Your Oculus Quest 2 headset comes with an indicator to let you know the power state of the headset at all times. When your Quest 2 is working normally, there are 4 distinct states of the indicator depending on how much charge is on the headset at each time:
- Solid Green – Battery is plugged in and fully charged
- Solid Orange – Battery is plugged in and charging
- Solid Red – Battery is low (normally 10 percent) and not charging
- No light – Battery is not charging but has adequate charge.
There are other states that are not related to charge, but we have listed them here so you have a better understanding of them in relation to the state of your headset.
- Solid White – Screen is on
- Blinking White – Booting or rebooting
- Blinking Purple – Factory reset in progress
As you can see, the only normal state of the red light is solid, and that’s when the headset battery is low and not charging.
However, users report certain issues with the red light that leave them confused as to what it means. In this article, we will examine the different red light situations, their causes, and how to fix them so you can continue enjoying your Quest 2.
Different Red Light Situations on Quest 2
1. Red Light When Charging
When your Quest 2 battery is running very low, usually at 10 percent, the indicator on your headset turns a solid red meaning that you need to charge it. When you plug it in to charge, the indicator should change from red to orange if it is actually charging.
Users have reported that the Quest 2 indicator on their headset remained red even after plugging it in to charge which means that the headset it not charging or charging normally.
But that is not always the case. We will take a look at why the headset may not be charging, but also examine how it could actually be charging and still remain red after being plugged in.
2. Blinking Red Light Oculus
This is probably the most-reported issue with the red light on the Quest 2 indicator. As we explained earlier with the colours and states of the headset indicator lights, there should be no situation where the red light is blinking.
Blinking red light, therefore, indicates a serious issue with the charging of your headset, which could be caused by the battery, the charging cable, the power source or even the state of the headset.
Why is Red Light Blinking on Oculus Quest 2
Although this article is mostly about the blinking red light on Quest 2, it also covers getting stuck on solid red light even while charging. This is because the two scenarios generally have the same causes and solutions, which we will explore in detail.
1. The Headset Battery is Fully Drained
When your Quest 2 headset battery is low, it indicates this with the solid red light. If you do not charge it then, it will go off on its own eventually. However, when it does go off, it does not mean that there’s absolutely no charge left in it immediately. The scenarios below will totally drain the battery instead:
1. Not charging for a while after battery dies: Quest 2 always saves a bit of charge to keep background programmes running at a very low state, and also to resume the power circuit when you plug it in to charge.
However, leaving your headset for a while after it dies makes these background processes to completely drain the battery. And, when this happens, the power circuit is completely disconnected.
2. Sleep mode: Another practice that could drain your headset battery totally is leaving it in sleep mode for a prolonged period.
Sleep mode still uses a lot of battery power to maintain your apps and activities in the background so that they can quickly resume when you exit sleep mode.
But, leaving your Quest 2 on sleep mode for a long time causes these background processes to consume all the battery power and also disconnect the power circuit.
2. Leaving Lense Cover On
Your Quest 2 lenses come with a silicone cover. If, when you are putting your headset away, you put back the cover on the lenses, it will cause the headset to wake and drain the battery even while it’s tucked away.
When any one of the three scenarios above occurs, it may cause the indicator to show a blinking red light when you plug your Quest 2 in. This is because the battery is in a disconnected state and the power circuits in the battery are trying to resume.
3. There is a Problem with the Headset Battery Connection
Sometimes, also, the problem may be that the Quest 2 headset battery is not connected properly at the terminals, or that current is not flowing properly inside the circuit of the battery.
When the battery terminals are not properly connected, power is not able to flow freely from the battery to the headset, causing the light to indicate an abnormal battery state by blinking red.
Also, if current is not flowing properly in the circuit of the battery, the battery would be in abnormal state and cause the red indicator to blink.
4. Charging Cable is Malfunctioning
One of the common causes of the blinking red light or static red light even after being plugged in, is a bad charging cable.
Your Quest 2 headset may show the normal solid red light when the battery is low and then a blinking red light when you plug it in to charge. When this happens, the leading cause is a malfunctioning charging cable.
It is either that the cable is not supplying the right level of voltage or that current is not flowing properly through it. Leaving it plugged into the headset may even cause de-charging in the battery.
This also happens when you use a low-quality, generic charging cable as most of them do not have the quality needed to pass current properly to your Quest 2 battery.
5. The Oculus Charging Port or the Power Socket is Damaged
The blinking red light or steady red light even after being plugged in may be caused by damage at either end of the charging setup.
