I dropped my phone and the screen is black but it still works

iPhone black screen is a commonly seen problem that you cannot turn on the device. Here are two different cases that the iPhone screen goes black.

Case 1: "My iPhone 7 Plus screen goes black and won't turn on after it was dropped. Though the screen is black but the phone is on because it still rings when somebody call. How to fix iPhone black screen of death?"

Case 2: "My iPhone X screen goes black randomly. After waiting for some time, I pressed the Power button and it turned on but then went black again."

iPhone screen goes black when the phone comes across a critical system error which can cause the system to shut down. Since the iPhone or iPad screen is unresponsive and black like the phone is dead, the black screen error is also called iPhone black screen of death or iPad black screen of death. Below are 4 solutions to fix your iPhone which is stuck on a black screen.

Why Is My iPhone Screen Black?

There are mainly three kinds of reasons why your iPhone screen is black and won't turn on.

Reason 1: Hardware Issues

Firstly, your iPhone could have black screen of death because of a hardware problem, for example, your phone screen is broken or damaged after the device is dropped or water drown. If that’s the cause of your iPhone black screen, it’s usually hard to handle the problem by yourself, so you had better take the phone to Apple Store.

Reason 2: Software Problems

Also, the iPhone black screen of death could be caused by a software problem, for example, a software crash can freeze your iPhone screen and make it turn black, which can be resulted from update failure, unstable firmware, etc.

Mostly, when you don’t drop your iPhone but it cannot turn on while still functioning or just keep restarting, this is due to a software problem. As for the software-related black screen problem, in the following parts we will provide 4 viable solutions to repair it.

Reason 3: Drained Battery or Crashed App

Apart from the hardware or software issues, there’s also possibility that your iPhone screen turns black because of drained battery or a crashed app. Remember to have a check beforehand.

If that’s the case, just charge your iPhone or remove the app. If your phone is long time no use, you have to charge it for a longer time (usually more than 30 min) to see it function. And besides removing the glitchy app, you can also check for some updates. Anyway, the fix is easy, so we will not develop more here.

Now let’s see how to deal with iPhone black screen of death caused by software issues by yourself.

Solution 1: Hard Reset to Fix iPhone Black Screen of Death

When your iPhone (or iPad and iPod Touch) has a black screen and unresponsive, you can hard reset the iPhone to troubleshoot black screen. By force restarting your phone, usually many subtle system errors can be fixed.

According to your iPhone model, the method of hard reset differs.

Hard Reset iPhone 8/X/11/12/13 in Black Screen

Step 1. Press and quickly release Volume Up button.

Step 2. Press and quickly release Volume Down button.

Step 3. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button (also called side button) until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Step 4. After the iPhone reboots, it should get rid of the black screen of death.

Hard Reset iPhone 7/7 Plus in Black Screen

Step 1. Press and hold Sleep/Wake + Volume Down keys.

Step 2. Wait until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Hard Reset iPhone 6/6s (or Earlier iPhone Model) in Black Screen

Step 1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and the Home key for about ten seconds.

Step 2. Wait until the iPhone reboots.

• If the power-off slider occurs, slide it to turn the iPhone off and then restart the phone again.

If the iPhone keeps blacking out after the hard reset, keep reading to fix the iPhone black screen of death with solution 2.

Solution 2: Fix iPhone Black Screen of Death Without iTunes [No Data Loss]

This solution is to fix the iPhone black screen of death using third-party iOS system recovery software. Because the way using iTunes (Solution 3) to recover your iPhone black screen will clear your data, this way is more recommended if you want to fix it simply and avoid data loss.

FonePaw iOS System Recovery is a handy and powerful iOS system recovery program that can replace iTunes to fix common iOS system issues, including iPhone black screen of death, iPhone stuck in recovery mode, Apple logo, update failure, unresponsive iPhone, and etc.

The program can fix iPhone black screen with 3 different modes, i.e., Free Quick Fix, Standard Mode, and Advanced Mode, from quick troubleshooting to deep scanning. You are recommended to try from the free way first to do the fixes. And in most situations, it prevents from erasing data on your device (except for the Advanced Mode).

It works on almost all the iPhone models (iPhone 4 and above, iPhone 13 included) in black screen, and is compatible with the latest iOS 15 system.

Now download the program on your PC/Mac and fix your iPhone/iPad that goes black in a few clicks.

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Step 1. Open FonePaw iOS System Recovery

Click the installation file to install FonePaw iOS System Recovery on your computer. Then run the program after the installation. Click Start.

