Google Pixel 4a Back Cover Replacement

Written By: Sam Omiotek

Comments: 51

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

45 minutes - 2 hours

Introduction

This repair guide was authored by the iFixit staff and hasn’t been endorsed by Google. Learn more about our repair guides here.

Follow this guide to replace the back cover on a Google Pixel 4a.

The unreinforced display panel of the google Pixel 4a is fragile. Pay special attention to the warnings in the opening procedure if you are reusing the screen.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Insert a SIM eject tool, bit, or straightened paper clip into the SIM tray hole.
Press directly into the hole to eject the SIM card tray.
Remove the SIM card tray.

Step 2

You will need to pry the screen up to remove it from the phone. Read the following notes carefully before proceeding.
Take note of the two seams on the edge of the phone:
Screen seam: This seam separates the screen from the rest of the phone. This is where you should pry.
Frame seam: This is where the plastic frame meets the back cover. It is held in place by screws. Do not pry at this seam.
Before you begin, note the following areas on the screen:
Screen flex cable: Do not insert the opening pick deeper than instructed or you risk damaging this cable.
Note the orange ribbon cable under the lower-right corner of the screen, which is susceptible to damage if your opening pick is pressed into it. Only insert your opening pick as little as is necessary to separate the screen adhesive.
Adhesive perimeter: Prying beyond this narrow perimeter without angling the pick will damage the OLED panel.

Coll down guys and gals.

1) go below the Display and not between the backcover/middle (see the other comments)

2) just take care about the flex/display cable position (which is iirc about on the middle i.e. 2nd 3rd from the bottom ON THE LEFT side dear OP)

Everything else is just separting the glued on Display from the Phone.

See the other comments

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

Cool down guys and gals.

1) go below the Display and not between the backcover/middle (see the other comments)

2) just take care about the flex/display cable position (which is iirc about on the middle i.e. 2nd 3rd from the bottom ON THE LEFT side dear OP)

Everything else is just separting the glued on Display from the Phone.

See the other comments

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

I've measured it: The cable starts arround 1.4-1.6 cm from the lower half from the bottom on the left side.

So You can cut the bottom left corner and of course the upper left one but for safety's sake, watch out for the camera.

You can go up to 5cm down from the upper left side till You're near the cable.

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

When you say left side, is this your left when the phone screen is facing you?

jaunie -

The third image her shows the back of the screen, not the body of the phone

blueslondon -

Step 3

Apply a heated iOpener to the right edge of the display for one minute to soften the adhesive.
A hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate may also be used, but be careful not to overheat the phone—the display and internal battery are both susceptible to heat damage.

Step 4

If your display is badly cracked, covering it with a layer of clear packing tape may allow the suction cup to adhere. Alternatively, very strong tape may be used instead of the suction cup. If all else fails, you can superglue the suction cup to the broken screen.
Place a suction cup as close to the right edge of the screen as possible.
Lift the suction cup with a strong steady force.
Insert the tip of an opening pick into the screen seam no more than 1 mm.

It's pretty easy. Insert it just below the screen between the Display and the Display “holder” or mold.

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

Step 5

This step shows how to insert the pick without damaging the OLED panel. Do this before beginning to slice the adhesive.
With the pick 1 mm into the gap, pivot the pick upwards to a steep angle.
At a steep angle, carefully push the pick into the gap about 1/4 inch (6 mm). The pick should slide in below the OLED panel.
Stop if you feel the point of the pick hitting a ridge. The pick may be pressing against the edge of the OLED panel. Angle the pick and try again.

This took me a while, I ended up sharpening the tip of the pick with a razor so I could push it through the seam and slicing a few times, heat->sharpen-> slice until I finally got it to move, and once it slid under carefully heated up areas and sliced with ~2mm of the pick.

Alan Carlson - 06/03/21

This sounds also harder than it is. Push it in 1mm and just lift the other end in a wider angle like 70° degree from the horinzontal position. There “shouldn't” be much you can do wrong. Because except for the Data cable (flex) at a certain position, I can't remeber anything important but isolating tapes that I have scratched.

