I got it to work again! 

## What DID work for me

I am a DIY kind of person. I replaced my battery and screen myself a few months ago, following [these battery replacement instructions][1], and [these screen replacement instructions][2]. 

When I was done, my phone worked perfectly with zero problems until today. After many hard phone reboots by holding down the power button, with no success to get my touch screen working again, I remembered [this image][3]:

[![enter image description here][3]](https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/RSYXSBeeSGreK1tU.huge)

...from [this tutorial](https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Google+Pixel+2+Battery+Replacement/103334). This is what the phone looks like just underneath the screen and touch panel under the screen. Notice the connector I circled yellow in the image above. That's the connector for the screen and touch sensor to connect to the phone. It has a plate/cover on top of it ([shown here][4]) which screws down to hold the connector in place. **I thought maybe pressing on that connector would help. So, I pressed firmly but carefully down on the top of the screen near that connector and lower, down to about 1 inch from the bottom of the phone (because I couldn't remember where the connector was exactly at the time), with both thumbs at once. Then, I tried the phone again. Voilà! Magically it worked! Touch sensor seems fine now.** It must have just reseated that connector better is all. 

If this doesn't last long-term, I'll buy [this replacement screen again for $40](https://www.diymobilerepair.com/google-pixel-2-lcd-touch-screen-replacement) (same one I bought before and have on the phone now) and replace it again (note: I used [this iFixit toolkit][5] and [this iFixit iOpener heating pad][6]--this heating pad is waaay safer and better than a heat gun!). 

If this "pressing on the center of the screen trick", followed by another screen replacement, doesn't last, I'll upgrade to the latest brand new Google Pixel. But, I really hope to hold off for 2 more years or so to get the full life out of my current one (goal is to replace my phone only every 4 years). 


  [1]: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Google+Pixel+2+Battery+Replacement/103334
  [2]: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Replace+a+Google+Pixel+2+Screen/103077
  [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/GsyFB.jpg
  [4]: https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/HuntXSUMrTQOPvUT.huge
  [5]: https://amzn.to/3naOReu
  [6]: https://amzn.to/3ni7UUg