How to fix vertical or horizontal lines on your phone screen

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Android phones come in all shapes and sizes, and they work pretty well for the most part. However, users frequently report weird issues that sour their phone experience. Many have complained that their phone suddenly develops vertical or horizontal lines on the phone screen. If you’re facing this issue, we will shine some light on the cause of the problem and how you can fix the vertical or horizontal lines on your phone screen.

QUICK ANSWER

The vertical or horizontal line issue on phones is a hardware problem that software cannot fix. The display of the affected phone needs to be replaced, and such repair can possibly include the display assembly and the motherboard, depending on the phone model. Please get in touch with customer support to initiate a repair.

Since the cause for most such issues is accidental damage or user negligence, the standard warranty will not apply. Some extended warranties may cover the issue. In most cases, expect to pay up to 30% for a display swap and more if other components are also damaged.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

The lines could be black, white, green, pink, or any other color. So you could very well get white stripes on your phone screen, black lines, or a combination of colors. All of it indicates that something is wrong with your phone display, which is very likely damaged.

For most of the reports we have seen and investigated, vertical and horizontal lines start appearing on phone screens, usually after either water damage, a drop, or other mishandling. The lines may not appear immediately and may take some time, but in many cases, not taking good care of your phone will cause vertical or horizontal lines to appear on the display.

Unfortunately, these lines indicate hardware damage. Depending on the mishap your phone has experienced, a variety of factors could cause vertical or horizontal lines to appear on your phone. Some of them include:

In all of these instances, if you have vertical or horizontal lines, the display assembly (and possibly other parts) has been physically damaged. This is unlikely a software issue unless you are playing with custom ROMs using experimental graphics drivers. So for most users, this indicates that your phone’s display has been permanently and irreversibly damaged.

Much like the green line issue on AMOLED phones, vertical and horizontal lines on your phone screen indicate physical damage to the display assembly.

Unfortunately, replacing the display is the only way to fix your phone screen’s vertical or horizontal line issue. Nothing can be done on the software end by an end user that will fix the problem.

As a troubleshooting step, we recommend restarting your phone once when you see the vertical or horizontal line issue on your Android phone. This step merely rules out the possibility of a software issue. It is not a fix, but it can save you from an unnecessary trip to the service center.

Once you have made sure that the issue is not caused by software, you will need to visit the service center or RMA your phone and get it repaired. Contact your phone’s support team for the next steps that you should take. We would also suggest backing up your phone before sending it in.

The service center will likely adjudge the vertical or horizontal line issue as a hardware failure for the display assembly, which will require replacing the display and possibly the display assembly. For certain phones, it could also involve replacing the motherboard, depending on how the phone is manufactured.

Customer service will likely quote you somewhere between 10-30% of your phone’s selling price for a display swap. The amount varies depending on the brand, model, and complexity of repair.

Unfortunately, the answer for most of these issues is that it is unlikely to be covered under warranty. To get the benefit of a warranty, you will need to prove that the problem was caused by a manufacturer defect and not by external damage by you as the user.

The vertical and horizontal line issue is caused by accidental damage and user negligence in most cases. The warranty will not cover the same, even if your phone is relatively new and covered under a standard warranty. Some extended warranties, like AppleCare Plus, cover accidental damage, though you are usually charged a small processing fee.