It's just the Screen glued to the mold. That's it.

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

Oh, and I wonder here where do You all get such thins plectrums? I have also the flat plastic version and the thin plastic cards but none of them were thin enough for this!!

I ended up using the backside i.e. the dull side of a Razorblade. I didn't saw any alternatives to this. Did You hear this OP?

Any!!

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

the display flex is directly on the bottom of the phone. BE VERY CAREFUL when going around the bottom to not hit the display flex!!!

FixItAgain - 12/02/24

Step 6

Slide the pick along the right edge of the screen to cut the adhesive.
Do not insert the pick more than 1/4 inch (6 mm) or you may damage the screen's flex cable.
Leave the pick in the top right corner to prevent the adhesive from re-sealing.

The display flex is directly on the bottom of the phone. Be very careful when goign around the bottom to not hit the display flex!!!

FixItAgain -

Step 7

The screen adhesive is very weak and you should not need to re-apply heat. If the screen does feel hard to slice, apply heat to the difficult area for one minute and try again.
Insert another opening pick into the right edge of the phone at an angle where a gap has already formed to prevent damage to the OLED panel.
Slide the opening pick around the bottom of the phone to cut the adhesive.
There is a delicate cable under the bottom-right corner of the screen. If you feel your opening pick snag on anything, pull it out and try again. Make sure your pick is angled downward and only inserted as little as is necessary to separate the adhesive (no more than 2 mm deep).
Leave the pick inserted along the bottom edge to prevent the adhesive from resealing.

Top and bottom edge adhesive were much stronger than this suggests. Corners were very hard to detach. I killed my screen b/c I cracked it at the top. Worked better with heating around whole perimeter like an iPhone.

Erik Sorensen -

WARNING: Be very careful prying the bottom left and right corners! In fact do not insert anything there because there is only a 0.8mm clearance between the screen and the edge, and there's a 0.5mm space between the screen and front glass where if you insert a pick between the screen will crack and break! I had to replace the screen after only doing a battery repair...

bloc -

Unfortunately I did not properly read the comments here. So for the unafraid people like me:

DO NOT insert something into the bottom right! Especially not like it is shown in the image at this location!

Instead I suggest start releasing the screen from right, then left side, then top and as the last step release the bottom, but start with the left corner. Do not pry too much and use a bit more heat as suggested.

There is a small image of this critical right corner in Step 16 (the part at the top is the display and the left corner at the top is the critical right corner here). You'll see the orange cable in the corner which is easy to damage...

Peter - 27/04/23

N’allez pas en bas au début faite le haut d’abord j’ai tuer m’on écran

Jironi -

I can second the warnings - especially at the lower corners the OLED screen is extremely sensitive to breaking - as has happened in my attempt when inserting the pick 2 mm.

Patrick Bohn -

The display flex is directly on the bottom of the phone. Be very careful when goign around the bottom to not hit the display flex!!!

FixItAgain -

Step 8

Insert another opening pick into the bottom edge of the phone at an angle where a gap has already formed to prevent damage to the OLED panel.
Use the pick to slice through the left edge of the phone.
If the screen feels hard to slice, heat the left edge for one minute and try again.
Leave the pick inserted along the left edge of the phone to prevent the adhesive from re-sealing.

The display flex is directly on the bottom of the phone. Be very careful when goign around the bottom to not hit the display flex!!!

FixItAgain -

Step 9

There's a mesh covering the earpiece speaker on the top edge of the screen. If you don’t have a replacement mesh, take care not to damage or lose this component.
Insert another opening pick into the left edge of the phone at an angle where a gap has already formed to prevent damage to the OLED panel.
Slide the pick around the top edge of the phone to cut the adhesive.
If the screen feels hard to slice, heat the top edge for one minute and try again.

The display flex is directly on the bottom of the phone. Be very careful when goign around the bottom to not hit the display flex!!!

