my screen goes black during a call and it doesn't come back on until i hang up the phone

[JConn_Lefty]

so this just happened out of nowhere. it's never happened before. but now it happens on every call.

the second i make a call, the screen turns off and it doesn't come back on until the phone call is over. i push the power button and the screen would momentarily turn on but it goes back to black in a split second.

anybody have a fix for this?

 

[WorzelGummage]

This is usually caused by something obscuring the proximity sensor such as a screen protector, dirty smudge or more commonly dust particles under the screen. If it is dust then give the ear piece a couple of strong blows or use a can of compressed air if you have one. You might want to submit your phone for repair if a lot of dust is gathering under the screen. You can tell this by looking at the front camera to see if there are any dust particles in there.

 

[JConn_Lefty]

This is usually caused by something obscuring the proximity sensor such as a screen protector, dirty smudge or more commonly dust particles under the screen. If it is dust then give the ear piece a couple of strong blows or use a can of compressed air if you have one. You might want to submit your phone for repair if a lot of dust is gathering under the screen. You can tell this by looking at the front camera to see if there are any dust particles in there.

thanks for the suggestion but i found the solutions couple of thread above this one. apparently if you put pressure between the att logo and the ear speaker on the top of the phone, the screen comes back on. this is ******ed. i will be calling att for a replacement device again.

 

[theinfinitepet]

This is happening to me as well, only the pressure trick didn't work. Any more suggestions or am I replacement bound?

 

[Jealy666]

I seem to have the opposite of this issue, my screen isn't turning off during a call at all (so I can press stuff with my face).

May just have to take it to a Nokia Care, so many issues!

EDIT - cancel that, managed to try out a load of different suggestions and got it to work (uninstalled Skype?, took a photo & video with the front camera and soft-rebooted), was probably the reboot that did it tbh.

 

[johninsj]

I had to replace mine after all the tricks and sacrificing two turtledoves failed to restore the ff camera and proximity sensor to normal functioning. The refurb is working fine. It's amazing how annoying this problem is.

 

[tallygigabit]

The black screen (or blank screen) is usually from a build up of dust, blocking the light sensor, which comes in from the earpiece and headphone holes. If you look at the phone in bright light you will be able to see dust around front facing camera. The light senor is hard to see which is just to the right of the camera. The collected dust makes the phone think that it is close to your face, which in turn simulates reduced light in the sensor and the phone thinks that you are still on the call and the screen stays blank (to conserve battery and keeps your face from randomly pushing buttons).

So, to easily fix the problem, hold the phone in bright light (so you can see the dust) and used compressed air to blow out the earpiece hole, the headphone hole and the area of the screen between the glass and the case close to the front facing camera. You will see the dust disappear and your phone use should return to normal operation.

 

[techjmw]

I have the same issue caused by dust under the screen where the proximity sensor is. My camera on the front is also very poor quality due to the dust now. Nokia should have known dust would get in nearby and sealed the camera and sensor areas to prevent this issue since it will compound over time and continue to get worse. I bet most people experiencing this issue put their phone in their front pocket facing down and the lint and dust accumulates. Women using purses are probably much less likely to have this issue. I will be exchanging my phone and have it noted on record since I can see this happening every 6 months at so unless they modify the design.

 

[sibrecat]

Mine had this issue, so I sent it back to Nokia for repair and a week later its back at Nokia for repair for the same thing again, not what I expected from a flagship phone at all

 

[Penny Duncan]

THANK YOU so much!!!!! This was driving me NUTS.....I absolutely LOVE my Nokia Lumia 920.......and mine started doing this a couple of weeks ago.....I tried this tip of using canned air blast a couple of air bursts into the earplug area and it works PERFECTLY now!!!! You all ROCK for the tip sharing!!!!rly:

 

[WP7_Genius]

Its an issue where somehow dirt gets under the glass (I think through speaker vent) and it keeps triggering the sensor. Friend had to get his Lumia replaced because of that.

 

[LawyerLynda]

Re: my screen goes black... A: CALIBRATE THE SENSOR

The "clean the sensor" fix didn't work for me. I got an email from the mfg in China with a simple fix that worked beautifully, so I thought I'd share. I have an Android 6" phablet, and though your phone may be different, this is probably worth a try for anyone having the same problem. In a nutshell, I was instructed that the sensor needed to be calibrated.

Step-by-step:
1：Choose Settings;
2：Choose Display;
3：Choose Als_ps calibration; (may be worded differently on your phone)
4: Use a finger or other object to COVER THE SENSOR;
5: Follow the calibration prompts carefully.
(In my case, I simply had to click "Calibrate" followed by "OK".

And now, after 3 days of frustration and a trip to the store to buy a can of compressed air (which didn't work), I can FINALLY use my phablet normally. Hurray for small miracles.
.

 

[WorzelGummage]

There isn't any way to calibrate the proximity sensor on WP 8 devices

 

[LawyerLynda]

What ultimately worked for me was calibrating the proximity sensor. Mine is a new Android 6" phablet, so I suspected it was a "settings" issue rather than a dust problem. But before I resolved my problem, I read every forum I could find on the topic. So, I thought it might be helpful to provide a summary of nearly ALL of the "fixes" I ran across, with the hope that one of them will work for you! You might get a chuckle out of some of these, as well. I sure did.

