Laptop screen broken? Three fixes cheaper than a new laptop

The screen is the part of a laptop most likely to break and the part least connected to whether the computer works. Behind the cracked glass, the processor, memory, storage and battery are usually fine. Before you shop for a replacement, decide what you actually need the machine to be.

First, right now: get the picture back

Plug the laptop into any TV or monitor with an HDMI cable, turn it on, and once Windows has loaded press Windows+P, then the down arrow a couple of times and Enter to reach "Second screen only." You won't see the menu, but it works; the desktop appears on the TV. If you have a Mac, Linux or an older machine, most laptops also have a keyboard shortcut (Fn plus one of the F keys with a monitor icon) that toggles the external display.

That's enough to back up your files, which you should do before anything else, and enough to decide which of the three routes below fits.

Route 1: keep it portable with a portable monitor

A 15.6-inch USB-powered portable monitor weighs less than a hardback book, draws power and picture from a single USB-C cable (or HDMI plus USB on older laptops), and folds flat against the closed lid in a bag. For a laptop that still needs to move between rooms or come on trips, it's the fastest fix and it needs no tools. When this laptop finally retires, the monitor moves on to the next machine, or becomes a second screen.

Check the ports before buying: a 2015-era laptop probably has HDMI but no USB-C video, so pick a portable monitor with a mini-HDMI input and power it from a spare USB port or a phone charger.

Route 2: make it a laptop again with a new panel

Replacement screens are cheaper and easier to fit than most people assume. The panel is a standard part held in by a few screws behind the plastic bezel, and on most 2012–2019 laptops the swap takes twenty minutes with a small screwdriver and a plastic pry tool.

1. Find the panel's part number, not the laptop's model. Panels are sold by the number printed on a sticker on the back of the panel itself, something like N156BGA-EA3 or LP156WF6. To read it you need to get the old panel out (step 3), so do that first and order afterward. Sites like panelook.com decode the number and list compatible equivalents.
2. Watch a video for your exact model. Search "[your model] screen replacement." You're looking for how the bezel comes off and where the screws hide (usually under small rubber covers).
3. Remove the bezel and the four side screws, lay the panel face-down on the keyboard, and peel back the tape holding the video cable connector. Note which way the connector faces.
4. Order the panel by part number. Match the resolution and the connector (30-pin or 40-pin). A same-resolution equivalent from another maker is fine if the number matches on panelook.
5. Fit the new one in reverse, and test before you press the bezel back on.

A repair shop will do the same job for the part plus an hour or two of labor, which on a cheap laptop can approach what the laptop is worth. Get a quote, but know that the part itself is the smaller share of that price. Two cases where a shop is the right call: laptops with the screen glued into a glass assembly (many thin 2018-and-newer models), and touchscreens, where the digitizer and panel come as one expensive unit.

Route 3: make it a desktop

If the laptop is going to live on a desk anyway, don't fix the screen. Close the lid, stand it on its edge, and give it a proper monitor, keyboard and mouse. A 24-inch monitor is bigger and nicer than any panel the laptop shipped with, and you end up with a desktop that has a built-in battery backup and takes up no floor space. Set "When I close the lid" to "Do nothing" in Power Options so it keeps running closed.

While it's on the desk, the two upgrades that make an old laptop feel new apply here too: an SSD if it still has a hard drive, and memory if it has 4GB.

Route 4: the living room

If you don't need another desktop, a laptop with a dead screen makes an ideal media PC under the TV: it's silent enough, it plays your whole film and music library, and nobody will ever see the crack. That guide is here, including the remote-control problem and how to solve it.

When to let it go

If the laptop is from before about 2012, has 4GB of memory that can't be upgraded, and a spinning hard drive, a replacement panel is money spent on a machine that will frustrate you anyway. Back it up, buy a good used business laptop, and keep the old one as a spare or for parts. Everything newer than that is worth one of the routes above.

Product links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, we earn a small commission at no cost to you, and the retailer's cookies apply once you're on their site (we run none). We link only to things that fit the advice above, and we never link to replacement computers as a fix for a working one.