Dear Lifehacker, I have recently cracked my laptop screen. The crack is on the underside of the glass, in the bottom right corner (as pictured). Is there anything that I can do to make it less obvious? I don’t want to pay $100 dollars for the replacement screen? Thanks, Screen Saver
Dear Screen Saver,
Based on the above photo, your display doesn’t look particularly salvageable. Sadly, we suspect that nothing short of a screen replacement is going to help. If you’re feeling adventurous though, you could try saving a few bucks by tackling the repair job yourself.
Swapping a laptop display isn’t particularly difficult — the main steps involve removing the display cable, unscrewing/removing the LCD piece and then redoing each step with your new screen.
Naturally, the first thing you need to do is contact your laptop’s manufacturer to see if they sell replacement screens for your specific model. If they no longer stock spare parts, try searching online for third-party displays that are compatible with your laptop.
You can pick up some additional screen replacement tips via our DIY Laptop Repair Guide, which includes a section on cracked displays.
As always, if readers have any tips of their own they’d like to share, let Screen Saver know in the comments section below.
Cheers
Lifehacker
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Comments
2 responses to “Ask LH: Can I Make My Broken Screen Less Obvious?”
That looks like a really old laptop. Broken screen seems like a good excuse to upgrade!
About ~5 years old. Maybe 4. I had the model before which I got 6 years ago.
If the replacement is really out of the question, your other option is to find a free/extremely cheap external monitor
Sure, it’s not portable, but it’ll at least remove the annoyance when you’re at home.
I know that kid from school. Hehehe…