Why is my Oculus Quest 2 blinking red?

The Oculus Quest 2 comes in a sleek and gorgeous design, but the device has some issues you may not be aware of. In this blog article, we’ll look at how to fix why is my oculus Quest 2 blinking red.

What does flashing red mean on Quest 2?

Here are some reasons why your Oculus Quest 2 might not be turning on or flashing red light:

1. The Headset Battery is Fully Drained

If the Quest headset battery is low, it displays a solid red light. If you don’t charge it, it will eventually shut off. 

While you plug it in to charge, Quest 2 continuously saves a small amount of energy to maintain background programs running on a very low level while the power circuit resumes. 

These background procedures drain your headset’s battery when you leave it after it dies. In addition, leaving your headset in sleep mode for an extended time can drain its battery completely. 

2. Leaving Lense Cover On

There is a cover made of silicone on your Quest lenses. Unfortunately, the headset would wake and drain the battery even if you placed a cover on lenses while tucking the headset away. As a result, the indicator might display a flashing red light while you plug Oculus Quest 2 in. 

3. There is a problem with the headset battery connection

Occasionally, the Quest headset battery might not be connected correctly to the terminal, or the current inside the battery circuit might not flow properly.

A malfunctioning battery terminal prevents power from flowing spontaneously from the Quest battery toward the headset, triggering the red flashing light to specify an unusual battery state.

4. Charging Cable is Malfunctioning

A bad charging cable may also cause the flashing red light; otherwise, a fixed red light is displayed.

When the battery is low, your Quest headset might show a solid red light, then a flashing red light when plugged in to charge. Usually, this occurs due to an incorrect voltage level or current flow.

5. The Oculus Charging Port or the Power Socket is Damaged

The charging port receives current from the charging cable and conducts it to the battery. An impaired charging port will prevent the charge from flowing freely to the Quest battery and generate a flashing red light.

6. Battery Is Damaged

After 500 charging cycles, the Quest battery needs to be replaced. A battery can be damaged long before its usual lifecycle, resulting in a red light blinking.

7. You’re Using an Extension

Primarily, extensions fail to transmit the correct level of voltage required to charge the headset correctly. In addition, a bug or impairment in any device linked to the extension would affect the charging of the Oculus Quest 2. Whenever you plug the headset in to charge on an extension, your headset might blink a red light.

8. You’re Using Your PC to Charge It

Charging your Quest headset with your computer is not recommended. The cause is that the USB port on your computer provides much less voltage than the Quest headset requires. Therefore, when the headset battery is lower and then plug it into your computer to charge, the low charging current would cause the headset’s red pointer to blink.

9. There’s A Glitch/Bug

An external issue does not always cause the flashing red light. Instead, the issue might be caused by a bug or glitch in the Quest headset, which makes it not charge correctly or blink red even though it is really charging.

How do I fix the blinking red light on Oculus Quest?

To fix Oculus Quest 2 blinking red, follow these steps:

1. Do a forced charge

You will need to charge the headset to fix the red blink light on Oculus. Depending on use, the headset needs between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to reach full charge and will show a solid green light.

• Remove the headset’s charger. Hold the power key for 30 seconds after the Quest displays a green light. After that, plug in the headset charger again and charge for 30 minutes. 
• Press the power key again when the device is plugged in to bring the battery meter. The headset is charging if the battery meter displays orange light.
• Wait until the light turns green again. Then, try the next fix if the blinking red light doesn’t turn orange or green.

2. Remove cover from the lenses

The lens cover is sometimes left in the original box of the Oculus Quest headset without being removed from the wall or turned off.

Therefore, Oculus Quest sometimes wakes up because of its lens cover. Lenses try to read the text on the cover and convert it into VR. Thus, the headset will display a flashing red light and might lose charge. You must turn off the headset and remove the cover whenever you don’t use the headset.

3. Use a different charger

Your charger might not be suitable or faulty for charging Oculus Quest 2. This will result in the headset battery not charging properly and flashing red. Try charging the VR headset with a different charger and see if it fixes the problem.

4. Use a different charging cable

The red blinking light can also be caused by a defective or mismatched USB charger for the Oculus Quest. Try using a different cable with the Oculus charger. Also, check to see if the flashing red light has been changed to orange.

