Hey! Calling all Switch owners who may have had the same issue. I finally got my copy of Super Mario 3D Allstars and brought out my Switch, I've had it sitting on a shelf for about a year or so (since I finished Octopath Traveler) and when I tried to start it up, nothing happens. It won't charge or start, I've tried the regular methods, three different chargers (including the official Ninty one of course), hard reset and charging for an extended period of time before resetting. Even tried with shorter charger cables to provide a stronger charge. I also tried with and without the socket adapter (USB only in a USB hub charger) but nothing seems to work. I get the charging symbol in the upper left corner and the black/white Nintendo logo when I try to start it, but then it goes right back to the charging logo. The charger bar doesn't move and the battery appears to simply be dead.

Has anyone had this issue, and if you did how did you solve it?

PS: Yes, I also tried charging it in the dock, it has no effect.

Have no idea. If I have to guess, I would say that your battery is dead or something.

Best case would be to send it to Nintendo for fixing it up.

Nintendo's Japan twitter says to charge your battery every six months or the battery could die, and your was not charged for a year, it is highly likely that you may have to replace the battery.

"To recap some basic chemistry, batteries generate charge through an electrochemical reaction. While using the battery drains power quickly, batteries on standby still bleed power, albeit much more slowly. Left on their own for too long, batteries can lose the minimum charge required to kickstart their chemical reactions, meaning you’ll probably have to replace it. And replacing Switch batteries is a pain, even for tech-savvy gamers."

https://www.tomsguide.com/uk/news/nintendo-switch-charge-six-months

Well, shit. That sounds like a hassle and-a-half. How much will this cost me? I never thought about keeping it charged, I'm not used to handheld devices like this one, but I should have gathered from how batteries work in general. I'll try to leave it charging overnight just in case, maybe I'll get lucky. I did read about others on forums who managed to get it started again!

Seems like your battery died. You can try going to a repair store and give it a charge, to see if it's still usuable. Regardless,i recommend you to just buy a new one(a new battery,not a switch).

Need a new battery. Needs a charge at least once a year. Not that difficult to replace if you follow a guide and have the right tools. Cheaper than sending it in and potentially lost saves due to Nintendo sending out a different unit.

It works! I used my shortest quick charger for my phone and left it in for 2-3 hours and it's both charging and starting up just fine. Thanks for the help anyway!

The downsides of not having easily accessible batteries to replace.

Contact Nintendo and tell them about it. You can send it to them and they'll replace the battery.
The Switch and dock is designed to contstantly be plugged in.
Of course it's free in the UK (where I live) to get your system repired by Nintendo. You'll have to check if they will do it in your country.

Well, my Switch is charged and it works perfectly. In handheld mode. Now it won't connect to the TV, I've checked again with a variety of cables and connectors, reset and restarted but I get the same error message on the Switch screen (genius that the message itself is concealed by the dock so you have to lift it out to read). I also tried all HDMI ports on the TV, unplugged the one in the sound system, and basically every other thing one can do with cables and sockets.

Reading some of the solutions online was less than helpful, "Is your dock functioning? Try another one to see!", as if one has several Switch units lying around the house. Nintendo's own tech support FAQ is limited to reset and trying cables and the order which you plug them in.

I think I'll pop over to the shop where I bought the unit later today, they would know more and perhaps they have test units to verify the last support suggestions before I contact Nintendo.