Tesla touchscreen black or frozen: how to restart it and what next

Restart

How to restart the touchscreen

1. Stop and put the car in Park. Tesla says to restart the touchscreen only while stopped in Park — during the restart the speed, warnings and reversing camera aren't shown.
2. Press and hold both scroll buttons on the steering wheel until the screen goes black.
3. Wait about 30 seconds for it to come back.

This restarts only the touchscreen, not the rest of the car. If it's still unresponsive after a few minutes, Tesla suggests power-cycling the car (the procedure is in your owner's manual).¹

While driving

If the screen goes black while you're driving

On the Model 3 and Model Y the touchscreen is also the speedometer. If it goes black, slow down, pull over somewhere safe, put the car in Park and restart it as above. Don't try the restart while moving.

Older Model S and X

The eMMC recall on older Model S and Model X

Model S built 2012–2018 and Model X built 2016–2018 used an 8GB memory chip in the media control unit that can wear out, leaving the screen blank even after a restart. Tesla recalled these cars in the UK in February 2021 and replaces the 8GB chip with a 64GB unit; cars built from March 2018 already had the larger chip.² Check whether a specific car has an open recall on GOV.UK using its registration and VIN.³

Keeps happening

If it keeps freezing or rebooting

• Install the latest software update — many screen glitches are fixed in software.
• A weak low-voltage battery can cause random reboots and slow waking: see 12V / 16V battery warning.
• Persistent faults on older cars are often the media control unit itself. Tesla can replace or upgrade it, and some independent specialists repair these units — ask before booking.

Sources

Where this information comes from

1. Tesla Service: Restarting the Touchscreen (Model Y)
2. Which?: Tesla recalls Model S and Model X cars in the UK (Feb 2021)
3. GOV.UK: Check if a vehicle has been recalled