Your iPhone is on, but the screen is black. Your iPhone rings, but you can’t answer the call. You’ve tried resetting your iPhone, letting it run out of battery and plugging it back in, and your iPhone screen is still black. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone screen went black and what you can do to fix it.
Why Is My iPhone Screen Black?
A black screen is usually caused by a hardware problem with your iPhone, so there usually isn’t a quick fix. That being said, a software crash can cause your iPhone display to freeze and turn black, so let’s try a hard reset to see if that’s what’s going on.
To do a hard reset, press and hold the power button (also known as the Sleep / Wake button) and the Home button (the circular button below the display) together for at least 10 seconds.
On the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, you perform a hard reset by pressing and holding the volume down button and the power button at the same time until the you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.
And if you have an iPhone 8 or newer, perform a hard reset by quickly pressing and releasing the volume up button, then quickly pressing and releasing the volume down button, and then pressing and holding the power button (iPhone 8) or the side button (iPhone X or newer) until that Apple logo appears.
If the Apple logo appears on the screen, there probably isn’t a problem with your iPhone’s hardware — it was a software crash. Check out my other article on frozen iPhones, which will tell you exactly what to do to fix your iPhone. If the Apple logo doesn’t appear on the screen, keep reading.
Let’s Take A Look Inside Your iPhone
iPhone Logic Board
A brief tour of the inside of your iPhone will help you understand why your screen is black. There are two pieces of hardware that we’ll talk about: Your iPhone’s display and the logic board.
The logic board is the brains behind the operation of your iPhone, and every part of your iPhone connects to it. The display shows you the images you see, but the logic board tells it what to display.
Removing iPhone Display
The entire display of your iPhone is removable, but it’s a lot more complicated than you might think! There are four major components built into your iPhone’s display:
- The LCD screen, which displays the images you see on your iPhone.
- The digitizer, which is the part of the display that processes touch. It digitizes your finger, which means it turns the touch of your finger into a digital language your iPhone can understand.
- The front-facing camera.
- The Home button.
Each component of your iPhone’s display has a separate connector that plugs into your iPhone’s logic board. That’s why you might be able to swipe across the screen with your finger, even though the screen is black. The digitizer is working, but the LCD is not.
The black stick is touching the display data connector
In many cases, your iPhone screen is black because the cable that connects the LCD to the logic board has become dislodged. This cable is called the display data connector. When the display data connector becomes dislodged from the logic board, your iPhone can be fixed by plugging it back in.
There are other cases where the fix isn’t so simple, and that’s when the LCD itself is damaged. When that happens, it doesn’t matter if the LCD is connected to the logic board or not — it’s broken and it needs to be replaced.
How Do I Know Whether My Display Is Dislodged Or Broken?
I’m hesitant to write this because it is by no means a hard and fast rule, but I have noticed a pattern in my experience working with iPhones. There are no guarantees, but my rule of thumb is this:
- If your iPhone display stopped working after you dropped it, your screen is probably black because the LCD cable (display data connector) has become dislodged from the logic board.
- If your iPhone display stopped working after it got wet, your screen is probably black because the LCD is broken and needs to be replaced.
How To Fix A Black iPhone Screen
The way you choose to proceed may depend on whether your iPhone LCD cable has become dislodged from the logic board or if the LCD is broken. You can use my rule from above to make an educated guess.
If the LCD cable has become dislodged, the Genius Bar at an Apple Store may repair it free of charge, even if your iPhone is out of warranty. That’s because the fix is relatively simple: They’ll open your iPhone and reconnect the digitizer cable to the logic board. If you decide to go this route, make an appointment with the Genius Bar before you arrive — otherwise, you could end up standing around for a while.
If the LCD is broken, that’s another story. It can be very expensive to repair your iPhone display, especially if you go through Apple. If you’re looking for a high-quality, less-expensive alternative, I recommend Puls, an in-person repair service that will come to you, fix your iPhone on the spot, and give you a lifetime warranty.
If you’d rather get a new iPhone than have your current one repaired, check out the UpPhone phone comparison tool. You can compare the prices of every smartphone on every wireless carrier. Carriers are eager to have you switch to their network, so you may find that you can get a new iPhone for roughly the same cost as repairing your current one.
