Google Pixel 7a Screen Replacement

Written By: Clay Eickemeyer

Comments: 21

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

1 - 3 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 remove or replace a broken or malfunctioning screen on your Google Pixel 7a.

To calibrate the display’s fingerprint reader, follow this guide. Genuine Google replacement screens come with the fingerprint reader already attached. If your replacement screen doesn’t have a pre-installed fingerprint reader, you’ll need to transfer the original fingerprint reader to your new screen and recalibrate it to retain functionality.

You'll need replacement screen adhesive in order to complete this repair.

Note: Any repair can compromise the water resistance of your phone. Retaining water resistance after the repair will depend on how well you reapply the adhesive.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Allow your battery to drain below 25% before starting this repair. A charged lithium-ion battery is a potential safety hazard.
Unplug any cables from your phone and fully power it down.

Step 2

Glass shards can complicate disassembly—or worse, cause injury. If your phone has a cracked screen, follow these steps:
Apply overlapping strips of packing tape to the cracked glass until the whole screen is covered.
Only cover the glass itself—don't stick any tape to the frame.
Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from any glass shaken free during the repair.

Step 3

The screen is strongly adhered to the frame, has no clips, and resists flexing. It requires significant heat to soften the adhesive underneath.
Use a hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate to heat the top edge of the screen until it's almost too hot to touch.
Be careful not to overheat the phone—the battery and plastic components are susceptible to heat damage. Stop heating if the frame becomes too hot to touch.

Step 4

Inserting an opening pick is very difficult. Be patient and reheat the screen at any point if it feels stuck.
Apply a suction handle to the center of the top edge of the screen.
If you can't apply a suction handle to a broken or uneven screen, try folding a strong piece of tape into a handle.
Pull up on the suction handle with a strong, steady force.
Insert the tip of an opening pick into the left side of the earpiece speaker cutout.
Firmly press the pick into the cutout and lower it flat to the screen until it slides under the glass.
If your pick is too thick to slide under the glass, try a thinner object like the flat edge of a Jimmy.

I was replacing a shattered screen and none of the methods worked:

1. I couldn't get the suction cup to seal against the screen

2. None of the tapes I used (packaging, duct, & gorilla) would adhere to the screen

I ended up using a craft knife to pry open the seal. The opening picks worked great on the non-shattered portions of the screen. This step took me a few hours to troubleshoot

Parker Kincaid -

I second Parker's comment, if your screen is badly shattered like mine, a craft knife does the trick. You'll scratch the edge of the frame, but there's no avoiding that. Don't be scared to crack the screen more with the knife, you can take if off shard by shard if you have to. At some point you'll have enough leverage to remove the display part as one big piece and then just scrape off any leftover glass and adhesive once the Screen is removed.

Gabriel Will -

I third these comments. Enter through the earpiece speaker like the guide says and chip away the glass little by little. Put tape over the section you're cracking so glass doesn't fly everywhere. Rinse and repeat with more small sections of tape. It's a pain, but after you get the edge glass off, the lcd will be loose. I tried iso, I tried heat, but nothing moved this screen. It even broke my suction cup.

Isaiah Kolesar -

Step 5

Don't insert your pick deeper than 2 mm, as you might damage the front-facing camera.
Slide your pick back and forth across the top edge of the screen to separate the adhesive.

Step 6

Don't insert your pick deeper than 3 mm, as you might damage the spacers along the right edge of the frame.
For a visual reference, you can measure 3 mm from the tip and mark your pick with a permanent marker.
Slide your pick down the right edge to separate the adhesive.

Step 7

If you plan on reusing any components on your screen, don't insert your pick deeper than 3 mm, as you might damage the LCD panel or connectors.
Slide your pick to the bottom left corner to separate the bottom edge adhesive.

Step 8

If you plan on reusing any components from your screen, don't insert your pick deeper than 3 mm, as you might damage the connectors.
Slide your pick to the top left corner to separate the left edge adhesive.

Step 9

Swing the right edge of the screen open, like turning the page of a book.
Be careful not to strain the screen cable.
Lay the screen over the left edge of the frame.

You also have to deal with the square adhesive strip (the one you replace in steps 14 and 17). I ended up forcing the phone open because I was throwing away the old screen.

I'm not sure how you'd do it if you wanted to avoid damaging the screen

Parker Kincaid -

Step 10

Move the flap of graphite film away from the screen connector.

Step 11

While the Pixel 7a uses Torx Plus screws, standard Torx bits work. Make sure to apply constant, downward force to prevent stripping.
Use your T3 Torx driver to remove the single 2 mm 3IP Torx Plus screw securing the screen connector cover.
Remove the cover.

Step 12

Use the point of your spudger or a fingernail to pry up and disconnect the screen press connector.
To reconnect a press connector, align it over the socket and gently press down on one side until it clicks into place, then press down on the other side. It might take a few tries to align the connector.

Step 13

Remove the screen.
During reassembly, follow this guide to calibrate the fingerprint sensor.

