Cracked screen: repair it now or wait?

Plenty of people live with a cracked screen for months. Sometimes that's fine — but a crack is rarely as stable as it looks, and waiting can turn a straightforward screen replacement into a bigger job.

First, is it the screen or the protector?

If you use a glass screen protector, the crack might only be in the protector. Look closely at the edge: if the cracked layer lifts or you can see a separate sheet, peel it off carefully. If the crack is still there underneath, it's the screen.

What can go wrong if you wait

• Cracks spread. Glass under stress keeps cracking — a pocket, a bag or a cold morning can turn one line into a web.
• Touch stops working in places. Damage to the touch layer causes dead zones or "ghost touches", where the phone taps things on its own.
• The display gets worse. Lines, black spots or flickering on an OLED screen tend to grow over time.
• Dust and moisture get in. A cracked screen breaks the seal, so the phone's water resistance can no longer be relied on.
• Glass splinters. Small shards can cut fingers and faces — especially worth avoiding if kids use the phone.

When waiting is a bad idea

If touch is unreliable, the display has lines or dark patches, or the glass is chipping away, get it fixed sooner rather than later. A damaged screen can also make it hard to unlock the phone to back it up.

Before you bring it in

• Back up your phone if you still can.
• Note anything else that's not working — speakers, camera, Face ID — so we can check it too.
• Bring your charger if the battery is low.

How we handle it

We replace OLED and LCD glass and repair touch response on phones, tablets, iPads and laptops. We'll inspect it, explain the issue and give you an estimated cost before we start — and most phone screen repairs are done the same day at either of our kiosks.