Introduction
Use this guide to replace a cracked or broken display on your Samsung Galaxy S9.
Before disassembling your phone, discharge the battery below 25%. The battery can catch fire and/or explode if accidentally punctured, but the chances of that happening are much lower if discharged.
Note: This guide instructs you to replace only the display while leaving the original frame, motherboard, and battery in place. However, some replacement screens for this phone come pre-installed in a new frame (a.k.a. chassis), which requires a very different procedure—transplanting your phone's internals and installing a new battery. Make sure you have the correct part before starting this guide.
This guide involves removing the rear glass cover; you will need replacement adhesive to reattach the back cover to the phone. If your replacement display does not come with adhesive, use a strong double-sided tape such as Tesa 61395 to secure it.
Opening the Samsung Galaxy S9 will damage the waterproof seals on the device. If you do not replace the adhesive seals, your phone will function normally, but will lose its water protection.
If the frame is damaged or bent, it's important to replace it, or else the new screen may not mount correctly and can suffer damage from uneven pressure.
The process of separating the display from the frame usually destroys the display, so don't follow this guide unless you intend to replace the display.
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Before you begin, switch off your phone.
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Apply a heated iOpener to a long edge of the phone to loosen the adhesive beneath the rear glass. Apply the iOpener for at least two minutes.
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In the following steps, you'll be cutting through the adhesive securing the back cover.
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You'll be slicing through the adhesive in the areas shown:
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Thick portions of adhesive
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Thin areas of adhesive
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Avoid prying or slicing in this area, to protect the fingerprint sensor flex cable.
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Press a suction cup onto the back cover.
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Lift the back cover's bottom edge with your suction cup, opening a slight gap between the back cover and the frame.
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Insert an opening pick in the gap you created and slide it to the bottom right corner.
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Insert a second opening pick and slide it to the bottom left corner.
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Insert a third opening pick to prevent the adhesive from resealing during the rest of the removal procedure.
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While inserting only the tip of the opening pick, slide it from the bottom left corner along the side to the top.
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Slide the pick around the top corner and leave it there to prevent the adhesive from resealing.
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Slide the opening pick from the bottom right corner along the side to the top.
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Slide the opening pick around the corner and cut the remaining adhesive at the top of the phone.
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Carefully lift the side of the rear glass where the volume button is located.
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Use the edge of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the fingerprint sensor flex cable.
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Insert an opening pick under the right side of the plastic cover containing the NFC antenna and charging coil.
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Twist or pry to release the plastic clips securing the cover.
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Insert an opening pick under the left side of the plastic cover.
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Twist or pry to release the plastic clips securing the cover.
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Prepare an iOpener and apply it to the display for at least two minutes to loosen the adhesive beneath.
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Lay overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the display until the whole face is covered.
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This will keep glass shards contained and provide structural integrity when prying and lifting the display.
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Once the screen is warm to the touch, apply a suction cup to the upper edge of the phone.
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Insert an opening pick in the gap and start to cut the adhesive by sliding it to the top left corner.
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Insert another opening pick and slide it to the top right corner of the phone.
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Insert a third opening pick to prevent the adhesive from resealing during the display removal.
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Start to slide the right opening pick half way down the side of the frame to cut the adhesive.
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Slide the left opening pick half way down the frame and leave it in its place.
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Insert a fourth opening pick at the left side of the frame and slide it down to the bottom left corner to cut the adhesive.
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Insert a fifth opening pick at the right side and cut the remaining adhesive with it.
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Once you cut the adhesive on all sides of the phone you can slowly lift the display upwards and remove it.
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Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.
The best way to secure the new screen is with a sheet of custom-cut double-sided tape. Apply the tape to the back of the screen, then carefully feed the display cable through the frame. Align the screen and press it into place.
To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.
After you've completed the repair, follow this guide to test your repair.
If possible, turn on your phone and test your repair before installing new adhesive and resealing the phone.
Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Answers community for troubleshooting help.