Repairing Your iPhone Yourself Usually Isn’t A Good Idea
Star-shaped (pentalobe) screws keep your iPhone closed
iPhones aren’t meant to be opened by the user. Just take a look at the two screws next to the charging port of your iPhone — they’re star-shaped! That being said, there are excellent repair guides out there if you’re feeling adventurous. I took the images in this article from a repair guide on iFixit.com called iPhone 6 Front Panel Assembly Replacement. Here’s a brief excerpt of that article that may sound familiar:
“When reassembling your phone, the display data cable may pop off its connector. This can result in white lines or a blank screen when powering your phone back on. If that happens, simply reconnect the cable and power cycle your phone.” Source: iFixit.com
If you believe your iPhone LCD cable (display data cable) has simply become dislodged from the logic board, you’re very tech-savvy, and going to an Apple Store isn’t an option, reconnecting the display data cable to the logic board isn’t that difficult, if you have the right tools.
Replacing the display is very complex because of the number of components involved. Let me be clear: I do not recommend you try to fix this problem yourself, because it’s just too easy to break something and “brick” your iPhone.
You Know What You Have To Do
Most readers won’t be able to fix their iPhone screen just by reading this article, because a black iPhone screen usually isn’t caused by a software issue. Everything was working fine until your iPhone screen went black. Now you can’t use your iPhone at all, but you do know what to do next. I’m interested to hear how you fixed your iPhone in the comments section below, and any experience you can offer will undoubtedly help other readers with the same problem.
Thanks for reading and all the best,
David P.
All iPhone images in this article by Walter Galan and licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
For me didnt work my phone display is black but the phone is on help
Thank you so much! Power Home button method was very helpful
hatsoff to you my friend
very didactic post. i dont have an iphone but a galaxy S and in general terms applies the same thing. again, very good and complete article
Thank you for this article. My screen went black at 2;30am and I rushed downstairs to my pc to fix it, because I need my alarm, and phone for work. My screen went black, nothing would appear, I could hear Siri, but could see nothing. I did the hard reset, holding the volume down and the off button on on my iPhone 7 Plus. I believe the app that crashed on my phone was Periscope. It used to do it all the time on my iPhone 6, so I deleted it. I thought it would be ok on iPhone 7… Read more »
Thanks it worked brilliant x
I can not thank you enough for your amazing tip of pressing the Power/Home Button together. I went to check my phone and the screen turned white, then black. I could hear siri but not see anything and the charge was good. The battery ran down and I was able to press both buttons and see the apple logo – then once recharged everything was back up and running.
Thank you
your advise saved my life
If you’re using an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, hard reset by pressing and holding the power button and volume down button.
My iphone 5 got wet when i was swimming and when i turned it on its just blank screen and i putted it in dry rice to absorb the water inside my phone. others said that ios10 has an upgrade where if the lightning is wet the system will automatically shut down. Im kinda worried, will the rice help and is the ios feature true
i tried doing it and its not working please help me
i have not dropped my phone, it has not gotten wet, i have tried to do a hard reset several times, nothing is working.
You’re a dumbass David P!!!! All you have to do is hold your power button (right side of your phone) and your volume down button at the same time until you see the apple icon; let go and voo-laa, release and your screen saver should appear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thnx man
thz my phone now working when i did it now it is on the code bit
The home and power button fix worked a couple of times but now it’s black and won’t work again 🙁 I can hear calls and texts coming through but I can’t actually use the phone. Any tips?!
No suggestions worked on mine. Went to Apple Store. Genius held Power Home buttons 20 seconds. Iphone restored!
thanks so much for the tip – the 10-second hold on the power and home buttons is all I needed – thank you for putting this information out there!!
omg! thank God it works
I didn’t drop my phone at all or get any water damage , I woke up this morning with a black screen but I get all my messages & everything I just can’t see anything
I dropped my iphone 6 and it went black.I plugged in all connecters and still black. Do i need a new screen?
So — what I learned yesterday when my Iphone 7 screen went black is that I was pushing the wrong reset buttons. The nice guy — Eric– at the Simply Mac store showed me that to reset an Iphone 7, you push the button on the right while at the same time pushing the volume DOWN button. Problem solved.
i just set up my new iphone and the sreen is black with a swirly thing in center cannot use it
I love you :o)
excellent – thank you – you help me very much
I’m gay
Thanks, Power Home button method was the solution for my challenge.
my iphone 5s just used for 4days it is blacked out the display and the phone is not working at all.
MY PHONE TURN OFF AFTER USING SNAPCHAT NOW MY SCREEN IS BLACK. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME I TRY EVERYTHING. I THINKING JUST PUT A NEW LCD SCREEN.
