The short answer
Tablets draw much more power than phones. A 5W phone charger will barely hold an iPad’s charge and will not increase it while the screen is on. Use the charger that came with it, clean the port, and leave it for an hour before concluding anything is broken.
Most tablet charging complaints are not faults. A tablet battery is three to five times the capacity of a phone battery, and it is being asked to charge from the same style of cable people use for everything else. The mismatch explains the majority of cases.
The power problem
An iPad or a large Android tablet wants 18W to 30W to charge at a sensible rate. Plug it into a 5W phone brick and one of two things happens: it charges extremely slowly, or with the screen on it does not charge at all, because the screen alone consumes more than the charger supplies. The battery percentage then falls while plugged in, which people reasonably interpret as a fault.
Check the charger’s output, printed in small text on the brick. If it says 5V 1A, that is 5W and it is not enough. Look for a charger rated 20W or higher, or one marked USB Power Delivery.
The six checks
Use a higher-wattage charger and let it sit
Plug it into the original charger, or one rated 20W or more, turn the screen off, and leave it for a full hour before checking. A deeply discharged tablet can take 20 minutes just to show any charging indicator.
Clean the charging port
Power the tablet off, shine a torch into the port, and look for compacted lint. Tablets live in bags where this accumulates fast. Scrape it out gently with a wooden or plastic toothpick, never metal.
Swap cable and brick separately
Change one at a time so you learn which failed. Cables fail far more often than chargers, and a cable that charges a phone may not carry the higher current a tablet needs.
Force restart it
On an iPad with Face ID or no Home button: volume up and release, volume down and release, then hold the top button until the logo appears. With a Home button: hold Home and the top button together. On Android tablets, hold power and volume down for 20 seconds. A stuck charging process clears this way.
Check whether it charges only while switched off
If it gains charge with the screen off but not on, that is a power budget problem, not a fault. A stronger charger fixes it.
Look at battery health and age
Tablets are often kept six or seven years, well past the point where the battery holds a useful charge. On iPad, Settings, Battery does not show health directly, but rapid drain plus slow charging on a device of that age points squarely at the cell.
A standard USB-A port supplies very little power. A tablet connected to a laptop will often report charging while the level slowly falls. Always use a wall charger for a tablet.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my iPad say Not Charging when it is plugged in?
The connected power source cannot supply enough current for the current workload. It is most common with low-wattage chargers, laptop USB ports and while the screen is on at high brightness.
Can I use my phone charger for a tablet?
It will work, slowly, if it is a reasonably modern high-wattage charger. An older 5W phone charger effectively will not charge a tablet in normal use.
How long should a tablet take to charge?
Roughly two to three hours from empty with an appropriate charger. Much longer than that consistently points at the charger, the cable or a worn battery.
Is it worth replacing a tablet battery?
Often yes, if the tablet still receives software updates. Batteries cost a fraction of a replacement device, though tablets are glued and the job is best left to a repair shop.
Try a stronger charger with the screen off for an hour. That resolves most tablets that appear not to charge.
