Using a Kindle has been the most convenient way of enjoying a book for a while now due to many factors, whether it’s finding and purchasing the books of your choice in a snap, being able to carry them around anywhere you go, or the capability to read without requiring an external light source.
That being said, it’s worth mentioning that enjoying the many benefits of your Kindle can require you to step into the world of troubleshooting now and then, as the Kindle, just like any other electronic device, can occasionally undergo technical problems that prevent it from operating as intended.
In today’s article, our topic will be one particular critical issue that you can come across on your Kindle, where the device gets stuck on a white screen permanently, completely preventing you from interacting with it and essentially rendering the Kindle unusable as a result.
So, how can you fix the white screen issue on your Kindle?
Below, you can find our solution recommendations for fixing the Kindle white screen issue:
- Soft reset your Kindle.
- Fully charge your Kindle.
- Tap repeatedly on both sides of your Kindle.
- Press thoroughly on both sides of your Kindle.
- Give your Kindle a few light smacks on both sides.
- Place your Kindle into the freezer for a short period.
- Wait until your Kindle’s battery fully drains.
In the following sections, we will be diving deeper into the process of fixing the white screen issue that you’re encountering on your Kindle and learn more about the factors that can contribute to the occurrence of this problem to potentially prevent such a problem from taking place and rendering your Kindle unusable again.
How to Fix the Kindle & Kindle Paperwhite White Screen Issue?
Having your Kindle stuck on a white screen in a completely unresponsive manner is definitely not a pleasant sight, especially if you have never stumbled upon such an issue before and, as a result, don’t know what to do.
Below, you can find the sub-sections that we have prepared for all the solutions we recommend applying to resolve the issue of your Kindle getting stuck on a white screen, in which we will clarify the process of utilizing each solution in detail and explain how it can contribute to resolving the problem.
Soft Reset Your Kindle
Soft resetting your Kindle is the first solution we recommend applying, both due to it being the most straightforward solution on our list and its capability to automatically resolve most technical problems, including the white screen issue you’re facing.
To soft reset your Kindle, press and hold the Power button (located under the Kindle, right next to the charging port and the indicator light), hold it for 40 seconds, and then release it.
As 40 seconds is quite a long time for such a process, we recommend using the stopwatch function on your mobile device to ensure that you have been holding the button for at least 40 seconds and not releasing it earlier.
Upon success, you will notice that the screen of your Kindle goes off and flashes a couple of times, which is indicative of the device powering off and powering back on.
If your Kindle once again gets stuck on a white screen after this process, our recommendation would be to try it a few more times and in different variations, such as with the Kindle plugged into the computer or the power adapter and with the Power button held for slightly longer than 40 seconds, before moving forward with the next solution.
Fully Charge Your Kindle
Fully charging your Kindle will ensure that the white screen problem you’re facing is not a result of the battery being at a critical level, which is a factor that can sometimes cause electronic devices to malfunction and behave in unexpected ways.
While it usually takes a few hours for a Kindle to charge under normal circumstances, our recommendation would be to allow the device to charge for at least 24 hours for the purposes of this solution.
This process will guarantee that the battery of your Kindle is charged to a healthy level regardless of issues that can cause the charging process to go slower than usual, eliminating any battery-related issues from the equation.
Please pay attention to the indicator light of your Kindle once you plug it in for charging, which should be shining orange without any blinks in the usual scenario of the device charging without any problems.
If the indicator light isn’t turning orange as intended, our recommendations would be to clean the charging port thoroughly, replace the charging cable, use the official Kindle power adapter, and switch to a different electrical outlet.
Once you have charged the Kindle for 24 hours or more, we recommend applying the soft reset procedure again, which we discussed in detail in the previous section.
Repeatedly Tap on Both Sides of Your Kindle
Repeatedly tapping on both sides of your Kindle is a solution that we can consider to fall under the umbrella of percussive maintenance, which we can practically describe as applying physical force to the device to potentially reseat any hardware components that may have disjointed over time.
For this solution, all you will need to do is tap (not too hard but not too light either) on both the back and the front side of your Kindle until you cover the entirety of the area on both sides, including the bezel and the screen, and then attempt the soft reset process once more.
While you are right to think that this solution is a bit ridiculous, the fact that there is a considerable amount of user reports that state this solution has been helpful in their case makes it worth trying.
Press Thoroughly on Both Sides of Your Kindle
Similar to the tapping solution we have discussed above, applying force to your Kindle in the form of pressing on both sides is another technique that can cause detached hardware components to reattach to their correct positions and potentially solve the problem.
To apply this solution, firmly press down on both the back and the front side of your Kindle (similar to a massaging motion) until you fully cover all parts of your Kindle, including the screen and the bezel, and then soft reset your Kindle the same way that we have gone through in the first section.