The charging port is responsible for receiving current from the charging cable and then transmitting the current to the battery. If the charging port is damaged, charge will not flow freely or in the right form to the battery, causing it to give a blinking red indicator.
Also, if the power socket where your charger is plugged in is damaged, it will not supply the right voltage needed to charge your Quest 2 battery properly.
6. Battery Is Damaged
The Quest 2 battery has about 500 charging cycles before it needs replacement. That is, with normal use and best practice. However, there are many things that could cause damage to your battery long before its normal lifespan. These include:
1. Heat
If you leave your headset in a warm place for any length of time, it causes damage to the lithium cells in the battery.
Also, if you play power-intensive games for long periods and do not wait for the battery to cool down before plugging it in to charge, this will cause damage to the battery over time
2. Charging after battery is full
Also, charging your battery long after it is fully charged will damage the cells in the battery.
3. Incomplete or too many charge cycles in a short period
Taking the battery through incomplete or too many charge cycles in a short time will damage the battery.
What this means is, if your battery runs low and you plug it in to charge, and then take it out at, say 50% to use it again and then plug it in when it runs low again; that constant charge and discharge cycle will damage your headset battery over time.
4. Draining Battery
Letting your battery drain completely will also damage it. So, if you keep playing until the battery dies; or if you leave the battery dead for a long time without charging; or if you leave the headset on sleep for long periods, all of these will drain your Quest 2 battery and damage it over time.
And, when the battery is damaged, it will cause the blinking red indicator when you plug it in to charge.
6. You’re Using an Extension
You may be using an extension to allow you to charge your Quest 2 from convenient distances, or to charge more than one device at a time. While this is advantageous, it may have adverse effects on charging your headset.
First, extensions do not often transmit the right level of voltage needed to charge your headset properly.
Secondly, a damage or bug in any device connected to the extension will almost certainly affect the charging of your Quest 2 headset.
When any of these happens, your headset may give off the blinking red light when you plug it in to charge on the extension.
7. You’re Using Your PC to Charge It
It is never good practice to charge your Quest 2 headset using your PC. You should only connect a fully-charged headset using Link to play games on your PC. You might notice that even though your headset is connected and charging when you play, the battery still goes down slightly over time.
The reason is, the USB port on your PC supplies a lot less voltage than is required by your Quest 2 headset. So, when your headset battery is low and you plug it in to charge on your PC, the poor charging current will cause a blinking red indicator on the headset.
This could also be caused by a fault or glitch in the PC’s USB port. In any case, charging your low headset battery with a PC can cause the blinking red light.
8. There’s A Glitch/Bug
It isn’t always an external factor that causes the blinking red light. On some occasions, the issue may be caused by a glitch or bug in the headset which causes it not to charge properly, or to give off the blinking red light even though it is actually charging.
Blinking Red Light on Oculus Quest 2? Try These Fixes
From the list above, you can see that there are so many factors to consider when your Quest 2 shows the blinking red indicator. Because there are so many possible reasons for the issue, it is best to use an elimination method to arrive at the right solution for your own situation.
1. Check the Cable and Socket
The very first thing to do when you encounter the blinking red light on your Quest 2 headset is to confirm that the charging cable is working fine.
To do this, simply use it to charge your phone and observe it for 10 minutes. Watch and see if the percentage increases during that period. This is not only to confirm that it is charging but that it is charging properly.
If the cable does not charge your phone properly, then you should replace the cable.
If the problem persists after replacing the cable, the issue may be with the power socket. We explained earlier that a faulty power source could also cause the blinking red light on your headset.
To test for this, plug the charger into another wall socket and see if the problem clears. If it still persists, then try the next solution below.
2. Wait for A Few Hours Before Charging
If the blinking red light occurred when you plugged the headset in to charge, you may try waiting for a while before charging.
- If the battery is hot, it will not allow charge to flow properly in the battery circuits if you plug it in to charge. Also, as we explained earlier, this could cause damage to the battery.
- Sometimes, the blinking red light may be a result of a bug in the power circuit which requires some time to normalize.
For many users, waiting an hour or two and then charging has resolved the blinking red light problem.
3. Just Leave it to Charge
In some cases, the blinking red light is as a result of a temporary glitch or of the headset trying to reconnect the battery circuits. For many users, just leaving the headset to charge for about 1.5 hours has cleared the blinking red light.
