Phone black screen but still on? How to fix it

Your phone was fine a moment ago and now the screen stays black. Sometimes it still vibrates, rings or receives notifications; sometimes nothing happens at all. That difference is the first thing to find out: is the phone on with only the picture gone, or has the whole phone stopped working? In most cases you can work that out yourself in a few minutes, and a force restart often fixes it.

Blue Apple repairs phones at Rijnstraat 76-H in Amsterdam. If the steps below do not help, see the page phone repair in Amsterdam or go straight to iPhone screen repair and Samsung screen repair. If this is happening on a laptop, read laptop or MacBook black screen.

Step 1: is the phone actually on?

• Call yourself from another phone. Does it ring or vibrate?
• Flip the silent switch or change the volume. Do you feel a vibration or hear a click?
• Plug in the charger. Do you hear the charging sound or feel a vibration?
• Ask Siri or Google Assistant something. Do you get an answer?

If any answer is yes, the phone works and only the picture is gone. The problem is then in the software, the screen or the screen connector. If every answer is no, the phone is not starting: think of an empty or worn battery, or the logic board.

Step 2: what you can try yourself

1. Charge it. Leave the phone on a charger and cable you know work for at least half an hour. A completely empty battery often shows no picture at first. If it will not charge, read phone not charging.
2. Force restart. This often frees a frozen phone and you lose nothing. The buttons for each phone are below.
3. Temperature. If the phone has been very hot or very cold, for example in the sun or out in the frost, let it reach room temperature and try again.
4. Brightness. If the phone responds to Siri or Google Assistant, ask it to set the brightness to maximum. Sometimes it is simply at the lowest level.
5. Case and screen protector. Take them off. A case that covers the sensor near the camera, or that presses on the buttons, can make the screen turn off.

How to force restart

• iPhone 8 and newer, and the SE from the second generation. Press volume up briefly, press volume down briefly, then hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. This can take ten to twenty seconds.
• iPhone 7. Hold volume down and the side button together until you see the Apple logo.
• iPhone 6s and the first SE. Hold the Home button and the power button together until you see the Apple logo.
• Samsung Galaxy. Hold volume down and the side key together until the phone restarts, usually after seven to ten seconds.
• Google Pixel. Hold the power button for about thirty seconds.
• Other Android phones. Hold the power button, or the power button with volume down, for ten to twenty seconds.

What the cause usually is

• A frozen system or app. Often after an update, or when the storage is almost full. After the force restart everything works again.
• An empty or worn battery. The phone suddenly shuts down and only starts again on the charger. For an iPhone see iPhone battery replacement, for a Samsung Samsung battery replacement.
• A broken screen. After a drop or pressure in your pocket: the phone still rings, but the picture is gone. You often see a crack, a blot or coloured lines too, but it can also happen with no visible damage. A Google Pixel works the same way.
• The screen cable. After a drop the screen connector can come loose. The picture then sometimes returns when you press or move the phone.
• Moisture. After water the picture can go straight away or later. Switch the phone off, do not charge it and see iPhone water damage or Samsung water damage.
• The logic board. If the phone responds to nothing, even after an hour on the charger, a part on the board may have failed. See iPhone motherboard repair.

The flashlight test does not work on every phone

On an LCD screen you can shine a flashlight at an angle onto the glass. If you faintly see your wallpaper or apps, the panel works and only the backlight has failed. That applies to the iPhone 11, iPhone XR and iPhone SE, among others. An OLED screen, as on most newer iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy S series, has no separate backlight, so this test tells you nothing there.

Saving your photos and files

With a broken screen your data is usually still on the phone. Leave an iPhone with iCloud Backup on the charger on Wi-Fi: it can then still make a backup by itself. If you have paired it with your computer before, you can also try a backup through the Mac or PC. On Android this works with the Google or Samsung backup, if that was already on. If none of this works, tell us before we start, so we can take it into account.

Repair or replace?

If it is only the screen or the battery, repair is usually the most affordable choice, and you keep your own phone with all your data. On an older phone with logic board damage the sums can come out differently. You hear that from us before you decide anything. To see what it costs first, look at your phone's page under iPhone, Samsung or Google Pixel.

How a repair works at Blue Apple

We first check whether it is the screen, the battery, the connector or the logic board. Then you hear what is wrong and what the repair costs, and we only start after you agree. You can book online or come by at Rijnstraat 76-H in Amsterdam, and for questions you can call 020 239 11 93. If your phone is not listed, use the form for another repair.

Common questions

My phone rings but the screen stays black. What is broken?

The phone still works then, so the problem is usually the screen or its connector. Try a force restart first. If the picture stays away, the screen needs to be checked.

Will a force restart delete my data?

No. A force restart erases nothing. Only what you had not saved yet, such as an open document, can be lost.

My screen works sometimes and sometimes not. Should I wait?

Better not. A picture that comes and goes often points to a loose connector or a screen that is failing, and it usually gets worse. Make a backup now, while you still can.

In short

First check whether the phone still responds, charge it and force restart it. If the screen stays black while the phone still rings, it is probably the screen. If it responds to nothing, the battery or the logic board. If you cannot work it out, see phone repair in Amsterdam. You will find us at Rijnstraat 76-H in Amsterdam.