset the Docking Station
Most of the time, a simple reset is enough to fix annoying issues on your docking station.
To reset your Dell docking station, do these steps in order:
- First, disconnect its cables from your laptop and then unplug the AC power from your docking station.
- Press and hold the Power button for about 1 minute to drain the remaining power.
- Plug the AC power cable back into the dock.
- If the power button on the dock blinks three times, it means the reset was successful.
Now plug the cables back into your computer. If your laptop still does not charge when connected to the Docking station, move on to the next solution.
Update Docking Station Firmware
To update your Dell docking station firmware and driver, follow these steps:
- Head over to the official Dell driver download page.
- In the search field, enter your Dell Docking Station model number.
- Select the Drivers and Download section on the left side and choose your Operating System.
- Next, download all the available driver, starting with the Firmware Update Utility and install them.
Once you have installed all the drivers, restart your PC.
Check Docking Station Adapter
If the docking station is only not charging your laptop but the rest of its ports and its fan is working, it may not be receiving enough power from its adapter.
If you have D series Dell Docking station, it has an internal power supply and only uses a power cord. Replace the power cord with some other power cord, and connect it to some other wall socket.
The older models of Dell docking stations use A/C adapters of 90W, 130W or 210W. If the AC adapter makes some noise, it could be faulty. Replace it with another same-rating adapter.
If you have any question about this guide, feel free to ask me!