FixItAgain -

Step 10

Once you have cut around the perimeter of the phone, carefully lift the right edge of the screen, opening the phone like a book.
Do not remove the screen yet.
Use an opening pick to carefully cut through any remaining adhesive.

Step 11

Lift from the top edge and swing the screen over the bottom edge until you can rest it glass-side down.
Be careful not to put any stress on the attached ribbon cable.

FR : Précision : La nappe a un bout d'adhésif sur la structure du téléphone, il faut bien faire attention de le décoller. Je viens de tuer la nappe de mon écran qui était fonctionnel...

EN : Advice : The ribbon cable is fixed to the structure with a small piece of adhesive. It should be remove prior to anything else. I just killed the ribbon cable of my perfectly used to work screen...

Arnaud Parrot -

Step 12

Use a pair of tweezers to carefully peel up the black tape covering the screen connector bracket.
If it is in good condition, you can re-use this tape during reassembly. Otherwise, replace it with a piece of electrical tape.

How critical is the tape that covers this connector? I realized upon sealing back up my device that I forgot to re-install it. I imagine it mostly is there to prevent dust and moisture ingress?

Alex Cook -

Interestingly this tape was missing in my phone. Maybe that explains some of the display issues I occasionally had, like a thin green line on the right side of the screen which could be "pushed" away.

Fabian Seyfried -

Step 13

Use a T3 Torx driver to remove the two 2.1 mm screws securing the screen connector bracket.
Throughout this repair, keep track of each screw and make sure it goes back exactly where it came from.

A T4 driver worked for me here.

Gabe Maayan -

It is definitely a T4.

Jarl Friis -

Funny ... For me, it was T3. The screws must vary across different phones

Helmut Sporgersi -

Step 14

Use a pair of tweezers to remove the screen connector bracket.
Make sure to keep this component to reinstall it during reassembly.

Step 15

Use the tip of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the screen flex cable.
To re-attach press connectors like this one, carefully align and press down on one side until it clicks into place, then repeat on the other side. Do not press down on the middle. If the connector is misaligned, the pins can bend, causing permanent damage.

No, why the tip? Use the other flat side that doesn't concetrate all the power on one point and Youre doing a propper job.

Aleksandar Dejanovic -

Only the tip is needed to lift a bit one of the sides and it will pop out. No pressure/power!

Steve Stavropoulos -

Step 16

Remove the screen.
To install a new screen:
Check if your replacement screen has speaker mesh and top edge adhesive pre-installed.
If it does, you won't need the top edge adhesive.
If it doesn't, remove the larger clear liner from the top edge adhesive and apply it to the screen (not the frame). Make sure the larger cutout lines up with the speaker mesh.
Follow this guide to apply the custom-cut adhesive.
Use the third photo as a reference to position your adhesives.
During the boot-up process after reassembly, the screen will go through a calibration sequence. Don't touch the screen during this process, as it could result in improper touch calibration and create touch issues.

This step seems to imply that a screen replacement is necessary when replacing the charging port. Is the charging port replaceable without replacing the screen? I understand great care must be taken not to damage the original screen in the procedure, but can it be reinstalled?

David-Alexandre Tremblay -

Yes, it can be reinstalled.

Sam Omiotek -

How long does the calibration process typically take? What does this process look like?

phelpsbc -

Just a heads up: If you are like me and you have accidentally turned on your Pixel 4a at some point while trying to pry the screen, don't worry too much. I was able to just connect my display with the device on. Nothing will happen until you reboot, and then the screen will initialize.

Alex Cook -

It would help to add that the new screen is reattached after adding glue to phone body, not the screen. With the iFixit screen adhesive pieces, a guide to which piece goes where would help also. For that I used this picture: Google Pixel 4a Display Adhesive - Genuine. Yet that is not enough as there is a cover for (speaker?) which is not clear how to apply that.

markjville -

The repair kit comes with Google Pixel 4a Display Adhesive - Genuine but there is no guide on how to apply that adhesive. I sent an email, but Ifixit won't make an instruction page for this.

