How to fix unresponsive touch screen

Touch screens are great when they work, but when a touch screen stops working, all that ease of use goes out the window and frustration sets in very quickly.

The biggest problem is that with some devices, the touch screen is the only way you have of interacting with your phone or tablet.

According to Lifewire, when that suddenly goes away, it can feel like you are totally locked out of your device altogether.

While there are cases where an unresponsive touch screen calls for professional repairs, there are a number of steps, from easy to advanced, that you can take to get things working again.

Basic fixes for a touch screen that does not work

1. Clean the screen with a lint-free cloth.
2. Restart your device.
3. Remove your case or screen protector.
4. Make sure your hands are clean and dry and that you are not wearing gloves.

Regardless of your experience level, there are some basic, easy fixes that you can try when your touch screen stops working.

The first thing to try is to clean the screen and your hands. Touch screens don’t work that well when they are wet or dirty, and they can also appear unresponsive if your fingers are wet, dirty, or covered by gloves. If there is any liquid on the screen, or any other substance like dirt or food, the first step is to clean it off.

If that does not do the trick, then turning the device off and back on again will often solve the problem. This is also known as rebooting, and the process is a little different from one device to the next.

Cleaning an unresponsive touch screen device

In some cases, a touch screen will stop responding properly due to built up dirt and grime or problems with the case or screen protector. Since this is pretty easy to either deal with or rule out, it is a good idea to give your device a thorough cleaning if a reboot did not do the trick.

1. Clean your hands or put on clean gloves.
2. Wipe the touch screen with a lint-free cloth. The cloth may be dry or wet.
3. Never use a sopping wet cloth.
4. Always wring your cloth out before using it on a touch screen.
5. If the touch screen still does not work, removing the screen protector or case may help.
6. You may need to clean the screen after removing the screen protector if it was damaged.
7. Take off your gloves, as touch screens don’t work well through gloves.
8. Make sure your fingers are clean and dry as well since wet fingers often result in an unresponsive touch screen.

Restarting a device with an unresponsive touch screen

It may sound pretty basic, but when your touch screen stops working, simply restarting your iPhone, Android, or laptop is usually all it takes to fix the problem.

The issue here is that with most devices, turning off or restarting involves interacting with the screen in some way. For instance, you may be used to touching the power button and then tapping a confirmation screen on your phone.

Since that is not an option when your touch screen has stopped working, you will have to use a device-specific shutdown or restart procedure.

If the touch screen still does not work after restarting the device, then move on to the next step.

Intermediate fixes for an unresponsive touch screen

1. Dry the device out if it got wet.
2. Tap the edges if the device was dropped.
3. Remove memory and sim cards.
4. Disconnect peripherals like USB devices.

If your device has suffered some damage, like if it was dropped or got wet, then fixing it is a little more complicated. The steps are still pretty easy to follow, but if you are not comfortable trying to dry out your iPhone, then it is best left to the professionals.

Another slightly more complicated fix for a touch screen is to simply turn the device off and remove all of the sim cards, memory cards and peripherals. The reason this can be complex is that these cards are sometimes difficult to remove, and you have to put them back in one at a time to figure out which one was the problem.

Remove the SIM card, memory card, peripherals

While it is less common, problems with SIM cards, memory cards, and peripherals can sometimes cause touch screen problems in Android and Windows devices.

1. Fully power down and unplug your device.
2. Remove the SIM card and any memory cards if your device is a phone.
3. Unplug peripherals like USB devices if your device is a laptop or tablet.
4. Reboot your device and test the operation of the touch screen.
5. If the touch screen works, try replacing each thing you removed one at a time until you identify the cause of the problem.

#Takeaway

How to hard reboot an unresponsive touch screen

Rebooting an iPhone, or forcing it to shut down and turn on again, without access to the touch screen involves pushing a combination of buttons. According to Lifewire, the specific combination depends on the age of the phone.

For iPhone 6s and older models with a clickable home button:

1. Press and hold both the home button and the power button.
2. Release the buttons when you see the Apple logo on the screen.

For iPhone 7 and newer:

1. Press and hold both the power button and the volume down button.
2. Release the buttons when you see the Apple logo on the screen.

Android phone or tablet.

Forcing an Android device to restart when the touch screen does not work can be a little different from one device to the next (like on a Samsung phone versus a Google phone), but it is usually a pretty simple process.

1. Press and hold the power button until the screen turns black.
2. You may need to hold the button for 10 or more seconds
3. If the phone does not automatically turn back on, wait about a minute and press the power button again.