Google Pixel 4a Screen Replacement

Written By: Sam Omiotek

Comments: 70

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

30 minutes - 1 hour

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 a broken or cracked screen on a Pixel 4a.

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

Tools

Parts

Step 1

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 2

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 3

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 4

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 5

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 6

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 7

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 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

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 13

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

Step 14

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 15

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

Conclusion

Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings 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

31 comments

Really nice repair guide. But no place to buy the screen.

jeffreyjantos - 06/01/21

Yep, still waiting for it to be available.

Paul - 12/01/21

Same, still waiting. I have a broken pixel 4a and I have a right to repair it.

Erik Fry - 22/01/21

Here is one.

VauWeh - 16/02/21

Where do you recommend that I purchase the Pixel4a screen replacement from? I found these two with Witrigs being cheaper, but not sure if either are reliable high quality screens.

https://www.witrigs.com/oem-screen-repla...

https://phoneremedies.com/collections/go...

Alejandro Gaytan - 22/02/21

@samomio Where do we install the double-sided tape for the replacement? Any areas we should not cover? I tried UV glue, but it is not holding the display securely.

Paul - 05/04/21

Install the double-sided tape in the space between the outside edge of the glass and the OLED screen, all the way around.

Sam Omiotek - 21/04/21

Question- why does every phone repair shop automatically replace both the glass layer and the lcd layer even if the glass is the only thing that is broken?

T_Thyme - 15/04/21

Good question—because OLED screens are destroyed by the oxygen in the air once their screens are cracked or separated.

Sam Omiotek - 21/04/21

Hey, nice guide!! Do you know if the Pixel 4a and 4a 5G are interchangeable between them? Thanks!!

Eli Pinheiro -

Thank you! The 4a and 4a 5G screens are not interchangeable. The 5G is larger.

Sam Omiotek -

Excellent guide.

I bought this screen from eBay: https://www.ebay.de/itm/402564264411

Already had tools in an iFixit kit.

Also bought some 1mm Tesa Tape from iFixit to glue the screen back on.

Matt Smith -

Got a replacement screen off Amazon, had a major scare tho, I tested it before going deep into the repair process, worked fine, removed all the adhesive, reattached the replacement screen it it was all black. Like dead. Phone was still vibrating, I made sure nothing was covering the proximity sensors or anything, still dead screen. I take a break, come back, dis-attach and reattach and the screen several times and its working again. Weird, but now very scared I delicately put it all back together. Make sure you transfer over the speaker grill on top, it doesn’t come with most replacement screens.

Anthony Ramirez -

Hey guys & Ifixit team… what kit it s better to use for smartphones as a beginner : Essential Electronic or iOpener or Smartphone Repair Kit ?

The big pbl is finding the display…anybody bought form alibaba / alliexpres? Thanks a lot!

Daniel Spatariu -

Water damage all over the screen from about 2 TBs drop of water on it. Picked up the phone and wiped it thinking its nothing . MAN God know I was wrong. The screen literally SIP water from the sides. 3 Days later and the screen is done. WARNING : If ANY water is left for a couple seconds PRAY. Now ALL of the screen is now purple from water stuck inside it. NEVER AGAIN GOOGLE.

Samud 78 -

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME IF IT IS IMPORTANT TO BUY THE CORRECT SCREEN VERSION NUMBER? AS PIXEL 4A 4G G025 /G025N /GA02099.

Because sellers don't specify it, is it really relevant? They just sell as Pixel 4A 4G compatible.

Thanks overall!

Brian Diaz - 17/01/22

Great repair guide, help me a lot! I am totally peaceful now handling my phone open-hearted (with Essentiel Electronics Toolkit). I bought my new screens on piecetelephone.fr, received in 2 weeks. I used B-7000 to glue the new screen back on. Thanks a lot iFixit team :)

Tim -

where do I buy the actual google pixel 4a screen itself? On Amazon? On eBay? Pls answer me

Wei on Huang -

Replacement screens are now available from iFixit here.

Andrew S -

Where do I buy the google pixel 4a screen itself? Which website? And is it cheaper to buy the toolkit bundle or Buy the speelste tools one by one

Wei on Huang -

Phone will not power up after dropping in bowl of water. Can anything be done to recover.

