How to fix Huawei P20 Pro unresponsive screen issue (horrible lag and freezing)

One of the most frustrating issues one can encounter in a smartphone is having unresponsive screen. In this post, we want to address this problem that’s happening on Huawei P20 Pro. If you’re one of the unlucky users to have a freezing screen issue, this post should help.

Troubleshooting Huawei P20 Pro unresponsive screen issue 

Unresponsive screen issue is usually a sign of a hardware problem although sometimes, software glitch can also be to blame. Follow the steps below to deal with this issue/

Restart the system. Screen freezing problems are at times fixed by simply refreshing the system. Make sure to restart the phone and see what happens. The Huawei P20 Pro has a non-removable battery pack so understandably, you will be unable to disconnect the battery to restart it. In order to achieve the same result though, you can  just hold down the power button until the screen goes black. If the cause of the problem is a temporary bug, this reboot may help.

If the problem remains after this type of reboot, proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

Cache partition wipe. In some cases, an unresponsive screen issue may be a result of a system cache issue. To ensure that your phone’s system cache is in top shape, consider doing cache partition wipe. This will force the device to delete the current cache and replace it with a new one over time. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
2. With your phone turned off, press and hold both the Volume Up and Power buttons simultaneously for at least 10 seconds.
3. Let go of the buttons when the Honor logo appears.
4. Shortly after seeing the logo, the EMUI screen shows up with the recovery mode options.
5. Press the Volume Down button to scroll to and highlight Wipe cache partition option.
6. Then press the Power button to confirm selection.
7. Use the Volume buttons to scroll to and highlight the next options and Power button to confirm selection.

Check for bad app. In some cases, problems with a screen is app-related. Poor app coding may interfere with Android and lead to problems. While this issue does not happen all the time, a lot of third party app problems may affect the screen or cause severe performance problems. If your screen started having problems or becoming unresponsive after installing an app, delete that app and see if that will fix it. If you are not sure but suspect that one of the apps is to blame, try to restart the phone to safe mode instead. On safe mode, your device only runs preinstalled apps while blocking third party ones. So, if the screen works normally again on safe mode but returns to its problematic state when you reboot to normal or regular mode, that’s an obvious sign that there’s a problem with one of the apps.

To see if a downloaded app is causing a problem, try to boot the device to safe mode.

1. Turn off the phone. If you can’t turn the phone off normally, wait until the device runs out of power. Then, charge it for at least 30 minutes before doing the next steps.
2. Turn on the phone.
3. Once the Huawei logo screen is displayed, press the Volume Down button repeatedly until you see Safe Mode at the bottom of the screen. If you are unsuccessful, repeat Steps 1-3 until you get it right.
4. If the screen works after Step 2, then there must be an issue with your apps. If nothing happens after Step 1, or if you are unable to boot the device to Safe Mode at all, proceed to the next solutions.

Should the screen work on safe mode and you want to know how to identify the problem app, you need to use the process of elimination to narrow down the culprits. To identify which of your downloaded apps is causing the problem:

1. Exit safe mode by restarting your device.
2. Check for the problem.
3. If the problem returns, boot to safe mode again.
4. Uninstall an app. Start with the most recently downloaded one.
5. After each removal, restart your device and see whether removing it solved the problem.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 until you’ve identified the culprit.
7. After you remove the app that’s causing the problem, you can reinstall the other apps that you removed.

Check for overheating. If your Huawei P20 Pro’s screen started having a problem together with overheating, there may be a hardware malfunction. There may be an underlying reason why overheating and unresponsive screen issue occurs. If your phone was accidentally dropped or exposed to elements (water, moisture, high heat, too much cold), both of these symptoms may be indicative of bad hardware.

Overheating may also be caused by a bad app or a software glitch but since you’ve already tried safe mode procedure earlier, the most likely reason for it must be hardware-related.

Increase battery charge. Sometimes, low battery power can lead to bugs and poor performance. Try to check if the screen works normally again after topping up the battery.

Alternatively, consider doing a battery and OS calibration. Doing so helps Android determine correct battery levels and sometimes fix bugs along the way. Here’s how to do that:

1. Drain the battery completely. This means using your device until it powers down by its own and the battery level reads 0%.
2. Charge the phone until it reaches 100%. Be sure to use original charging equipment for your device and let it charge up completely. Do not unplug your device for at least two more hours and also don’t use it while charging.
3. After the elapsed time, unplug your device.
4. Restart the device.
5. Use your phone until it completely runs out of power again.
6. Repeat steps 1-5.

Install updates. Some Android problems are caused by flawed coding that’s why no basic troubleshooting will be able to fix it. At this time, we have no indication that there is an on-going screen problem with Huawei P20 Pro large numbers of Huawei P20 Pro devices. Still, it’s always a good idea to keep the software environment of a device up-to-date. Make sure that all apps are running their latest version and OS the most recent.

Return device to factory defaults (factory reset). Wiping your phone should be tried if none of the solutions above has not worked so far. At this stage, we are hoping that the problem is on software level only. If that’s the case, factory reset will most likely help.

1. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
2. Then turn the phone while holding down the following key combination: Power Button, Volume Up Button
3. Hold down the buttons until the Huawei logo disappears from the display and the screen turns black.
4. You can now release the buttons.
5. This will now display the boot menu after a moment.
6. Go to the entry “Wipe Cache Factory Reset ” with the volume keys then select it using the power key
7. Reboot the phone once the process has completed

Get support from Huawei (Repair). Although phone screens are considered some of the most reliable components in any given device, it still remains a fragile part. In some cases, even a well-placed drop can damage it. While there are no known consistent software bug that can cause serious issues on Huawei screens, it would be a good idea to consult the phone maker should none of the solutions above work.

 

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