Can Laptop Screens Be Repaired Easily And Quickly?

It’s so easily done… you put your laptop on the floor for a second, forget it’s there, and step on it… one of the kids decides it’s a stupendously good idea to play Jenga with everything in the living room and suddenly, crash… I think the weirdest one we’ve had so far was someone’s cat knocking a vase off the windowsill straight onto a MacBook and smashing it. 

However it happens, the first question on your mind (after you’ve wondered about the legality of corporal punishment) is going to be, can laptop screens even be repaired?

Your go-to reaction in this situation is likely panic, and assuming that you’re going to need a brand new laptop. But don’t despair just yet, there may be a much cheaper fix available…

The First Steps For A Laptop Screen Replacement…

Before you do anything else, it’s important to find out if it’s just your screen which is broken, or if other parts of the laptop are damaged too. There are a few simple ways to do this. 

Firstly, check your laptop for other physical signs of damage. If it’s been dropped or otherwise bashed, you might notice other cracks or loose parts. 

Knowing if it’s just the screen that’s damaged is useful in helping you decide if you should repair or replace the laptop. If it’s just the screen, it’s usually worth replacing it, as this works out a lot cheaper than a new laptop.

If there’s internal damage too – particularly to the motherboard – repairs start edging up in price. 

Can Laptop Screens Be Repaired Rather Than Replaced?

Unfortunately, when an LCD screen is cracked, thousands of transistors along the crack are broken. Fixing these would be similar to neural surgery! This would be extremely expensive and time-consuming – far more so than simply replacing the screen.

Even if it is the edge of the screen that’s damaged and the screen itself looks okay, you’ll find that the damaged area starts to bleed across the screen.

In short, if you’ve cracked or smashed your screen (even a little) it will need to be replaced. You might get away with using it for a bit longer if the damage isn’t interfering with the functionality of the computer, or obscuring your view of the screen.

If The Screen Is The Only Part Damaged…

If you can’t see any other damage, it’s time to check if your graphics card is functioning. You can do this by plugging a desktop monitor or TV into the laptop. Most laptops have a HDMI output which can be used to connect to the TV. You’ll then be able to turn your laptop on as normal. 

If the picture looks good on the external display, then the graphics card is probably fine. Use the laptop for a little while to check that the keyboard etc. are working properly and it’s all still running.

If the picture doesn’t show, bear in mind that some laptops need you to press function keys to display on the external screen. You can find out if your laptop needs you to do this by Googling the make of your laptop.

The Screen Is Definitely The Issue – Now What?

In our modern world, there are many different types of laptop screen. Standard, touchscreen, screens that can bend…the list is endless. 

If your laptop is a standard laptop, it will be fairly easy to source a new LCD screen. We always advise having a professional order the parts and fit the new screen. This is due to the number of ways you can further break your laptop while trying to replace your screen.

It’s very easy, for example, for the screen to slip in your hands while you’re halfway through attaching it. While this doesn’t usually break the screen (it falls about half an inch) if you’ve started attaching it the tug and pressure on the internal parts of the laptop can cause serious damage that’s expensive and tricky to fix.

I Think More Is Broken Than Just The Screen – What Do I Do?

If you’ve tried booting the laptop up to an external screen and nothing has happened, don’t panic. 

There are a few reasons this can happen that don’t automatically mean the insides of your device are fucked. You may have knocked a connection loose when you smashed the screen. There may be elements that simply need reseating and they will work again perfectly. Or it could be something small that needs replacing.

The best bet is to bring it into the office and get one of our tech monkeys to run some diagnostics. We’ll be able to tell you if it’s just the screen that’s the issue, or if there’s more wrong. We can give you a quote for repairing it, and advise you on whether it’s worth it, or if it’s time to look at a new computer.

If it is possible to repair your laptop screen we can handle it all for you, from sourcing the parts to fitting and polishing it up after. You’ll find us just down the hill from Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and we offer a free collect and return service for customers in a 5-mile radius of Northwich, Middlewich, and Winsford, and a 2-mile radius of Knutsford. Just give us a call and we’ll take a look and see how much it will cost to replace your laptop screen!