Step 2. Connect iPhone in Black Screen to PC

Next, connect iPhone in black screen to PC via USB cable. The program will detect your device. If your iPhone can be detected, please choose "Free Quick Fix" to repair your phone. If you cannot select such mode, move on to the next.

FonePaw iOS System Recovery also offers Standard Mode and Advanced Mode to repair the dead iPhone. Select Standard Mode if you don't want to lose data. (Advanded Mode will deep scan your iPhone and erase all data.)

Step 3. Enable iPhone into Recovery Mode

In this step, you need to put your device into recovery mode, just follow the instruction of the program to put your iPhone 6/7/8/X/11/12/13 or other iDevice into recovery mode.

Step 4. Download Firmware

In this step, the FonePaw program will detect your phone model and the iOS version. If it fails to do that, you can manually select them for your device. Then check the "Repair" button.

Step 5. Fix iPhone Black Screen of Death

The download is completed. Your iPhone is being repaired now. Wait for a few minutes. Your iPhone should turn on and get out of black screen.

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Note that after repairing, situations below will occur:

• iOS may update to the latest version after restoring.
• Unlock network will be re-locked.
• The device will be restored to non-jailbroken after restoring.

Solution 3: Restore iPhone in iTunes to Fix iPhone Black Screen

The solution uses iTunes to fix iPhone/iPad that has black screen and won't turn on. But you should be aware that all your data on the iOS device will be erased after restoring the iPhone with iTunes.

Step 1. Install the latest version iTunes on your computer. Launch the program. Then connect black screen iPhone to the computer with a USB cable that came with it.

Step 2. In some cases, iTunes will detect that your iPhone is in recovery mode and show the above window.

If iTunes couldn't recognize your iPhone, you can enter your iPhone into the recovery mode manually. Do the same way as when you try to hard reset your iPhone (Solution 1) and wait until the following message pops up.

Step 3. Click Restore to restore the iPhone to factory settings. If you have an iTunes backup, the iTunes will prompt you to restore the backup to get back data.

Step 4. The iPhone will turn on and get out of the black screen of death.

However, the iTunes solution doesn't work for some users. When trying to fix black screen with iTunes, some users get a new problem: iPhone is stuck in recovery mode, iTunes couldn't recognize your iPhone and throws error 9, error 4013, etc. One way is to fix in DFU mode, but because it’s relatively complex, using a way without iTunes (Solution 2) is more recommended to have a try.

Solution 4: Get iPhone Screen Repair Service

If your iPhone screen turns black after screen replacement or after the phone has been dropped/ water-damaged, the black screen of death is probably caused by hardware damage, especially when the iPhone screen is black but the phone is still on.

If you fail to fix iPhone black screen with the above methods or iPhone screen went black but the phone still works, you should get iPhone screen repair service from the local store. If your iPhone is still under warranty or under AppleCare plan, take the phone to local Apple store to get help.

That’s all about the fixes on iPhone black screen of death and won’t turn on problem. Hope these methods can help you.

FAQ about iPhone Black Screen Problem

Q1: How do I know that my iPhone won’t turn on is due to a hardware or software problem? And how to fix it?

If you have accidentally dropped your iPhone or water damage it and it turns to black screen of death, mostly it’s because a hardware issue.

For software issues, it’s hard to tell. If you have no memory that your phone has been damaged due to some reason, we recommend you try the fixes for software problems first: charge it for 30 min, identify some unstable apps, hard reset your iPhone, fix it with FonePaw iOS System Recovery, or restore it in iTunes.

If all the methods cannot work, it’s probably a hardware issue, and you need to get your iPhone repaired in Apple Store.

Q2: Can I get my iPhone in black screen repaired without data loss?

Fixing your iPhone black screen of death will erase your data or not usually depends on the method you try. The most common methods like hard resetting will not cause any data loss. But if you try to restore your iPhone with iTunes, your data will be cleared.

To avoid losing data, you can also try FonePaw iOS System Recovery. It provides three modes to fix your iPhone software problems, including Free Quick Fix, Standard Mode, and Advanced Mode. The first two options will do no harm to your data, and the first one is totally free.

Here are some points you can pay attention to:

• Keep your iPhone in a normal temperature. Your phone may turn into black screen when it’s too hot or too cold.

• Uninstall the glitchy apps and unstable firmware. These may cause system errors and make your iPhone screen black and won’t turn on.

• Backup your data. Sometimes you may need to restore or factory reset your iPhone to troubleshoot the problem, so back it up beforehand is always preferred.