6 comments
Hi replaced the whole screen and frame but board is overheating?
colin -
A bit of guidance on where the adhesive seal goes would be nice. I believe I got it right.
digitizer is stuck to glass, and came apart
Nightmare. Impossible to get the back off so far. Being trying using the iOpener with hair dryer for last 1hr. No chance.
Chris Bunney -
You’re right Chris. I’ve tried on 3 separate occasions now and haven’t been able to budge that back. All that has happened is the pick has taken a piece out of the glass back leaving a rough edge now.
grahamcatto -
it was not easy but doable.
Clinton Stark -
It’s difficult, but the trick I did to get it was to wrap the hot iOpener around a bottom corner, apply the suction cup, then I covered the opener and phone with a paper plate, better insulating the area. Then I set my blow dryer to high heat and low velocity and heated the area under the plate for about a minute. Right after turning off the blower, I took off the plate and pulled the suction cup with a cutter at hand. You’ll hear a bit of a cracking/popping noise when the adhesive is starting to give, just apply a little more force and push the cutter at the seam. This method worked great for me, so good luck and just keep at it — you’ve got this!
Nicholas Weger -
I used nearly boiling water in a storage zip bag on the phone for 10 minutes. I can’t really recommend this method, but thankfully the bag did not leak - an iOpener is probably a much better way to go. Regardless, the bag covered the entire back of the phone, and the phone was too hot to hold, but I still could not get the glass to budge with the suction cup after struggling with it for about an hour and multiple reheats. I ended up epoxying a 2”x2” square of PVC board to the bottom of the cover and built a relatively complex fixture that pulled on the PVC with the turn of a screw while it held down the frame by the edges. After heating the edges up again It did lift the glass enough to get a pick underneath it, but it cracked the glass and it was a pain to slide a pick around the edge while the glass was cracking all the way around. Once I finally got all the glass off, I spent the next 30 minutes (which is what this entire process is supposed to take… what a joke!) cleaning the adhesive off the phone.
drbenton815 -
Heavy Duty Heat Gun from popular discount tool store for the win!
Jesse Meyer -
Well, it is not obvious how to do this. I have no iOpener, but a heat cushion for remedy hurting muscles and sometimes a backpain. It is filled with grain of some kind and it is to be heated in a microwave oven for about 3 minutes. After that I enveloped this cushion round the phone and brewed myself a cup of tea. After ten miutes the phone was warm (almost hot) and I was able to press the tip of a small (very small) knife above the charging port into the connection between the phone body and the backplate. A very small opening emerged slowly (this is the critical point in this process) and I was able to start using the iFixit opening picks. It became obvious to me that the opening picks are too blunt to achive this with them. But after starting carefully with the (very small and very sharp) knife, everything went straight forward. Thou I had to give the phone a second heatpush with my heat cushion before the backplate came loose.
borutberg -
I used my 3D printer heat bed and heated it to 90 Celcius to succeed.
gahute -
It took about 3 minutes on my 90 C printbed to get the first pick in. If the suction cup gives up before the adhesive does, try using some Isopropyl alcohol to clean the back of the phone, and it should stick better. Also, don't apply heat to the screen, just in case that wasn't clear.
Evan Newman -
Used a corn bag (usually used for sore muscles) and incased the phone. It was hot to the touch, but it did the trick. Also needed a knife to have a small enough edge to start prying the back off and get the adhesive to finally pop.
Laurie Hallberg -
Don't Forget Step 0! Turn the phone Off and remove the SIM card tray. just to be safe, I'd recommend making a full backup of your phone onto a micro SD card in case the worst should happen. also, make sure anyone who needs to contact you knows you aren't currently available at your phone number.
Evan Newman -
We went for a hairdryer. Put it on hot, low blow and put the head right up to the corner. Took maybe 5 minutes per corner!
Robert Tomohamat -
Removing the back wasn't too difficult on my phone: several rounds of heating with the iOpener, applying gentle pressure with the suction cup, and eventually a corner lifted up without much force and I could easily slide a pick in. From there it was very straightforward and I had no trouble sliding the picks around and removing the back. The battery removal was much harder in comparison (especially as the iOpener burst when reheating in the microwave for the battery, despite following the time instructions).
Less eWaste -