Once again, while there is not much of an exact science behind it, it is a solution that has been proven to work a considerable number of times, not only for the Kindle but also for many other electronic devices.
Give Your Kindle a Few Light Smacks on Both Sides
The last solution in our percussive maintenance series is to lightly smack the Kindle a few times on both sides, with the same purpose of potentially getting a hardware component that has disconnected to reconnect and operate as intended.
To apply this solution, lightly smack your Kindle against your palm a couple of times on both sides, ensuring that you cover all areas of your Kindle, and then initiate the soft reset process.
Please note that it’s entirely possible to damage your Kindle when applying this solution, especially if you use too much force, which makes it vital to be careful.
Place Your Kindle Into the Freezer for a Short Period
Even though we can all agree that this solution sounds even more unconventional, to say the least, there has been a significant number of Kindle users who have successfully resolved the white screen problem by leaving their Kindle in the freezer for a small amount of time and applying the soft reset process afterward.
To successfully apply the freezer method, the first thing you will need to do is to ensure that the Kindle is not warm, which will require you to remove it from the charger if it’s connected and wait until the device cools down.
Once the Kindle is not warm anymore, proceed by placing it in a sealable bag that will protect the device from any potential liquid contact while it’s in the freezer, and then place it in the freezer for roughly 30 minutes.
After taking the Kindle out of the freezer, apply the methods we have mentioned above once more, starting with the soft reset process, and see if that fixes things.
Please use this solution at your own risk since it can cause damage to your Kindle, especially if the device stays in the freezer for too long.
Wait Until Your Kindle’s Battery Fully Drains
When all the other solutions fail, the last thing we recommend trying is to wait until the battery of your Kindle fully drains, which will force all the electrical components in the device to power off completely until the battery is recharged once more.
While this process will, without a doubt, take a considerable amount of time with a fully charged Kindle, the battery will slowly drain on its own without the need for any intervention from you and eventually reach zero percent, at which point the screen will go completely blank.
Once the battery is fully drained, you will be able to power the Kindle on from an unpowered state, as opposed to the soft reset process that restarts the device without fully powering it down (warm boot), which can potentially resolve the issue you’re facing.
What Can Cause Your Kindle (Paperwhite) to Show a White Screen?
While the occurrence of technical issues such as this is often out of your control, having a good grasp of the factors that can cause these problems to happen is always a good idea to take any potential preventative measures while also familiarizing yourself with the technical side of things.
Even though it’s not possible to find a manufacturer-approved list of factors that can lead to the occurrence of the white screen issue on the Kindle, we have found the following culprits to be behind this problem in most cases:
- Software glitches that prevent the operating system from booting up as intended
- Battery-related problems that prevent the hardware of the Kindle from getting the necessary power for the booting process
- Hardware components that malfunction due to factors such as physical or electrical damage
With these factors in mind, our recommendations would be to follow the best practices for software and hardware maintenance to potentially avoid technical issues, such as running the software updates on time whenever possible, avoiding full charges and discharges of the battery, and not leaving the battery depleted for prolonged amounts of time.
Conclusion
Even though having your Kindle stuck on a white screen is one of the worst problems you can encounter due to it rendering the device completely unusable, it should usually be possible to resolve the issue at home without having to send your Kindle in for repair.
Here is a quick recap of the solutions we recommend following to resolve the white screen problem you’re experiencing on your Kindle:
- Soft reset your Kindle to resolve any potential software bugs and glitches that can lead to the occurrence of the problem.
- Fully charge your Kindle to ensure that the problem does not stem from issues related to power and low battery.
- Repeatedly tap on both sides of your Kindle to potentially reseat any disjointed hardware components.
- Thoroughly press on both sides of your Kindle to potentially reseat any disjointed hardware components.
- Give your Kindle a few light smacks on the front and the back to potentially fix weak hardware connections.
- Place your Kindle in the freezer for a short period to potentially resolve hardware problems, such as dry solders and issues related to the volatile memory.
- Allow the battery of your Kindle to run out by itself to boot the device from an unpowered state.
If none of the solutions we have listed above has helped fix the white screen problem in your case, we highly recommend getting in touch with Amazon Support as soon as possible, which will allow you to send your Kindle in for a repair or replacement.
Mark’s first real encounter with tech was when he had to format his computer with Windows 98 around the age of 6 to quickly get back to playing Heroes of Might and Magic III without having to send the computer in for a repair, which he strangely found to be rather enjoyable since it was a new challenge for him at the time.
While he has always been particularly interested in the software side of things, which eventually led to him becoming a software developer, he enjoys keeping up with the advancements in consumer electronics and smart home technology when he’s not busy coding.