5. Check the headset charging port

The USB cable and charger might have been misplaced while trying to replace them. Ensure that the headset is securely plugged in and lift the attached end. Plugging in the cable will cause a popping sound. 

If the problem persists, you may need to press the charging cable at the port. If the charging port is defective, the Oculus Quest 2 may not charge properly; however, it may be good to go if it starts charging; a blinking red light will also transform into an orange light. Contact Support to have the VR hardware replaced or repaired if the problem persists.

6. Check the power plug

Red light Flashing Indicates that the headset has no charge. The problem might not be in charging accessories but with how you plug the charging cable in the headset. In addition, Oculus Quest may not have enough power due to a defective power socket.

Hence, you might be able to obtain the orange light on your headset if you plug the charger into another power outlet.

7. Perform an Advanced Hard Reboot

Hard rebooting will resolve the bugs and enforce the Quest to reload all programs needed to function normally, thereby removing the flashing red light.

Advanced hard reboots are performed as follows:

• Press and hold the power button and (-) volume button on the headset
• Wait till the boot menu appears
• Navigate as well as highlight Boot Device with the volume keys
• Select Boot Device using the Power key

Wait for the Quest headset to reboot. It may take longer than normal. Additionally, it should clear the flashing red light.

8. Clean Out Data Port

When you plug the Quest to charge, you may see a blinking red light caused by dirt or other elements in the port. Make sure that the port is clean. 

For cleaning the data port:

• Turn off the Power of the headset
• Blowing compressed air into the data port is recommended
• Put a cotton swab in a small amount of cleaning alcohol and dip it in it
• Using the swab, rub the data port’s internal walls
• After cleaning the data port, blow some additional compressed air into it.

Try charging again after completing this and see if the flashing red light goes away.

9. Update Quest 2 Manually

As a result of the finicky nature of Oculus Quest 2 software updates, Meta had to implement a normal manual update procedure. As a result, you’ll need to put on the headset to access the Settings menu to activate a software update.

To manually download the latest Quest 2 software update, follow these steps:

• To bring up the universal menu, press the Oculus key. 
• In the universal menu, click the clock sign to access Quick Settings. 
• In the top-right, select Settings (cog icon). 
• Go to System.
• On the left, choose Software Update. 

Choose the Download Update to start the update process if a software update is available.

10. Rule out Oculus overheating issues

The Oculus headset will not charge and keep flashing red lights when it gets too hot. Eventually, the device will start charging after it cools down.

11. Contact Oculus

You can report your problem to Oculus through a support ticket. To help you better, please provide Oculus support with the 14-digit battery compartment number.

Oculus Quest 2 red light of death

Batteries that are dead or do not have enough charge can prevent the headset from turning on. In addition, stuck or interrupted firmware updates can cause Oculus Quest 2 to have a black screen.

Oculus Quest 2 blinking on and off

The red light on Oculus indicates that the battery is very low. When your Oculus headset reaches zero percent, it may unremittingly blink red light. When it’s charging, a similar LED should blink orange, and when it’s fully charged, it should blink green.

Oculus Quest 2 red light won’t turn on

You can’t turn on your Oculus Quest 2 because either there isn’t enough battery capacity left or it is updating software. Plug in your device for charging and leave it for around 30 minutes before turning it on.

Oculus Quest 2 red light won’t turn off

Due to the charging light, we can assume your charger works. Perhaps the battery is no longer holding a charge so that the red light won’t go out.

Oculus Quest 2 controller light blinking

It displays the following information:

• The orange blinking indicates low battery power.
• A white blink indicates pairing success. Further, the controller vibrates.
• When a key is pressed, and the controller is already paired, blink white once.
• When the controller isn’t connected to the headset, it blinks white.
• While the controller firmware is being updated, it will blink white.

Oculus solid red light

Oculus’ solid red light indicates low battery life. So you’ll need to charge it.

Conclusion

This guide explained how to fix the Oculus blinking red light issue. The problem occurs if you don’t charge your Oculus Quest 2 after using it or leave it on without charging. Therefore, we recommend using the recommended charger with Oculus Quest. Also, turn the headset off before storing it after fully charging the battery.

Frequently Asked Questions