Windows loved blue, while Apple went with black. The colors they chose for the infamous screen of death. It’s not fun when your iPad has frozen up on a black screen and you can no longer use it. The issue can be caused due to hardware damage (like if you dropped your iPad) or a hardware / software malfunction. Hopefully, you have a minor software problem at hand which you can easily rectify without having to rush to the nearest Apple Store. Here’s what you can do to try and recover your iPad when it sports a black screen.
Step 1
Charge your iPad
It will be useful to rule out the case of your battery being completely drained. In this scenario, the iPad may not even display the ‘Charging’ symbol. Charge your iPad for a few minutes and check if it comes alive.
Step 2
‘Hard Reboot’ with the ‘Power’ Button
Press and hold the ‘Power’ button for 30 seconds. This will hard-reboot the iPad. If the blackout was caused by a runtime software problem such as a memory leak or app crash, then the 'Hard Reboot' should get your iPad back to normal.
Step 3
Update your iPad via iTunes
Connect the iPad to the computer on which you have iTunes. Open iTunes on your computer. Then, press and hold both the ‘Home’ and ‘Sleep’ / ‘Wake’ buttons on your iPad. The Apple logo should appear on your iPad screen. Continue holding the buttons till you see the recovery mode screen on your computer. Choose ‘Update’ and iTunes will re-install the operating system without erasing your data. If the problem was due to the operating system, your iPad should now be back in action.
Step 4
Visit the ‘Apple Store’
If not of the above options work, then it’s wise to visit the Apple Store and leave the matter in the skillful hands of Apple technicians. If you do not care about the data on your iPad, and are willing to lose it, then you can try the next step and save the trip to the Apple Store.
Step 5
Restore your iPad to Factory Settings via iTunes
Connect the iPad to the computer on which you have iTunes. Open iTunes on your computer. Then, press and hold both the ‘Home’ and ‘Sleep’/‘Wake’ buttons on your iPad. The Apple logo should appear on your iPad screen. Continue holding the buttons till you see the recovery mode screen. Choose ‘Restore’ iPad and iTunes will restore your iPad to factory settings, effectively deleting all your data.
After following these simple steps you can use your iPad.