Why is my touch screen not working?

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Touchscreens are great when they work, but when the touchscreen stops working, this whole usage problem goes out the window and frustrates very quickly. The biggest problem is that with some devices, the touchscreen is the only way to interact with your phone or tablet. When it suddenly goes away, it may feel like you are completely locked out of your device.

While there are instances where an independent touch screen won’t respond to a professional repair, there are a number of steps, from simple to advanced, that you can take to get it working again.

These troubleshooting steps apply to any Windows, iOS, or Android touchscreen device.

Basic fixes for touchscreen not working

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

Regardless of your level of experience, there are some basic, simple fixes you can try when your touchscreen stops working.

Maddy Price ©Lifewire

Reboot your device. This may sound pretty simple, but when your touchscreen stops working, simply restarting your touchscreen device is usually all it takes to fix the problem.
Reset iPhone
Reset iPad
Reset Android Device
Restart your computer
Clean the touch screen and screen protector. In some cases, the touch screen will stop responding properly due to build-up of dirt and grime or issues with the case or screen protector. reboot didn’t do the trick.

Clean your hands to avoid passing dirt on the screen. Wipe the touch screen with a lint-free cloth. The cloth may be dry or wet, but never use when damp.
Remove the screen protector. If the screen protector becomes dirty underneath, slightly wet, or gets too warm, it will stop registering your touch.
You may need to clean your screen after removing a screen protector if it has a tear or hasn’t been removed in years.

Interim fixes for incapable touchscreen

Dry your device if it gets wet.
Press on the edges if the device has been removed.
Remove memory and SIM cards.
Disconnect peripherals such as USB devices.

If your device has suffered some damage, like if it has been dropped or gets wet, then fixing it is a bit more difficult. The steps are still pretty easy to follow, but if you’re not comfortable trying to dry your iPhone, then it’s best to leave it to the professionals.

Another slightly more complicated touchscreen fix is to simply rotate the device and remove all SIMs, memory cards, and peripherals. The reason this can be tricky is that these cards are sometimes hard to remove and you have to put them back back one at a time to find out what the problem was.

Dry your smartphone. Touchscreens can also stop working, become unresponsive to mounds, or work erratically if the phone gets wet. In this case, drying the phone thoroughly sometimes fixes the problem. There are several steps to dry out an android and dry out an iOS device.
Gently press each corner of the phone. When the touch screen stops working after the phone is reset, it is sometimes due to the digitizer plugging in internally. In this case, gently pressing each corner of the phone may cause it to be restored.
If that doesn’t work, secure the digitizer, requires you to unplug your phone.
Remove the SIM card, memory cards, and peripherals. Although less common, problems with the SIM card, memory cards, and peripherals (such as USB devices) can sometimes cause touch screen problems in mobile and Windows devices. Be sure to completely turn on and off the device first.
If the touchscreen still doesn’t work, then move on to advanced fixes.

Extended fixes for an unresponsive touchscreen

Put your device in safe mode.
Use the device calibration tool or sensitivity settings.
Update or reinstall your drivers.

There are many other reasons for a touch screen to stop working, and most of them can be quite tricky to figure out.

Since touchscreen problems can also be caused by files or programs you download, the next step is to start your phone, tablet, or laptop in safe mode. This is basically just bare bones mode that doesn’t load additional programs, but it can be quite hard to get it going.

Another potential fix is to reconfigure the touch screen and reinstall the drivers. This is even more advanced, but sometimes it does the trick.

Enable Safe Mode for Android or Windows Safe Mode. In some cases, an issue with an app or program you downloaded can cause the touch screen to become unresponsive. The key to figuring this out is to restart in safe mode as these apps and programs won’t load in safe mode.
If you find that the touch screen starts working when you enter safe mode, then there is a problem with some application or program that you downloaded. Start with recently downloaded applications and go from there.
Adjust iPhone 3D Sensitivity Sensitivity. If you are experiencing an unresponsive or unresponsive touchscreen on your iPhone 6S or later, it could be a 3D Touch sensitivity issue. In this case, assuming the touchscreen is working at all, you need to adjust this setting.
Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D Touch. Adjust the slider between Light and Firm. Try disabling 3D Touch if the screen is still inaccurate or unresponsive.
Calibrate your Windows touch screen. The Windows Touch Screen Calibration tool helps you reset the center of every touch you make on your device. If you find that your touches seem to be a bit off, this can help put everything straight again.
If the touch screen still does not work after trying these advanced fixes, then proceed to update your drivers and reinstall the touch screen.

Update and reinstall touch screen drivers

If you have a Windows device with a faulty touchscreen, then updating the driver might fix the problem. Disabling and repairing the driver, or reinstalling, might also do the trick.

In all cases, you must first connect a keyboard and mouse or touchpad to your device.

Update your touch screen drivers. Often, updating your drivers will fix any problems you may have.
Disable and re-enable the Windows Touch Screen driver. This process also often resolves issues you have with Windows.
Uninstall and reinstall the touch screen driver. If updating and/or disabling and repairing doesn’t work, then reinstalling might be the answer.
If your touchscreen is still not working after following all of these steps, then it will likely need professional repair.

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