Step 14

The underside of the battery is exposed through a small cutout in the frame—be careful not to damage it with your tool.
Use blunt nose tweezers or your fingers to peel and remove the square piece of adhesive near the battery cutout.

Step 15

If you're reusing your original screen, peel and remove the old adhesive from the perimeter of the screen.

Step 16

Use a pipette or syringe to apply a few drops of highly-concentrated isopropyl alcohol (over 90%) to the perimeter of the frame.
Wipe the residue away using a lint-free or microfiber cloth.
If you're reusing your screen, repeat this step along its perimeter, as well.

Step 17

Peel the square piece of screen adhesive from its large liner.
Apply the adhesive to the frame in the same location as the old adhesive, just below the battery cutout.

Step 18

If your screen already comes with adhesive pre-installed, skip down five steps to continue reassembly.
Before removing any liners from the screen adhesive, hold it over the frame to make sure it's oriented correctly.
Make sure the blue adhesive liner is facing up and the tab cutout is to the left of the front-facing camera.

If you bought the "Fix Kit" version of this, the screen adhesive comes pre-installed on the replacement screen.

Parker Kincaid -

Step 19

Take your time aligning the adhesive with the frame—it's very sticky and can't be moved after you apply it.
Peel up the right half of the large adhesive liner. Don't remove the whole liner, yet.
Hold the adhesive by its short edges, with the right long edge of the liner folded back to expose the adhesive.
Lay the right long edge of the adhesive onto the frame.

Step 20

Slowly lay the rest of the adhesive onto the frame, peeling away the large liner as you go.

Step 21

Use the flat end of your spudger to press along the perimeter of the adhesive and secure it to the frame.

Step 22

Grab the blue liner pull tab in the upper left corner.
Slowly peel and remove the liner.
If the adhesive starts to peel up with the liner, check that you’ve pushed all of it into place with your spudger. If it continues to peel up, hold it down with the point of your spudger as you go.

Step 23

Apply a suction handle to the left side of the replacement screen, with the handle facing left.
Prop up your screen on the left side of the frame.

Step 24

Connect the screen cable by aligning it over the socket and pressing on one side until it clicks into place before fully pressing it down.

Step 25

Insert the screen connector cover into its slot in the logic board.
Use your T3 Torx driver to install the 2 mm 3IP Torx Plus screw and secure the screen connector cover.

Achtung! nicht zu feste anziehen - nach fest kommt bekanntlich locker. Man kann die Schraube allerdings ordentlich festziehen.

Ich habe es allerdings zu gut gemeint und mir den Schraubenkopf abgebrochen.

Jetzt kommt mein Displaystecker dann wohl ohne Schutzabdeckung aus....

Gian-Marco -

Step 26

Peel and remove the blue liner from the square adhesive on the frame.

Step 27

Hold the screen just above the frame by the suction handle.
Use a spudger to fold the flap of graphite film back over the screen cable.
Press the screen into place.

Step 28

Remove the suction handle.
Firmly press around the perimeter of the screen to secure it to the frame.
For a better seal, lightly warm the screen with a heated iOpener, hair dryer, heat gun, or hot plate before pressing around the perimeter.

le joint est pré-collé sur l'écran.

christophe fresco -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

To calibrate the display’s fingerprint reader, use Google’s Pixel Update and Software Repair tool.

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

To run a diagnostics test with the built-in Pixel Diagnostic tool, click here.

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

Author

Clay Eickemeyer

Member since: 19/09/22

65190 Reputation

14 comments

This guide worked well for me and I was able to replace my screen despite it being severely cracked - expect a lot of screen breakage and glass pieces if that's the case! I set everything in a tray to minimize glass fragments going all over.
Once the screen was installed, the wrapper for the iFixit provided screen has a label that says "UDFPS calibration required" with a QR code.
This takes you to a Google site that tells you how to set up fingerprints on your phone. I don't think that link is helpful.

I needed to go to https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com/udfps where Google has a tool that allows easy updating of the fingerprint sensor software on your phone, which is a requirement after a new screen is installed. Open that site on a computer (PC or Mac, no ChromeOS, no tablets) and follow the instructions, which include connecting your phone via USB cable.

Hans Chun -

I had trouble with the calibration step. I ended up having to install the Google USB driver. I downloaded it here and followed this guide, using the Windows 10 instructions for Windows 11

Parker Kincaid -

The guide worked very well. Although it was very hard to remove the old display (I have two left hands, all thumbs), I was able to exchange it. Thank you very much!

Martin Kinne -

Just replaced my phone 7a screen using the available kit. It was next to impossible to get the old screen off using the heat and pry tools. Would definitely recommend getting their jimmy tool. I ended up shattering the old screen on purpose using a punch tool and peeling the glass off the digitizer and frame. This was easiest for me without ordering another tool. Would NOT recommend doing it this way! The other deviation from these instructions is that the screen replacement version sent to me (10/2023) had the screen adhesive already applied to the screen. Made it much easier to install since there was no human error applying the screen adhesive to the phone frame first then lining up the screen. Definitely an improvement! Overall, took me way too long to complete, closer to 2+ hours due to the issues getting the old screen off. But certainly manageable by any DIYer. Would definitely buy from iFixIt again in the future if needed.

