How to Fix Android Phone Black Screen Problem [Troubleshooting Guide]
Irrespective of the brand, this issue can happen to any Android phone (and iPhone too). You’ve opened the box of your phone and find that phone doesn’t boot up or the screen goes black right after it turns ON. Till the time problem is linked with Android firmware, we can heal that. And if that’s not the case and problem somehow caused by the hardware issue or failure, you would need to visit the service center. In this tutorial, we’ll help you troubleshoot/fix black screen problems and issues on Android smartphones.
The Android OS is quite easier to manage and maintain. Within it, we get multiple maintenance related tools that we can use any time like recovery mode, download mode, Developer Options, etc. If you’re new to this operating system, you can use this guide as a manual to learn different tools and operations that we can apply on an Android phone. Also, there a lot of chances that we need to format the phone to repair it. That wipes everything that is stored within the phone. Thus, we always recommend users to create a general back up frequently.
Nowadays, we don’t have to such task manually. There are tons of applications that purpose that can automatically sync files to online directories like Google Drive, Google Photos, etc. So, you can start using any of these applications or simply use the traditional method where we copy files to our PC or any other device. That’s all about safety so you won’t lose your important files. During this tutorial, we’ll apply different solutions to fix the Black Screen problem on an Android phone.
What is a Black Screen issue on an Android phone?
This is most of the time linked to the operating system. If operating system malfunctions due to some reasons, either it would display an error (mostly likely it doesn’t show up) or else the display screen goes black and nothing further happens. Also, your device might not be able to boot up further. You press the Power button but nothing would happen or it could stuck on the boot screen.
Whatever be the reason, there’s one thing common; that would be frustrating and you won’t be able to use your phone. It mostly happens to those who’ve been using their phone for a long time or someone who frequently indulge with third-party apps and custom operations. If the Android OS has been modified inappropriately on the phone, due to third-party apps, custom operation., etc that phone might face this Black screen problem. The display screen or entire phone will be turned off and the user might not able to boot it up again normally.
In order to troubleshoot a black screen problem on an Android phone, we have several solutions. After applying these solutions, your Android phone should work normally. Before you proceed further, you should know that these actions will delete everything that is stored within the phone. And these actions irreversible. Once any of these actions are performed, we cannot revert. Therefore, you should re-think before moving further. Now, we shall go further and troubleshoot black screen problems on Android smartphones.
1. Troubleshoot Black screen problem on Android using Safe Mode
If you’ve recently indulged within an application (more than one), there are chances that issue caused by that application or one of the recent applications. You might have downloaded that application from Google Play store or third-party resource. That could be a vicious application that is preventing the Android OS to load properly and thus the phone’s screen goes black. If you suspect that too, you can use the Safe Mode to disable that app and fix this black screen on your phone.
Safe Mode is one among maintenance tools available on most of the phones like Samsung, OnePlus, Google, etc. When this mode boots up, all third-party apps remain untouched. Thus, there is no intervention caused by the installed applications or files stored within the phone. Most importantly troubleshooting this way won’t hurt any of your file or app on your phone. For different brands, the method to enter into the ‘Safe Mode’ is different. Therefore, you can search that method on Google if the below steps do not work:
- Ensure that your phone is turned OFF.
- Now, press and hold the Power button and keep it pressed.
- When your phone’s logo appears, release the power button and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
- Keep Volume Down button pressed until your phone gets into the Download Mode.
That should boot your Android phone into the Safe Mode. If your phone is able to boot into this mode, that means there’s an application (or more) causing the black screen problem on your phone.
Since all third-party apps become inactive in this mode, you can easily uninstall or disable them. Follow the below steps:
- Open ‘Settings’ menu on your phone.
- Now, tap on Apps -> Apps list.
- Under this list, try to remove the recent application that might be causing this problem.
- Similarly, remove all the suspected applications.
- After that, reboot your phone.
Now, restart your phone and see if that boots up successfully. There’s one more thing that you could do using the Safe Mode.
Sometimes, such problems happen due to inappropriate settings and configuration that we apply on our phone. Through Safe Mode, we can reset the entire Settings on our phone to its default condition. And that won’t hurt any of your files.
Just use the following instructions to reset settings on your Android phone to fix black screen problem:
- Boot into the Safe Mode.
- Now, tap on Settings.
- Now, look for Backup and Reset.
- Tap on reset menu.
- And then, tap on Reset Settings only and perform this action.
- After that, reboot your phone.
Or equivalent options should be there like reset system data only. This will remove the custom settings applied to your phone. If you find that it doesn’t work in your case, just move forward to the next troubleshooting solution.
2. Wipe the cache partition on an Android phone to fix black screen issue
This is one of the most helpful solutions that you can apply on your Android phone to fix performance and stability issues. If you’ve been using your phone for a long time, there are greater chances that a lot of clutter and cache data might have been accumulated on your phone. That eventually impacts performance and stability negatively. And if you’re out of luck for some reasons, that could brick your phone as well.
Therefore, clearing the cache data could help in fixing the black screen issues on Android phone. The Android OS stores different files in different partitions. For cache data, it has a separate ‘Cache Partition’ and through recovery mode, we can wipe this partition. This action will not delete any of your personal file or app, it just wipes the cache files associated with them.
There are apps like Facebook, Instagram, etc, that can summon heaps junk and cache files. So, it is necessary to perform some cleaning action to avoid black screen, and other bothering problems on the Android phone.
Now, use the following steps to boot into the recovery mode and fix black screen problem on your Android phone:
- Turn OFF your phone.
- Now, press and hold Volume Up and Power buttons at the same time.
- Release both buttons when the phone’s logo appears.
- If required, give your confirmation through Volume Up button.
- Now, you should reach the recovery mode.
- Under the recovery mode, select ‘Wipe cache partition’.
- Perform this action and reboot your phone.
That probably should remove most of the bugs like boot stuck, boot loops, low performance, instability and so on. Thereafter, your phone should boot up. Up next, we will format the phone through performing a factory reset. That wipes the phone thoroughly and removes everything that is stored.
Therefore, you should follow the next solution carefully. You must know that it will delete all of your files, photos and apps present within the phone.
3. Fix black screen of death by applying factory reset on an Android phone
Whether you have ended up bricking your phone or it has suddenly stopped working, performing a factory reset is the most recommendable action that you can apply. People who frequently switch from one firmware to another or use different third-party apps or mods are more frequent to end up to such problems and conditions. Through mean of third-party apps or firmware, some system files become corrupt that cause our Android phone to malfunction.
Such actions can lead to black screen problems as well. A factory reset will wipe your phone completely and remove all third-party apps, files and downloads. And it turns everything to its default condition and position. After this process, only system applications remain. In simple words, it turns your phone into a factory fresh piece.
If you’re using a custom firmware/mod or having root access, a factory reset won’t hurt any of these. Again, we’ll use the recovery mode this purpose. Use the following instructions to factory reset your Android phone:
- Turn OFF your phone using the power key.
- Now, boot into the recovery mode (steps are mentioned above).
- Now, select ‘Wipe data/factory reset’ option.
- Perform this action.
- Exit the recovery mode.
Thereby, your mobile phone will restart and should boot up normally. Soon, you’ll see the setup screen. Enter your email account details and customize your experience. That’s how you can rectify the black screen issue on your phone. This guide works on almost all Android smartphones, no matter whether you’re having Samsung, MI, Huawei, Oneplus or any other brand.
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