Can I Turn Off My Google Pixel Without Using The Screen? (Solved!)

Whether your phone has suffered a broken screen, or your apps have inconveniently frozen, you’ll typically find that the touchscreen becomes unusable for new actions and commands.

Most of the time, the phone has to be turned off and restarted for it to function properly again.

However, you’ll likely encounter a conundrum in your mind:

“Can I turn off my Google Pixel without using the screen?”

Don’t fret! You will still be able to turn off your Pixel, and you can usually do so by long-pressing the power button.

However, there may be times where that won’t work either.

In those cases, you can turn off your phone by plugging it into a power source and pressing the volume down and power button together.

Simply press and hold down the buttons when the phone is charging to turn off the Pixel device, without having to use the touchscreen at all!

How Do You Turn Off A Pixel When The Screen Is Broken?

How Do You Turn Off A Pixel When The Screen Is Broken

Broken phone screens are a heartbreaking experience that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Obviously, it absolutely sucks when it happens!

When a phone screen is shattered, the touchscreen features go all wonky and don’t respond the way they should. A slight crack may not cause too many issues, but a broken screen is a giant pain.

Having a phone with a broken screen means that you’re going to have a terrible time trying to turn off alarms, notifications, and incoming calls. The phone will continue to ping and ding until it becomes completely unbearable.

And when it does become unbearable, all you want to do at that point is to turn it off to finally get some peace.

Again, this is usually easy in normal conditions. All you usually have to do is long-press the power button and tap the screen to turn it off.

But, how do you do the same on a broken screen?

When a screen is stuffed, you really only have the power and volume buttons available to you to control the phone; all controls and operations are limited to those two or three buttons!

So how do you turn off your Pixel using these buttons?

Here’s how:

  • Press and hold both the power and volume down button for 15-20 seconds.
  • The phone will go into Fastboot mode.
  • Once it’s in Fastboot mode, push the volume down button and then the power button again.
  • Your Pixel will then turn off! No need to touch the broken screen at all.

Some users have reported that this method works only when the phone is connected to a power source. Guess it’s one of those Pixel things! So, give both ways a shot and see which works for your device.

How To Use An Android Phone When The Touchscreen Isn’t Working?

How To Use An Android Phone When The Touchscreen Isn’t Working

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this: The touchscreen is a crucial part of a smartphone.

Our access to all of the apps and controls largely relies on how well the touchscreen works.

Sometimes, the screen can refuse to respond to our touch no matter what- even without the presence of a cracked or broken screen.

This can be due to the overloading of RAM, an overheated battery, or a software bug that has caused the touchscreen controls to malfunction.

What are the ways that you can still use your Android phone, even in such instances? Can you still operate the phone and have limited access to apps and features?

Yes. Here’s how:

  • Hold down the power button to restart your phone. This will fix most touchscreen bugs.
  • Use the device in Safe Mode. Press and hold the power button

then press and hold Power Off until you see the option to reboot using safe mode.

tap again to enter safe mode.

  • If the touchscreen is not functioning after getting wet, leave it to dry completely before using it again. Remove the SIM card and the back case to let the phone dry faster.

Another idea is to install third-party apps to use voice or facial recognition or to improve the screen’s latency. It’s good to be prepared in advance, as you will need to have the app ready on the phone to use if the touchscreen stops working.

In Summary

A broken screen is an inconvenience we can always do without.

However, when circumstances just break that way (pun intended), we’ve still got to deal with it one way or another.

Hopefully, you’ve learned in this article that you can still turn off your Google Pixel even without touching the screen!

Always remember the simple technique of using the power and volume down buttons together in times of broken screen emergency.

Press and hold them for a good fifteen to twenty seconds, after which you can then use the same buttons again to input the action command to turn off the phone.

By doing this, you’ll never have to worry about not being able to turn off your Pixel ever again!

Just like us, smartphones consist of a pretty complex anatomy. Take a close look HERE at all the vital components that make up a modern-day smartphone!

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