i dropped my Ipad sideways, the screen is only black and it wont turn on

When you dropped it some component near the accelerometer gets dislodged then when you smack it in the back the component kinda moves back into place. This of course depends on how bad the fall was and how hard you hit it on the back to jam it back into place. These iDevices are surprisingly strong for all glass devices. I dropped my previous iPhone no less than 10 times on hard surfaces (not intentionally of course!), it got dinged up around the edges but never broke. My little niece once threw it so hard on the floor I was amazed it was still working after that. She's only 3 and my bad. I gave in to her screaming gave it to her to play with never anticipating she'd throw it as if it was a ball. She was amuse at my horrified reaction too! **** naughty kid.

worked for me too. Recommend sync to computer first. Then did the hitting the back and did the manual restart (I might have turned it off trying to get the screen to come back on). Couldn't believe it work but it did. Thanks Alan

Hi Jenny,

I had almost had the same problem, my daughter screen went redish after my grandson dropped the ipad a little bit. I looked on google and saw the possible solution, give pad slap or drop it on it's back from a few inches which I did and to my horror the screen went black ! Feeling mortified I sulked of to my computer and connected the iPad, it was still alive, I did a software update to iso 7 and the screen flickered a few times, I could see there was stilll life..After the back up I unplugged the cable and the screen was still black..Out of sheer desperation i slapped the iPad on the sides a few times and low and behold the screen came back on and all is perfect, I was doing cartwheels and my daughter is so pleased, funny how this appears to be so common..I told my daughter to be gentle..it's a touchy iPad..😁

William

Hello,

My wife dropped her IPad and the screen became full of moving colour bars, full of snow.....just like an old TV with no cable.

I used this trick, and it just came back as original !

Incredible !

Thank you very much for posting this, it saves us many many dollars !

The first time this happened, my friends daughter dropped the iPad on a hard wooden floor from about a meter off the ground. The screen went black with a knee weakening, sick looking slow moving thick gray bar going from top to about halfway and disappearing. After some awkward "I will pay .... no you don't have to pay ...." conversations, the slapping method brought it back to life.

Then yesterday my 2 year old son dropped it, screen down, from barely any height at all onto the same wooden floor. And the same thing happened. But slapping it didn't work. Fruitless I thought, but I plugged it in to itunes and restored it, and no joy. I tapped around the edges with a hammer like object. Nothing.

So I put a thin blanket down on the floor and started dropping it on its back (ie screen up) from progressively higher heights. At about 80 cm the screen changed and a strip of colored lines appeared at one edge of the screen and didn't scroll, then a few seconds later the whole screen came back. Gasp. Talk about relief.

My son will be disappointed but toddlers and iPads just don't mix.

Oh my god!!! We had lost all hope as soon as we realised our ipad had been dropped 4 days ago and then only had a faint blue screen that it would ever work again, we wasn't even going to bother trying to get it fixed IF it was fixable. For some reason this evening I googled quickly "dropped ipad on floor" and yours was the first link I found. After reading a couple of comments I read it to my husband and he done what was suggested although he kept saying it was a waste of time, after the first couple of bashes we got a fuzzy screen, then after a couple more he turned it right wAy up to a perfect screen and perfect working ipad!!!! He is gob smacked as am I. Thank you very much, we and our small children were gutted when thought that was it. Actually can't believe it has worked

I was searching the net and came across this forum because my kids dropped my iPad (for the second time) and hid the fact they did. i use it for business and was appalled that it was just useless. I thought, 'Hey, if this worked for all these people it just might work for me'.... AND IT DID!!! Thanks a lot for your brilliant idea. It was a lifesaver

I gotta say, the same thing happened to me yesterday --- black screen but still able to sync to iTunes. What worked for me was the drop method. I put a blanket on the floor then dropped it face up and down several times, then held down power and home buttons simultaneously and voila! It booted back up and is smooth sailing now!

I can honestly say this tip absolutely works!!

OMG!!! We JUST bought my daughter an ipad for christmas, she's had for ONE DAY!! well she dropped it this morning and same thing happen. i tried your trick and it worked!!!!! you're amazing! Thank you!!!

okay,lol...please dont hit ur ipad like that,might even damage it further

Anyways i had the same problem just 5 minutes ago,i could hear the screenshot sound and unlock sound..but only black screens

I remembers that reset ipad was home button+sleep/wake button..and i pressed both of them for a few seconds..and sure enough the apple logo showed and the ipad restarted without any problems..but i didnt even drop my ipad,so why did it even encounter this problem?

Amazing, I registered and signed up for the sole purpose of thanking you!!!! You saved me from selling my "broken" iPad 2 for £50. What a crazy but brilliant idea.

P.S. it took AGES of smacking (purely frustration tbh 😝), and dropping the iPad upside down on a carpet floor and THEN pressing the Home and Power button for 15 seconds for that beautiful apple logo to come back on the screen for the first time in almost 3 months!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!

I thought this was sarcasm too when I first read it. But figured I had nothing to lose. Turned the iPad over on my knee, smacked the back once and taa-daaah, it's fixed. Thank you thank you thank you, Alan

Nevermind....I tried a few more smacks and tapping the corners on my desk (had to do this for a green screen once before) shut it off and held both buttons down....finally up and running! Thanks so much!

Thank you thank you thank you. Haven't had to pat something on the back so gently yet firmly since my son had colic but it worked and my daughter now thinks I am some kind of genius! Wow! made my day!

So, like everyone else on here, I arrived as a skeptic. My girlfriend had broken her iPad as she slept, because she rolled over and knocked it on the floor. Trust me, she does the same to me. Fortunately, I don't need to be slapped on the backside in order to get working again. But, this message board suggested that THAT was the precise cure for the blue/black screen of death. So, good thing I'm a percussionist, because I took the iPad, flipped it over as suggested, and spanked it like it was a naughty child... with vigorous love. At first, the screen when from blue to black. Uh-oh: This was a step in the wrong direction. But, we resolved to proceed. Then, we started getting squiggly digital lines. Progress! It was like re-establishing a heartbeat! Again, we dug out heels in and went for the gold. So, with the iPad flipped over on my lap, I pretended I was Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in June of 1968. One big samba-infused slap later, I pressed the on button. My girlfriend looked at my face for a reaction. I simply flipped it over face-up on the table, put my hands in the air for victory, and she screamed a scream I'd never heard her scream before.

Jack. Pot.

(She wants me to thank you guys for this forum.)

🙂