However, when such is the case, please pay close attention to the battery life because such occurrences may mean that your battery is close to damage. If your battery starts to last a lot less than usual, the blinking red light was a sign of a bad battery.
4. Hold Power Button for 30 Seconds
If your headset is turned on when you experience the blinking red light, performing a power flush may resolve the problem. A power flush allows the headset to release currents, background processes or apps that may be causing the blinking red light. To perform a power flush:
1. Press and hold the Power button on your Quest 2 headset for 30 seconds until your headset is totally powered off
2. Wait one minute
3. Press the power button again to power it on.
Then check if the blinking red light clears.
5. Do a Forced Charge
If your headset battery is completely drained, it may give off the blinking red light when you plug it in to charge.
This is because the circuits in the battery are disconnected. The battery needs to charge for a while before the circuits are resumed and normal charging resumes.
In that case, you would need to do a forced charge to restore the battery to normal charging. To do a forced charge please follow the steps below carefully:
1. Plug the headset in and leave to charge for 2 hours. If a drained battery was the cause, it should show the green indicator after about 2 to 2.5 hours
2. Then, disconnect the charger from the headset
3. Next, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds
4. Then, plug the charger back into the headset
5. Leave it to charge for another 30 minutes
6. After 30 minutes and still plugged in, press the power button once to display the battery meter
7. If the battery is charging, the battery meter should have an orange colour.
6. Perform an Advanced Hard Reboot
The blinking red light may have been caused by a temporary system malfunction in the headset. We have found that this is usually the case when you play a power-intensive VR title on your headset or when an update was interrupted.
The hard reboot will clear the glitches and force your Quest 2 to reload all the programmes needed for normal functioning, thereby clearing the blinking red light.
To perform an advanced hard reboot:
1. Press and hold the power and (–) volume buttons on your headset simultaneously
2. Hold until the boot menu screen appears
3. Use the volume buttons to navigate and highlight Boot Device
4. Use the Power button to select the Boot Device option
Wait for the headset to reboot. This may take a bit longer than usual. It should also clear the blinking red light. If it doesn’t, please try the next fix below.
7. Clean Out Data Port
The blinking red light when you plug your Quest 2 in to charge may be caused by dirt or any other materials in the port. This will obstruct the flow of current from the cable to the charging port. You need to ensure that the port is clean to eliminate that as a possible cause of the problem.
To clean the data port:
1. Power off the headset if it is not off already
2. Use a suitable material to blow thin, compressed air into the data port
3. Take a piece of cotton wool and dip it into a little cleaning alcohol
4. Wrap the cotton wool round a toothpick or dental floss
5. Remove most of the cotton wool, leaving only a bit around the blunt tip of the toothpick
6. Gently rub the toothpick with the cotton wool on it along the inner walls of the data port
7. Blow some more compressed air into the data port after cleaning.
After completing this, please try charging again and see if the blinking red light clears.
8. Update Quest 2 Manually
Several users have reported that updating their Quest 2 manually has resolved the blinking red light problem for them. Your Quest 2 headset is set to update automatically. However, for updates to complete successfully, your headset needs to be turned on and left on sleep mode for a bit.
But you never know when an update is available to leave your headset in that state, so you may need to check manually from time to time. Also, network issues and glitches in the headset may cause updates not to download and install automatically.
To update your Quest 2:
1. Put on your Oculus headset
2. Press the Oculus button on the right controller
3. On the Menu that appears, click the Clock icon
4. Select Settings
5. Select System
6. Select Software Update
7. At the top right corner, select to Update is there is any available.
Or
1. Put on your Oculus headset
2. Press the Oculus button on the right controller
3. Select Settings
4. Select About
5. Select Download or Install Updates
After updating, please check if this resolves the blinking red light problem for you.
9. Replace Headset
If none of the fixes above work for you, it is possible that the cause of the blinking red light is a more serious issue with the Quest 2 software or hardware, and replacing it may be a good option.
We always advise our readers to buy new and original Quest 2 from trusted sellers, and avoid refurbished Oculus.
10. Contact Oculus
The solutions we have provided in this article are well-researched, and some from first-hand experience. However, there are cases where only the manufacturer can provide a solution that works for you.
You can open a support ticket with Oculus and report your problem. Please provide the 14-digit number on the battery compartment to enable Oculus assist you better.
11. Look Through Forums
The blinking red light issue is more common than you may imagine. Users online share solutions that have worked for them and you may have a look at them to see what works for you.