Dropped Your Phone? Here’s How to Fix a Cracked Phone Screen

Give These Solutions a Try: How to Fix a Cracked Phone Screen

It doesn’t matter how clumsy you are. We’ve all cracked our phone screens at one point or another and been through the hassle of getting it fixed. If you’re currently looking for an easy solution to this problem, you’ve come to the right place. Fortunately, you can find many tips on how to fix a cracked phone screen.

Simply put, you don’t always have to run to a professional and spend tons of money on a replacement job. Read on to learn more on how to fix a cracked phone screen.

DIY Ways of Fixing a Cracked Phone Screen

The first thing to know about fixing a cracked phone screen is to take measures promptly. By leaving your screen cracked, you risk the crack worsening overtime. Moreover, if you don’t fix it immediately, your screen will accumulate debris and germs.

It’s important to fix a cracked phone screen not just because it doesn’t look good but also because a cracked screen disrupts the functioning of your phone. However, if you can’t fix it immediately, we recommend covering your phone with a plastic cover to prevent the crack from worsening.

Once you have time to fix it, you can do any of the following:

Bind It With Tape

Mind you, this is only a temporary solution if you can’t afford to fix your screen. Also, this solution is suitable only if there is surface-level damage, meaning if only the screen's glass has been damaged. For more severe damage, your phone is essentially not usable without a permanent solution.

First, you must clean the screen gently. This is important as you want to get rid of loose pieces of glass. Then simply use a piece of tape to bind the screen together. We suggest that you use tough tapes such as scotch tape. While you’re binding the phone, make sure to cover all corners.

After you’re done, trim off the excess, and you can use your phone without any issue.

Use Sugru to Fix It

Sugru is a kind of multi-purpose silicone rubber. It works like clay and can usually be found at any craft or art supply shop near you. However, before buying, make sure the color of the Sugru matches your phone. Apart from the Sugru, you’ll need a toilet roll and Sellotape.

The steps to follow are very simple:

1. Clean the screen with a piece of toilet paper as Sugru bonds quicker with a clean surface, although you should ensure you don’t disturb the broken glass.
2. Mark the perimeter of your phone’s screen with Sellotape. We suggest you switch on your phone for this, so you can see the screen properly.

   Open the pack of Sugru and take out a small amount.

3. Apply a thin layer onto the crack. As a precaution, start slowly and then add more as per your needs.
4. After you’ve applied the Sugru, leave it on for a while and your phone screen will be fixed.

Replace Your Screen Yourself

While your first instinct may be to take the screen to a professional, you should know it’s not impossible to replace it yourself. It’s cheaper and easy to do with online tutorials. You can find tutorials for your specific device, whether it’s iOS, Android, or Windows, by googling it.

For example, the standard steps to replace an iPhone screen are:

1. First, you’ll need to gather many things, including but not limited to screwdrivers, iOpeners, suction handles, spudgers, an iFixit set of six, iFixit opening tools and tweezers.
2. Then, you need to turn off your iPhone.
3. By using a screwdriver, you must remove the pentalobe screws. You can find them at the bottom of your iPhone (near your charging port). Keep in mind that this will ruin the waterproof seals of your iPhone, so have replacements on hand.
4. Place tape over the display until the entire thing is covered.
5. Heat your iOpener to help soften the adhesive underneath your back cover.
6. Place a suction cup right above your home button and pull on it with firm pressure.
7. Use an opening pick (from your iFixit opening tools) to help pry open the screen.
8. Carefully drag the pick from corner to corner of the screen and pull on the suction cup. The screen should come right off.
9. Disconnect the battery of your iPhone using your spudger and tweezers.
10. Follow the process backward to reinstall your iPhone screen.

Word of caution: these are the standard instructions for replacing an iPhone screen. Therefore, we recommend you look for a tutorial specific to your phone type as there may be some differences from model to model.

When to Know You Need a Professional

The DIY method is certainly cheaper and more efficient than a professional doing the job. However, if you’re unsure of your ability to replace the screen yourself, you can opt to see a professional.

Also, you should see a professional if your phone is not functioning properly. Although it looks bad, the phone should work fine if only the glass cover is damaged. If it’s not working, the problem is more severe and can’t be solved via DIY methods.

The first thing to check is if you are still under warranty for your phone or tablet. If yes, simply take it to the manufacturer or service provider. If not, you have to pay to get it fixed, which can be very costly, depending on the severity of the damage.

You also have the option of getting a new phone, which sometimes makes more sense when you compare costs. In some cases, replacing a cracked screen almost costs the same as a new phone.

Conclusion

In sum, learning how to fix a cracked phone screen is not difficult. You can choose to do it in many different ways, using the multiple resources you have. The internet is undoubtedly the strongest resource as you can find detailed online guides on screen replacements for any type of phone or tablet.

In many ways, it’s easier and cost-effective to fix a phone screen on your own. Although we emphasize again, you should only fix the screen if the damage is not that severe. Otherwise, you may risk making things worse.