Calibrate the Sensor
Step-by-step:
1：Choose Settings;
2：Choose Display;
3：Choose Als_ps calibration; (may be worded differently on your phone)
4: Use a finger or other object to COVER THE SENSOR;
5: Follow the calibration prompts carefully.
(In my case, I simply had to click "Calibrate" followed by "OK".

Clean the Sensor

• "Just pucker your lips and blow the dust off the top edge of the screen. That's it."
• "take an old toothbrush and clean out the earpiece"
• Spray a burst of compressed air into the orifices of your phone.
• Simply wipe away smudges on the outside of the sensor and front-facing camera lens

Uncover the Sensor
Make sure that the sensor isn't obstructed. Did you remove the packing film? If you are using a cover, does it obscure the sensor at all? If so, remove the cover, cut out the appropriate corner, and replace.

Misc. Random and Quirky Ideas (quoted)
aka "The Users and Pushers Fix"

• "For me help came with using front camera, probably adjusts the sensitivity for light. Very bright out, so indoors phone thinks that the sensor is blocked all the time."
• "The camera trick didn't do it for me until I took a video using the front facing camera."
• "apparently if you put pressure between the att logo and the ear speaker on the top of the phone, the screen comes back on" (My phone isn't ATT, and it doesn't have a logo, but, hey, I'm trying to be thorough...)
• "try gently pushing your screen 'in' this cured the issue for me for my old 920 what used to click when i pressed the top"
• "Try pushing hard on the ear speaker(left next to your front camera) "
• "uninstalled Skype, took a photo & video with the front camera and soft-rebooted,"
• " I reboot my phone in a really dark room. After that my phone keeps working for a few days"
• "shining a very bright light into the proximity sensor"
• "I powered off the phone, then covered the proximity sensor (near the front camera and the Nokia logo), and powered it on again in a dark place"
• re "my Lumia 920 on EE in UK, ... I have since installed the 1308 update and this has sorted out the issue"

Most Creative Idea*
[Warning: Do Not Try This At Home, or May Be Hazardous To Your Health. Just sayin'.]

"need to open the phone (only two screws ;-) ) .... I just added a peace of sponge (W:4mm/H:5mm/L:15mm) (all weather door and window sealant) -that comes self adheasive from one side- and sticked a small peace on the board on the opposite side of the phonejack/secondary mic connectors ... this will add pressure on the board to be more tight ;-) tried it and working as normal. "
*See entire post here. There are pictures!

A Summary of the Summary

• If you have a NEW PHONE, it is probably a calibration issue.
• If you have a phone that was working properly before but is no longer being cooperative, it is probably a dirt, dust, or obstruction issue.

Anyone remember the days of rotary dial phones. It was so much simpler...

 

[DJCBS]

I had this problem. It was NOT a proximity sensor calibration problem nor any dust problem. It could be the proximity sensor, but mine was not. It was the display that was a tinny bit raised. It went to repair, they replaced the display and done. Never had the problem again.
The dust in front of the FFC, that however is still there. Doesn't really affect me since I seldom use it but any Nokia Care Centre has the tools to open the phone and clean it for you so if it bothers you, go to a Nokia Care Centre and they'll clean it

 

[thomas wojcik]

Zagg screen protector was the issue for me. Worked fine for 2 plus months then all of a sudden the proximity sensor wouldn't read through it. I trimmed off a little material and now it's great again. Dodged a bullet.

 

[Dayne Farrell]

THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL!
It's a battery preserver and a automatic screen lock, When ever the Proximity sensor or the front Camera Sense a shadow, it locks the screen and turns off the LCD that way when you hold it to your cheek you don't press/touch something on accident. It's on all windows phones and even others...

 

[Scorchiolo]

Excellent summary, most helpful in resolving similar issue with HTC Titan. In this case, the glass screen (cracked) had been removed and replaced. However it was not fully seated in its frame but was raised by about 1mm. This was due to residual disrupted adhesive being too thick. This was enough to bring the surfaces of the glass screen into the detectable range of the proximity sensor and believe it was a "face or Cheek". One other thing which confused matters. There was a small "device" in its own recess beside the proximity sensor recess. We think was a seperate device which emitts infrared - probably a range-finder for the camera. Although we had reduced the gap between glass and seat to less than 0.5mm, we think there was sufficient IR light from this device reflecting internally via the gap to be picked up by the proximity sensor - thus causing it to keep activated and disable the screen during calls. We stuck a small square of black PVC electrical tape over the lens recess (i.e. directly on the seat and not on the glass surface). Now with the glass screen bonded to its seat with a thin film of contact adhesive and the tape over the "device", the proximity sensor functions normally and completely reliably. With the "device" patched over, the screen-side camera probably won't function, but that is no significant loss compared to getting the phone working reliably.

 

[Richard Gross1]

I had put a new screen protector on the day before and the next day my end screen would not come up to hang up the call. figured out where the proximity sensor was and the screen protector was covering it. I trimmed it below the sensor and it was like brand new! damn phone had been like this for a month lol:winktongue:

 

[cihparg]

The shining a very bright light ( I used a torch) and rebooting at the same time worked for me. Thank you very much!!!