Chris

Chris Lawson -

Be aware that removing a shattered screen will be tedious and you must be patient and careful to remove all of the bits from the glue channel between the screen and the phone body. Removing the old glue is a VERY tedious and time consuming process so be prepared to take considerably longer than the 30-60 minutes shown in the directions. Also be aware that having a magnifiying headset with lights should be a high priority purchase along with this kit. Re-attaching the screen-to-phone connector is also incredibly tedious and frustrating. It took more than 8 hours of work to get ours replaced. At first it all worked fine and 10 minutes later the screen failed. Be prepared to either be delighted that your efforts bring a phone back to life or that it will end in utter failure and frustration... it is NOT as easy as you think. The YouTube videos are all missing this information and make it all look easy...... not so.

D. J. -

If you get the kit that includes the adhesive strips, save yourself the risk and irritation and just get some B-7000 or whatever you see someone using in a YouTube tutorial. They seem to work, but it doesn't seem like they're actually cut for specifically this phone, or in my case none of the shapes really came close to aligning with any cutouts or holes. They only give you exactly what you need, so if you accidentally fail to line it up exactly right, you're stuck trying to maneuver this string of very sticky goop into a precise line or corner.

Otherwise, the tools are exactly what you need in a food way, very little waste and decent packaging. Great value overall, the screen is legit, although now my proximity sensor isn't working for some reason. They're pretty good quality, I'll keep it all around, but will be ordering some better adhesive and maybe redoing it. It really is not fun working with those, and I'd appreciate more for my money in that respect.

Also the picks aren't thin enough, risky using them.

L. T -

I have problems with my proximity sensor, too. I'll open the phone again to see if it gets fixed.

carlitossuper1 -

That was really useful. Thanks for the info and clear steps. I did end up having to push the middle of the connector when reattaching the screen.

Eanna Ryan -

When the kit is going to be available?

Karna Soneji -

After advice please - have been using my 4a with cracked screen for a while, but after dropping it last week the screen had a green intermittent flash across it, and nothing else. Pressing the power button to switch off seemed to have no effect. Can anyone please advise whether they think a new screen will resurrect it, or does it sound as though I have broken something else too? Thanks!

Rachel -

After having followed this guide and successfully replaced my screen, I have to say that it stops rather abruptly. It is very detailed, but then it says "apply the strips by following a generic give and put it together again" which is the most tedious part and should be documented. There should be a guide for where which adhesive part belongs, as some have differences just in millimeter scale. Eventually, I noticed that the product page for the adhesive has a picture showing the pieces aligned correctly. Contrary to what is shown in the linked generic adhesive guide, those are supposed to be applied to the device housing, not the screen.

Also, you should NOT apply the top adhesive, as one comes pre-applied to the screen.
There was also an Earpiece Speaker Mesh pre-applied to my new screen, in addition to the one that comes extra, so don't apply the other one on top! In my case, the Mesh was pre-applied inside-out, which I realized just a second before pressing the screen onto the adhesive for good.

1/2

R0M4N -

2/2
When it comes to making sure the mesh is aligned correctly, special attention is required. The slightly shorter side of the mesh is supposed to be the bottom side, which means the picture on the product page currently shows it upside-down.

Those are my main gripes with this guide and I think their omission sets newbies up for failure and frustration, which I would assume is the opposite of what ifixit wants when promoting self-repare and should not exist for an “official” self-repare done together with google.

Small additions:
Step 14 tells you to re-attach the connector by clicking in one side first, then the other. I am pretty sure that it means to say and should be pressing down coming from the top edge, then the bottom (or the other way around), but not the sides as in left and right, which is exactly what would make it misaligned.
Also, I would emphasize that if the plastic is not smooth after the removed old adhesive, it is almost certainly hard dried glue. Scrub with the cleaning alcohol pad here.

R0M4N -

Adhesive kit has a long blue side and a long red side. I guess the red side goes right, seen from top, as the image and the mentioning of the red strip in the disassembly suggestest, but am I sure? heck no.

deadrom -

Après avoir cassé mon écran, et face aux coûts annoncés par les réparateurs professionnels, je me suis lancé dans la réparation seule. De façon assez surprenante, c'était relativement facile excepté l'installation de l'adhésif qui demande beaucoup de minutie. Je conseille l'achat d'un pack d'adhésif supplémentaire pour être plus serein.

Pour l'instant tout a l'air de très bien marcher, je recommande grandement.

gardi -