Make the phone ring before you do anything else. If your Pixel 10 rings, vibrates or plays a notification sound while the screen stays black, the phone is running and the display is what has failed; that is a screen repair, not a dead phone. If it does nothing at all, even after a forced restart and a proper charge, you are looking at a power fault, and the fix is different.
That single test splits the problem in two, and it costs you nothing. Everything below is about running it properly and reading the answer, so you walk into a repair knowing which job you are asking for.
Force a restart and give it two minutes
Start with the restart, because a phone that has frozen with its display off looks exactly like a phone with a broken screen. Press and hold the power button for about 35 seconds, then wait about two minutes before you judge the result [1]. Do not let go at five seconds because nothing happened; a short press on a frozen phone does nothing, and the long hold is what forces the reboot.
If the Google logo comes up and the phone boots normally, the screen is fine and the phone had hung. Note what you were doing when it went black, because a phone that freezes repeatedly has a software cause you need to chase, which we cover further down.
If the screen stays black after the long hold, move on to the charge check. Do not repeat the restart ten times; if 35 seconds did not do it, the eleventh attempt will not either.
Rule out a flat battery with the right cable
A battery run completely flat produces a black screen that tells you nothing. Plug the phone into a charger, cable and wall socket you know work, and wait one minute. If you see a battery icon, the phone is powered off and charging, and you can restart it straight away. If you see a red light, the battery is fully discharged; if that red light is flashing, there is not enough power to turn on, so charge it for at least 30 minutes before you try again [1].
Use the known-good kit, not the cable from your bag. Google's troubleshooting starts by having you try another cable or power adaptor and check that there is nothing, like dust or lint, in the phone's port [1]. A black screen on a phone that simply never charged overnight is not a display fault, and you do not want to pay to diagnose a bad cable. If charging itself is the problem, work through our guide to a Pixel 10 that will not charge first.
Here is the fork. If you do not see a battery icon or a red light after you plug the phone in, Google's own guidance is that the issue could be with your screen [1]. A phone that is charging but cannot show you that it is charging points straight at the display.
Call it to find out whether the phone is alive
This is the test that decides the repair. After the forced restart and the two-minute wait, make your phone ring: call it from another phone, or use the Find Hub app. If your phone rings but the screen is still blank, Google tells you to contact your local authorised repair centre [1].
Read the result like this:
- It rings or vibrates, screen black. The phone has booted and the software is running. The display, or its connection to the board, is the fault. That is a screen replacement job.
- It rings, and you can just make out a faint image when you tilt it under a bright light. Check the brightness before you book anything. A low brightness setting may make the screen difficult to read, so look closely for any displayed imagery [1]. If you can see the lock screen at all, try to raise the brightness from the quick settings shade.
- It does not ring, does not vibrate, and shows no battery icon on charge. The phone is not running at all. That is a power problem to diagnose on the bench, not a screen you should order.
Do this before you book, because it changes what you ask for. Walking in and saying "it rings but the screen is black" gets you to the answer faster than "it's dead".
Look for damage before you blame the software
Take the case and screen protector off and look at the glass edge-on under a light. Google's screen checklist starts the same way: make sure the screen is not cracked, chipped or damaged, take off any case or screen protector, and peel off any stickers over the screen or sensors [2]. A hairline crack that starts at a corner is easy to miss under a protector.
Be honest with yourself about the last 24 hours. If the screen went black after a drop, after the phone was sat on in a back pocket, or after it got wet, stop troubleshooting software. No app causes a black screen that started the moment the phone hit the pavement. Bring it in.
If the black screen came with no knock and no water, and particularly if it comes and goes, keep reading, because that pattern is where software earns a look.
If the screen comes back, test for a bad app
A screen that blanks out intermittently and returns after a restart is a different fault from one that stays black. Google's guidance for a screen that stays blank, flickers or does not respond is to restart, then find out whether an app causes the problem by using safe mode: turn on safe mode, and if the screen works in safe mode, an app is most likely causing your issue [2]. Safe mode temporarily turns off all downloaded apps, which is why it isolates them [3].
If the fault disappears in safe mode, restart normally and remove your recently downloaded apps one at a time, restarting after each removal, until the problem stops [3]. Start with whatever you installed or updated just before the black screens began.
Check your storage while you are there. Google notes a phone can start having issues when less than 10% of storage is free [3]. A phone that is full to the brim and freezing is a housekeeping job, not a repair.
If the fault stays in safe mode, apps are ruled out. Do not skip straight to a factory reset on a phone whose screen you cannot see; you cannot confirm what it is doing, and a reset removes all data from your phone [2]. Get the hardware checked first.
Protect your data before a repair
If the phone still rings, it is still running, and your photos and messages are still on it. That matters: do not treat a black display as lost data, and do not do anything that wipes the phone while it is still holding it.
If the screen still works on and off, use a working moment to back up to your Google Account before you do anything else, because a factory data reset removes all data from your phone and only what is stored in your Google Account comes back [2]. If the screen never comes back on and you are not sure your last backup is recent, tell us at the counter. Getting the display working is usually the route to your data, and if that route is closed we handle data recovery as its own job.
Do not hand the phone over to a factory reset to "see if it fixes it". On a phone with a failed display it fixes nothing and costs you everything you had not backed up.
What happens when you bring it in
Bring the phone and, if you can, the charger you normally use. We start with a free diagnostic check and confirm a fixed price before any work begins, so you know whether it is the screen or something deeper before you commit to anything.
If it is the display, we fit premium OEM-quality parts only, and after fitting we test touch sensitivity, display brightness, colour accuracy and the surrounding functions before you get the phone back. Screen replacements carry a 90-day warranty on parts and labour. Screen work is usually same day, and many screen repairs are completed in under an hour. If we cannot fix it, you do not pay.
Walk in or call today
Run the ring test on the way. Then come to Best Tech Repair, Unit 4, Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, London W1J 9HS, open 10:00 to 22:00 every day of the week. Walk in on your way through the station, or call 020 3417 7090 and tell us two things: whether the phone rings when you call it, and whether it was dropped or got wet. That tells us most of what we need before you arrive.
Sources
- Fix an Android device that won't charge or turn on - Android Help — support.google.com
- Fix a screen that isn't working right on Android - Android Help — support.google.com
- Fix an Android device that freezes or won't respond - Android Help — support.google.com