Hey David,
My iPhone’s screen is not working and display is showing black lines. I went to iphone service centre and they are saying you need to change your display. Please suggest me what should I do.
Hey David, I had recently dropped my iPhone 5c blue and cracked the screen, but the phone still worked perfectly. The night of the incident, however, my screen went black. The backlight seemed to still be on, as there was a faint glow to the screen. I could still turn my ringer on and off, and the icon for turning the ringer on and off would display. Also, my siri could still talk to me, and the home button accessibility shortcut would still work. I could not however see anything else on my screen. I plugged my phone in and… Read more »
Thanks for this great advice. After the iPhone was in the horizontal display, it would not revert to the vertical display and a few seconds later went black when I pushed the home button. I knew the phone hadn’t been dropped and had never been wet, and Siri was attempting to talk to me so I knew and the phone had over 90% battery remaining. So I followed your advice and now the phone is working fine.
My iphone 6 is unable to turn on. I’ve tried charging it, connecting it to itunes, force start it but nothing helped. Could it be the LCD cable (display data connector) has become dislodged from the logic board like u mentioned? Apple service centre say they won’t fix and just ask me to buy a new one.
I tried the hard reset you described. The icon came up and then the screen came up like normal and my phone is working! Thanks!
My phone went black right after I tried to open email, which seemed frozen. Yesterday there was another program frozen. This time, I pressed the email icon 2-3 times and it would not open and then the display went black. I held the home and side buttons for 10 seconds, Apple logo appeared….then black again. I tried holding them again, the Apple logo appeared immediately. The screen displayed the Apple logo for about 20 seconds and then my display was live again.
My screen went black and after i hard reset it i couldnt tell if it was on or not. it makes sounds when it charges but now i dont know what to do
Hey David,
so I dropped my phone and ive done this a hundred times and had to get the lcd screen fixed but usually when its just the lcd I can still hear my phone ring but this time its just completely dark and no sounds. please tell me its fixable. I need my phone so bad and theres things I haven’t saved from it yet
hello David..
the problem with my phone is that it’s complete black i can’t turn it on with the methods you said, i don’t see light,it doesn’t make sound,and when i call it’s closed,
the only thing I noticed is when i charges it, the phone will get hot.. i plug it out it cools down i plug it in it’s hot again.. do you how to fix that.. 🙁
help
Hi! My screen is completely black but I still get calls and messages. However, I can’t see them! I can’t do a hard reset because My home button fell off… I’ve tried re-setting it via itunes but it tells me I have to turn off find my iphone first. I’ve already ‘forgotten the device’ from my icloud but it still doesn’t let me!! It’s been black for two days now. help!!
I pressed the power button and home button at the same time for 10 seconds and it worked just fine
David, I found your blog through searching for ‘fixing a blank scree.’ I have a 6S and it started going blank a few times. I did a hard reboot that did not work. I read somewhere to do an iCloud or iTunes restore. I did, and after a few minutes, the screen came back on. But only for a few days, and it went blank again. At this point, I figured it was a hardware issue and took it to the Apple Store. This is when it got interesting, they did a diagnostic scan, said it needed to be shipped… Read more »
This worked. I did a hard reset. Thank you so much!!!!!
My iPhone screen is completely dark. I can tell when it’s “on” because I can see the screen turn a slightly lighter color, but then it goes back to sleep mode and is completely black again. Last October, I dropped my phone on cement for the very first time, and the top half of the glass on the front screen came completely off. But when I showered last night, I think a bit of condensation from the mirror dripped inside of the broken part of my phone. So, I think this could be a combination of both. What do you… Read more »
My daughters screen is black but the phone is on. This happened to her first phone and now she just got my husbands old phone. The same thing happened to this phone but it worked just fine for my husband for three years. My husband thinks it has to do with her snapchat. Is that possible?
Hey my phone turns on and off by it self and now it just black I try to press the power button it says it doesn’t hsve battery shows the little apple image and turns off again help me please
Hey my phone turns on and off by it self and now it just black I try to press the power button it says it doesn’t hsve battery shows the little apple image and turns off again help me please
My iPhone Will not turned sideways please tell me how to fix it?
Please help me how to use less gigabytes on my iPhone 6s Plus, I keep having to buy more gigabytes?
Thanks,
Stephanie
[…] any noises at all, you may need to have your iPhone’s display repaired. My article about what to do if your iPhone screen turns black can help. Scroll to the Repair Options section at the bottom of this article to learn what to do […]
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