Mark - 22/09/23

To explain how the adhesive sold by iFixit works, the actual adhesive is the black strip which is held between two pieces of plastic. Line up the pieces with the clear plastic side down. Note that some pieces may be stuck in the box they came in, the plastic is staticky. I recommend that before attaching the new screen you put each piece in place. Remove the clear plastic and place the pieces in place with the colored plastic facing up. The goal is to have the black adhesive strip on the little ledge between the edge and the depression inside the phone. It's the place where you hopefully spent time cleaning out the original adhesive. Place the corners first, then the edges. Press them into place carefully. Before removing the colored plastic attach the phone screen cable and secure it. REMEMBER TO PLACE THE ELECTRICAL TAPE OVER THE CONNECTOR (I forgot to). Then remove the colored plastic, leaving behind the adhesive, and push the screen into place.

Karzyn -

Of note: the seal peace at the top goes under the speaker screen, and the seal looks at first like it is reversed. To install that one accurately adhere it to the Screen itself not the body of the phone. align it where there is a see through circle along the seam and a hole in the adhesive. the sealant should run below the speaker screen. When readhering the screen to the body, remove the plastic guides around the body, then last the seal on the screen and align and install.

USAF MX -

Super, c'est vraiment à la portée de tout le monde, il faut juste un peu de patience et d'audace.

Je viens de réussir le remplacement de mon écran et c'est impec !

Il n'y a que sur la première partie, où il faut insérer le médiateur, que ça a été compliqué pour moi. Impossible de l'insérer du côté des boutons (à droite donc), par contre quand je me suis décidée à tester en passant par l'autre côté, c'est venu tout seul.

Aussi il m'a fallu un certain temps pour comprendre que sur les adhésifs, seul le trait noir colle, et c'est donc à lui qu'il faut faire attention.

Pensez à vérifier que l'écran est fonctionnel avant de le recoller, à mon premier essai la nappe n'était pas bien insérée et j'ai du recommencer l'insertion. Voila, prendre son temps et vérifier que tout va bien à chaque étape et c'est très facile. J'ai mis un peu moins d'une heure.

Caroline Leleu -

I have no idea what to do with the speaker cover mesh. It is on the display I ordered from fix it, but there is blue plastic tape over it, too, so in order for a speaker to work I'd expect the blue sticky tape needs to be removed, but it nowhere says anything about it.

deadrom -

After I clipped the screen in place, I realized that I had forgotten to reattach the screen bracket from step 14. Do you think this is dangerous? Can anyone assess this? In any case, the smartphone turns on and actually makes a good impression.

Many thanks in advance for your assessment!

Kind regards

Tom

Timon Roosen -

Just some advice before you install the screen regarding the earphone grille/mesh at the top.

Something I experienced, was that the speaker grille did not end up being seated quite right when the phone display was stuck down. It is slightly bent, and the top edge is stuck out at a slight angle - it is quite sharp and does not take much to catch a finger on it, when the phone is out of a protective case.

I think this was because I laid the screen in, starting from the top and with it up at quite a steep angle, then working from top to bottom. I would suggest that when setting the new display within the device, that you align the bottom edge first instead.

I am not going to risk lifting the new display to try and re-seat this grille properly, the display cost me a bloody fortune (around 58% of the phone's original price) and I am not risking breaking it over something as minor as that.

nb. I definitely removed all the coloured plastic protective pieces before installing the new screen into the phone.

Andrew - 10/02/24

Step 17

Use a T3 Torx driver to remove the eight 4.3 mm screws securing the back cover to the midframe.

Step 18

Insert an opening pick into the seam between the midframe and the back cover.
Slide the opening pick along the bottom edge of the phone to release the plastic clips securing the back cover to the midframe.

Step 19

Slide the opening pick around the left edge of the phone to release the plastic clips securing the back cover to the midframe.

