What to do if Google Pixel 2 screen stays black and won’t turn on [troubleshooting guide]

There’s still quite a number of #GooglePixel2 users who are wondering what to do when their phone’s screen becomes black and unresponsive. In today’s article, we bring you the troubleshooting steps and solutions for this scenario.

Problem #1: What to do if Google Pixel 2 screen stays black and won’t turn on

I am so unhappy with my pixel 2. sometimes when I shut it off to charge it wont come back on for a while. my husband did something with the two buttons on the side and got it working again so instead of shutting it down i’ll restart it from time to time.

Well this morning i had to restart it so I hit the restart button and it never came back on. This is crazy! I paid over$400 for this phone and i haven’t even had it a year yet. It’s not like I have extra money to be able to go out and buy a new phone. i saved and saved just to get this one. I’d say call me but you can’t but please please someone email be back. This is crazy and i will find someone higher up in google to go through you people make enough money off us. You should be able to do something about my phone. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from someone ASAP.

Solution: There is a number of possible reasons why your Pixel device no longer turns on. Some of these causes are fixable on your end while others require repair. Let’s see each of these possible reasons and the things that you can do about them.

Do a forced reboot

Before you deal with the possible reasons for the problem, try to see if you’ll be able to boot the phone back up after a forced reboot. This is usually effective in situations where the operating system has frozen, or if the device is on but unresponsive.

To force reboot your Pixel 2:

Press and hold down the Power button for at least 30 seconds or until the Google logo shows up.
When the Google logo appears, release the button.

Charging cable and/or adapter are defective

This is one of the common reasons why a smartphone may appear not to turn back on, even when it’s being charged. If you have another set of official charging cable and adapter, try to charge your Pixel using those and see what happens.

Charging port is non-functional

Another common cause of an issue like yours is bad charging port. Careless users sometimes damage the metal connectors in the port by using incorrect charging cable or mindlessly moving the cable from side to side while plugged in. if possible, use a magnifying tool to examine the port to see if there’s any obvious physical damage, like a bent pin.

Dirt or pocket lint may sometimes accumulate in the port as well, which may then interfere with the charging cable. If the port is dirty when you examine it, try using a can of compressed air to clean it out. Do not stick anything to the port to avoid damaging the metal connectors.

Broken screen assembly

If your Pixel 2 is not totally dead and still shows signs that it’s on such as LED light, sounds, or vibrations, the problem is most probably the screen. Many users tend to mistakenly identify a Bad Screen issue for No Power issue. If your phone makes sounds, vibrates, or flashes LED from time to time, then the problem might be isolated to the screen only. This usually happens after dropping the phone or after exposing it to water. If your phone’s screen stays black but although it’s not totally dead, you should skip other troubleshooting below and instead send it to Google for repair.

Third party app

While rare, we can’t totally eliminate the chance that a third party app may be interfering with Android when booting up. To see if that’s the case, you want to restart the phone to safe mode. Here’s how:

Press the Power button until the Google logo appears.
When you see the animation instigates, press and hold the Volume Down button on your device.
Keeping holding the Volume button until the Safe Mode label appears at the bottom of the screen.

All third-party apps are temporarily disabled in safe mode. So, if you are able to boot your phone to safe mode successfully, that means that one of your downloaded app is behind the trouble. To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
After you uninstall a single app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your device is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4 until you figure out the culprit.

Charge your Pixel 2 using a computer

If you have a computer available, you can use it to troubleshoot your device. If the computer is able to recognize and communicate with your Google Pixel 2 XL, it means that your phone is still alive and probably just stuck on black screen. Here’s how it’s done:

Unplug the cable from the power adapter.
Check and ensure that your computer is turned on and connected to a power source.
Connect your Google Pixel 2 XL to your computer’s USB port using the supplied USB cable.
Wait for about 15 minutes.
After the elapsed time, disconnect and then reconnect the cable from your phone. Do it within 10 seconds.
If you see a battery icon within 1 minute, it means that your phone is powered off and is charging.
If you see a red light, it means that your battery is completely drained or discharged.
If you see a flashing red light, it means that your device has not enough power to turn on.
Let your phone charge for at least 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes of charging, press and hold the Power button for a few seconds, then tap Restart on your screen.

Android may be corrupt

Android may become corrupt for a few reasons. We don’t have your phone’s full history so we can’t pinpoint what the exact reason is for your issue right now. To see if it’s operating system has encountered an error and won’t boot up, try to boot it to Recovery Mode so you can factory reset it. Only attempt this solution if the phone shows indication that it’s on. If it doesn’t have any LED lights, not making a sound, or does not vibrate, don’t waste your time doing the steps below.

Ensure that the phone is turned off. If you can’t turn it off normally, wait until the battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before you continue. Do not attempt to power on the phone as you won’t be able to access Recovery Mode in that state.
Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons until the bootloader mode appears then release. It’s represented by an Android bot image with Start label on top.
Press the Volume Down button to select Recovery mode then press the Power button to confirm selection. After doing so, your phone will flash the Google start screen momentarily then restarts in Recovery Mode.
When you see the Android bot image with an exclamation point inside a red triangle with No Command label beneath, press and hold the Power button.
Press the Volume Up button once then release the Power button.
Use the Volume button to select Wipe data/factory reset option from the Android Recovery screen.
Select Yes to confirm.
Wait until the factory data reset process is finished.
Select Reboot System Now.

Hardware malfunction

If your Pixel 2 won’t boot to Recovery Mode, or if it does but nothing happens after a factory reset, the issue is not fixable on your level. In this case, you have to let a professional handle the problem. Send the phone to Google so they can repair it.

Problem #2: How to recover photos from wet Google Pixel 2

Problem to be resolved. Recover photos. Power on for phone – not likely. No way to open this phone for soft reset. dropped phone in water. Not turned off immediately. powered down then packed in rice for about 2 weeks now. When plugged in at usb to charger, charging icon viewed on screen, no indication of charging, then fades. Does not return. green light above touch screen (assumed to be camera lens). Phone can be destroyed for recovery. I assume there is a device in the phone that stores the photos and can be removed, then accessed.

Solution: Your phone’s logic board is most probably fried so access file recovery is may not be possible. Yes, every smartphone has an internal storage device that keeps the software and data but it requires a good working system to access them. You can’t just pluck the memory from the motherboard and allow a second device to read the contents from that chip. No such technology is available for end users. Some advanced law enforcement agencies may have such forensic capability but the tools to extract data (assuming the chip itself was not damaged by water), are proprietary and not available for consumers.

If the data you’re trying to recover are very valuable, you can look for companies that specializes in data recovery. They should be able to tell you if there’s a chance that they can recover something from your phone.