My phone is completely locked up and unresponsive. What can I do to fix it?

Yesterday, I went to take a picture, tapped the camera icon, and the screen went completely blank, and it has been that way ever since. It doesn't respond to any hardware buttons. The only change in the last 12 hours is that, initially, the screen was glowing slightly and the bottom hardware keys were lit; now the screen and the hardware keys are dark. When I plug it in, the charging light lights up white. Nothing else changes.

I am currently traveling on business, so I'm kind of screwed without working phone.

What can I do to fix this?

Accepted answers

jmswisher

Having the camera not work on demand was minor compared to having the phone be locked up and nonfunctional for about 18 hours. I was afraid that I was going to have to do a hard reset and lose all my apps and data. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. (And yes, I was using the stock camera app.)

What I did that eventually fixed it was to leave it unplugged until the battery completely ran out, and then plugged it in to AC power (not USB from my computer) until the battery was recharged. It spontaneously rebooted several times during this process, but eventually it got enough power stored that it was able to stay on.

All comments

Babs17

What has worked for me in this situation is holding the power button and volume down button at the same time until the phone resets.

I hope it works for you. Good luck!

jmswisher

Thanks babs-12. I've tried this, but it hasn't helped.

Verizon_Support

Hello jmswisher,

Having your camera working on demand is an awesome feature to have. It's a great way to capture and share memories, especially while on the go. Let's partner together and get this issue resolved. May I ask are you using the original camera app or a 3rd party app? Can I assume that there isn't any liquid or physical damage on the device? As you share the details then we can assist.

Thank you...

ArnettH_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

touchofgrey56

Thanks babs

My phone locked up this morning, went dark, totally dead. I tried what you suggested, holding down the power button and volume button simultaneously. After about 10 seconds it started to reboot and now all is well.

jmswisher

bfsz921

It worked! thank you! Now I wish I knew what caused it to lock out or go blank to begin with.

@babs-12
wrote:
What has worked for me in this situation is holding the power button and volume down button at the same time until the phone resets.
I hope it works for you. Good luck!