Harry -

You just described my experience exactly. Busting the old screen was awful but it worked. Without better tools, I can't imagine getting that screen off there!

Jeff -

The customers screen was Spider-Webbed pretty badly, and it was a brand new phone basically so the new adhesive was very sturdy. With a few attempts at reheating well under the point you couldn't touch it and finding the text that states to start at the left side of the top speaker, it broke free. The screen was sturdy enough to apply heat and use a jimmy to pull up while attempting to evenly distribute the weight and it worked. Took some force pulling up, somewhat effort commanding to do while making sure you aren't using any part of the internal organs or cosmetic exterior as leverage. With the brand new old spidered screen now out of the way, the rest of the clean up process was a breeze. I did not quite get though why I was provided with a T2 in the screen kit that didn't fit. I am glad I had the client spend the extra for the tool kit with the T2, T3, and T4! I do have them as well in another kit, but I would rather not use a toolset designated for different tasks. Great guide and genuine parts as always. Thanks again! 1.5 Hrs.

Tec Knows - 18/10/23

The absolutely hardest part was getting the old screen off. Everything else was relatively easy, a bit slow trying not to damage anything. But instructions were straight forward and because my phone had all the latest updates it worked straight away especially with the finger scanner.

Ultimately I had to use a steel butter knife at the top left where the speaker phone is to pry it open. I had gotten my phone so hot that the back glass cover's glue started to separate and yet the front was still locked in like a rock.

Im a first timer doing a self repair kit and yeah hopefully won't be anytime soon in the near future took me over 2.5 hours which most of the time spent was just on the glass cover.

Taroi Tofilau -

I bought my 7a as a discounted warranty return, and I am pretty sure the screen had already been replaced once! So I managed to crack the replacement... Repair went well total time just less than 2 hours.

Getting the screen off went easily with heat from a hairdryer and the iFixit picks. Hardest part for me was attaching the new cable and re-fitting the screen connector cover, then driving in the small screw. But I have shaky hands!

Two warnings for others:

1) I messed up by wiping alcohol onto the selfie camera while I cleaned the adhesive off the frame! Now my selfie camera is clouded around the bottom. Luckily I hardly ever use it...

2) I nearly accepted to wipe my phone while trying to re-activate the fingerprint reader. You don't need to do that! My mistake was putting the phone into "recovery mode" before plugging it into the computer. Just leave it in fastboot and the website detects that you need to re-install the fingerprint reader software. Then reboot two times and it will work.

Matthew MacLeod -

Worked great, thanks ifixit dudes and dudettes!

I forgot to reinstall the little bracket that holds the ribbon cable connector in place... but I'll keep it around in case i actually need it some day.

Tony Phipps -

We're glad your repair went well! That bracket is just responsible for keeping the screen connector in place. The only danger is that it may suddenly disconnect following the device hitting the ground or flexing a severe amount.

Clay Eickemeyer -

Merci beaucoup pour ce tutoriel grâce à laquelle la réparation n'était pas trop difficile.
J'ai mis 2 heures pour la réparation , dont 1,5heure pour enlever l'ancien écran car il était cassé en milles morceaux: j'ai doncdû chauffer au fur et à mesure et enlever les petits morceaux d'écran brisés un par un le long du contour.
Ensuite nétoyage des restes de la colle et des petits débris de verre avec le petit outils en plastique fourni.
Cette version d'écran venait déjà avec le pourtour adésif sur l'écran, donc beaucoup plus facile à installer que dans le tuto.
Seule petit problème: le software pour mettre à jour le lecteur d'emprunte digitale ne reconnaissait pas le 7a sur mon PC. J'ai du installer les drivers pour cela.
Un grand bravo à toute l'équipe de Ifixit pour cette super solution de remplacement d'écran.

Eric Le Leu -

Nous sommes heureux que votre Pixel fonctionne à nouveau ! Merci de partager votre expérience.

Clay Eickemeyer -

Just replaced the screen, the screen was shattered which made it complicated. Couldn't find a way in the screen on the top. Eventually after removing small pieces of glass it was possible. I used a Jimmy to open it more and get under the screen itself then I could remove it in a few tries. Did scratch the screen a little bit, but installing was easy. The steps do not mention peeling off the blue liner of the edges of the genuine replacement screen.

timvde -

Have the same experience as others with the not being able to use suction cup, and also I couldn't get the plastic pick or a craft knife further than the sides of the earpiece speaker cutout because of the shattering glass. Countinued to break the glass around the edges, ..absolutely excruciating(!) So after reading this guide I turned my phone off and started the repair at 19% battery. And when I restarted hours later (without any charging) my phone was at 100%. How, what, I really truly don't understand.. Didn't even connect a cable for the fingerprint sensor config as I don't use it. I accidentally made a scratch to the black tape/material covering the battery when removing glass, could this somehow have caused the 80% extra battery level?

Liz -