Your Sony WH-1000XM5 Not Charging? (8 Proven Fixes!)
If your Sony WH-1000XM5 not charging, you have just discovered the most complete guide!
If your Sony headset is not charging, this means that the device will soon reach 0% and become completely unusable.
Well, if you don’t want this to happen, we recommend following the steps in this guide, which will walk you through all the possibilities and respective solution instructions.
If the Sony WH-1000XM5 is not charging, clean the USB-C port, factory reset the headset, and test via a different USB port.
If nothing works, try charging via a power adapter, test in a different outlet, or replace your charging equipment.
How to Know if Sony WH-1000XM5 is Charging?
You can recognize whenever the Sony WH-1000XM5 headset is charging by looking at the LED charging indicator, which turns orange when successfully charging.
On average, it takes about 3.5 hours for the WH-1000XM5 to charge from 0% to 100%, and the charging indicator turns off.
Hence, if you’re connecting your Sony WH-1000XM5 to a charging source, but you don’t see the orange charging indicator, your headset is not charging.
We can fix that very quickly, so jump into the solutions!
Sony WH-1000XM5 Not Charging – Quick & Easy Solutions!
Tip: Try all steps chronologically!
1. Clean the USB-C Charging Port
The first and most important step is to clean the USB Type-C charging port of your headset, to verify that the connector makes proper contact.
If the USB-C port on the Sony WH-1000XM5 is clogged or obstructed by external particles or dust accumulation, the voltage will not go through.
Hence, cleaning might solve this problem!
Here’s how to safely clean the USB-C charging port of your Sony headset:
- Acquire a toothpick and an old toothbrush.
- Using the toothpick, gently scrub all debris.
- Using the toothbrush, eject all the leftovers.
- Repeat several times until the port is clean.
Warning: Never use liquids to clean a charging port!
2. Factory Reset your WH-1000XM5
Another quick step to attempt before the battery of your Sony WH-1000XM5 reaches 0% is to perform the factory reset procedure.
This is significantly helpful if your headset is charging, but only the light indication is not working, deceiving you into thinking that there is something wrong.
- To factory reset the Sony WH-1000XM5 headset, press the Power button + NC/AMB button simultaneously for 10 seconds.
This will factory reset your Sony headset, and when you connect the power cable to a USB port or wall outlet via an adapter, the device should start charging.
If not, continue reading…
3. Test Via Different USB Input Port
If you’re charging your Sony WH-1000XM5 through a USB port on your computer, whether it’s a desktop or laptop, try switching to a different port.
If you’re using a full-scale computer, go ahead and plug the charging cable of the Sony headset into one of the back-side ports.
A typical desktop computer has about 3 USB ports on the back, some of which are USB 2.0, and others USB 3.0 (colored in blue).
- We recommend trying both, but be sure to check whether your Sony headset is charging when connected to a 3.0 USB port.
Reminder: Are you sure that the charging cable is securely connected on both ends?
4. Disable Your PC *USB Suspend*
If you’re still unable to charge your Sony WH-1000XM5 through a computer port, there is one setting that could be causing all this fuss.
We’re speaking about the “USB Suspend Setting” which is designed to deactivate unused USB ports on your computer to minimize consumption.
Well, when this setting is enabled, you may not be able to charge your devices, including your Sony headphones, through the USB ports of your PC.
Here’s how to disable the USB suspend setting on Windows 10 or 11:
- Click the Start menu, and go to “Edit Power Plan.”
- Then head to “Change advanced power settings.”
- From there, scroll down to expand “USB settings.”
- Also, expand the “USB selective suspend setting.”
- Verify that the suspend setting is set to “Disabled.”
When ready, reboot your computer, reconnect the charging cable of your Sony WH-1000XM5, and check whether the headset will start charging.
Note: You don’t need to re-enable this setting, even if your Sony headset is still not charging!
5. Switch to a Wall Outlet Charging
If the Sony headphones WH-1000XM5 not charging through the USB port of your computer, you should definitely try charging them via power adapter.
You need a standard power brick with 1.5 A output or more, so even if you don’t have a spare one, your smartphone is probably using the same.
So, go ahead and connect the USB-C end of the cable into your Sony headset, and the USB-A side of the cable into a compatible power brick.
Then connect the power brick to a power outlet and check whether your Sony WH-1000XM5 will start charging.
Important: Use a direct wall outlet connection, without third-party devices such as power strips, dividers, smart plugs, surge protectors, or other extenders.
6. Try via Different Electrical Outlet
If you have been trying to charge your Sony WH-1000XM5 through a wall outlet this entire time, but it’s not working, perhaps the outlet is defective.
So, a very quick way to justify whether this is the reason for the charging problem with the headset is to attempt to use a proven power socket.
We recommend going into a different room of your home, where the outlets are hooked up from a different fuse on your main circuit, and try charging the headset.
If this is not working either, all evidence leads to a fault with the Sony WH-1000XM5 headset!
7. Change the Ambient Temperature
So, a common charging problem with headsets, as well as other devices is the temperature of the room as well as the device’s hardware.
If your Sony WH-1000XM5 has just arrived and is very cold outside, your Sony headset’s box could have been exposed to extreme temperatures.
This ultimately prevents the battery from charging, until the hardware is acclimatized, and the only way to do so is to leave your headset at room temperature.
The same goes if your Sony headset is overheating, especially if the device has been exposed to direct sunlight for hours.
Hence, acclimatize your headset by avoiding the extremes, and then try charging it using the recommendations from this guide.
Note: The recommended environment temperatures for charging are between 59 °F and 95 °F (15 °C - 35 °C).
8. Replace the USB Cable or Adapter
At last, after all the previous steps and solutions, all odds suggest that the charging equipment of your headset, whether it’s the USB-C cable or power adapter is faulty.
Hence, there is no way to be sure of the exact culprit, before you try charging the headset with proven AC equipment.
USB-C cables are easy to come by, nowadays most smartphones use them for charging, so you should have a replacement lying around.
As far as the power adapter, you can use any 5 A or more for charging the headset, and again, most smartphones use them nowadays.
If your Sony WH-1000XM5 is not charging, even with tested power equipment, sadly there is something wrong with the hardware of your device.
In those cases, the best next step is to claim the warranty by contacting the local merchant or Sony Customer Support.
One Last Thing – Charge Overnight!
A lot of users with the same charging problem on the Sony WH-1000XM5 have reported that they have managed to fix the issue by leaving the headset charging overnight.
So, even if you don’t see the orange light, connect your Sony headset to an outlet, and check in the morning.
Wrapping Up
Hence, if your Sony WH-1000XM5 not charging, clean the USB-C port, switch to power outlet charging and factory reset the headset.
If nothing helps, you will need to test the charging with a proven power adapter and USB-C cable.
We hope this guide was helpful so follow us for more!
Finn Wheatley, a Master’s graduate in Computer Science from UCL, London, honed his skills at small data science consultancies. There, he helped large corporations enhance their data capabilities by deploying cutting-edge machine learning analytics and resolving technical hurdles.