Step 20

Slide the opening pick around the top and right edges of the phone to release the rest of the clips.

Step 21

Carefully swing the back cover from the bottom of the phone over the top and around the back.
Lay the back cover on the work surface and lightly rest the midframe on the back cover, being careful not to put any stress on the attached ribbon cables.

Step 22

Use a T3 Torx driver to remove the seven screws securing the motherboard bracket:
Three 2.9 mm-long black screws
Three 2 mm-long screws
One 4.1 mm-long screw

Step 23

Use the tip of a spudger to unclip the motherboard bracket from the upper-right and lower-right corners of the motherboard.

on mine, the fingerprint sensor cable was lightly adherent to the bracket and I almost tore it when the bracket popped up. may want to add something about freeing this up before removing the bracket.

Erik Sorensen -

Similar to Erik, my fingerprint sensor cable was adhered to the bracket and mine did tear. I didn't use the fingerprint sensor, so hopefully this doesn't affect anything else with the phone. Now I know to read the comments! X_X

Jason Birchard -

I found the clip at the top of the bracket very hard to unclip, so much so that it was bending the end of my spudger. In the end I was successful with a spare SIM removal tool instead of a spudger, but in the same manner as pictured in the first 2 photos.

Adam G -

I had the same issues: The cable was attached to the bracket and I had to be very careful in pushing the bracket to the side and reach under it with the spudger to detach the fingerprint cable. And I also found the top clip of the bracket hard to unclip. It worked when I started with the lower one and then pushed the bracket to the side a bit. It seemed to be glued on the top corner.

Fabian Seyfried -

My fingerprint sensor cable was also glued to the bracket, but it seems like a sturdy cable so was not easily damaged

blueslondon -

Ok this was really bad for me I did not understand how the clip was oriented and tried to pull it up lightly first and then strongly, it finally came off but I bent and broke the bridge just a bit, and most importantly the RFID or fingerprint sensor cable (the circle in the back). I don't use it and nothing more was harmed managed to put everything back in place but

Beware of the clips, you have to pull them TOWARDS you, then the bridge will pop-up, don't apply strength upwards before unclicking the 2 clicks towards you (horizontal plane)

rkj -

This cable also ripped for me as the motherboard bracket popped up! It was remarkably fragile

IFuxedIt -

this is the most frustrating step in the entire guide. i used tweezers and pushed to the left of the upper bracket to free it. no upward force is required to free it. be careful

Logan Tristan -

Step 24

Use a pair of tweezers to remove the motherboard bracket.

The cable for fingerprint sensor was slightly glued which I gently removed by using the flat side of the spudger

Nove -

Step 25

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the battery cable.

Step 26

Use the tip of a spudger to disconnect the two flex cables connecting the fingerprint sensor and buttons to the motherboard.

Step 27

Remove the back cover.

Conclusion

Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components from the new part before installing.

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Answers community for help.

Author

Sam Omiotek

Member since: 25/02/19

72005 Reputation

3 comments

T3 driver is too small. T4 driver fits all screws perfectly.

leehall - 26/05/21

(T3 worked for me)

The back cover I bought didn't include the sensors (fingerprint and camera flash) and a grommet thing over one of the speaker holes, that are attached to the back cover. So I had to transfer those pieces myself. I needed to use heat from the iOpener to soften glue that was holding them on to the old back. The replacement back seemed to have replacement glue in place under peel tape. I didn't replace the glue holding the screen, instead heated everything up with the iOpener when replacing the screen in the hope that the old glue will still work, fingers crossed.

I suggest following this other guide instead, to replace the fingerprint sensor, is the same with two extra steps (but still need to swap the flash and ‘speaker grommet thingy' as well as the fingerprint sensor):

Google Pixel 4a Fingerprint Sensor Replacement

Don Barthel -

How remove that tape with the metal frame from the camera? Next to a fingerprit. I need remove and place to new back cover

Maciej Kozicki - 23/10/21