Key Points:
- Smartphone screens get cracks or scratches from the regular wear and tear of everyday use.
- The best methods to remove scratches from a phone screen include Creium Oxide paste, LOCA glue, and a glass polishing kit.
- You can have effective results with cheaper DIY methods like baking soda, toothpaste, cornstarch, and vegetable oil, but your results may vary.
- If all else fails, we recommend using a liquid-adhesive screen protector that can fill the grooves of cracks/scratches, making them otherwise invisible.
- If that doesn't work, it's time to look into professional smartphone panel replacement, which can get expensive if you're out of warranty.
If you're using a Talkmobile SIM Only plan, then it's highly likely that you've bought your new handset outright, instead of using a contract. As such, it can be particularly frustrating to have the display be scratched or cracked in your pocket. Some surface-level scratches can be lifted more easily than others. We're going through 10 surefire ways to have your smartphone's display looking good as new, as well as providing a few alternative methods if all else fails in 2026.
10 Ways to remove scratches from a phone screen in 2026
| Method | How it works | What you should know |
| Cerium Oxide Paste | A trusted glass cleaning compound that chemically shears away glass to level out the surface | You need to be patient and use a microfibre cloth for the best results. It's best for shallow scratches. |
|---|---|---|
| LOCA Glue | A UV glue that's used in screen manufacturing to fill the grooves, making them essentially invisible. | Highly effective for deep scratches, as it fills the void of the surface area so that light cannot get through, hiding the damage. |
| Glass polishing kit | A glass polishing kit uses abrasive particles to smooth down small imperfections in hardened glass. | Safe and specifically formulated for use on toughened or treated glass, better for smaller scratches. |
| Magic Eraser | Magic Eraser brand sponges (or any kind of coated foam) act as incredibly fine sandpaper and brush off any raised/high spots near a scratch | They can strip the glass coating, so it should be used incredibly gently, to smooth down any edges, scratches, or cracks that have become sharp. |
| Baking soda paste | Baking soda, when combined with water in a 2:1 ratio, makes a gritty, thick paste that can buff out surface scratches. | Best for minor/small scratches; however, if mixed incorrectly, it can leave swirls/streaks on the screen as leftover residue. |
| Car scratch creams | Most scratch removal creams sold for cars have a mild abrasive agent inside of them, wax filler, to buff out smaller/lighter scratches. | This can be a temporary resolution as the wax filler can be worn down or dry out over time, and can be washed out by rain. |
| Toothpaste | Mild abrasives found in good toothpaste brands can buff scratches out of plastic screen protectors. | It only really works on plastic screen protectors and should not be applied to the actual glass display of your smartphone. |
| Cornstarch paste | Mixed with water, cornstarch can be used similarly to baking soda to push/buff out scratches from your phone's screen. | It's only really effective against the most minor or lightest of scratches, and there's a small risk in creating more scratches if you go too hard. |
| Vegetable oil | A temporary cosmetic filler, a drop of vegetable oil rubbed over a scratch, hides the groove from the light. | It will hide the scratch for a couple of hours, or possibly a day, as a quick fix before you properly look to fix the screen. |
| Metal polish | Some lower-powered metal polishes can cut through surface-level scratches on the display. | Only use this as a last resort if everything else has failed, as the abrasive chemicals could damage the glass. |
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Why do smartphone screens get cracked or scratched over time?
For as durable as today's smartphone displays can be, particularly Android phones using Corning's Gorilla Glass or Apple's Ceramic Shield on its iPhones, there are limits. It comes down to the flexibility against the hardness and how the glass is made scratch-resistant in the first place; being harder, it becomes more brittle, as it loses elasticity, or the ability to stretch. Combine that with the thousands of times a day you touch the screen, or how it rubs against the lining of your pocket, or the contents of your bag, and eventually scratches and even light cracks can appear.
We always recommend installing a high-quality, bespoke-fit, thick glass screen protector on your new smartphone from the day you get it out of the box. You can typically pick up a pack of three (or more) online for only a few pounds, and they can save you hundreds of pounds in the long run. If you haven't got one on, then it'll be time to try and get that stock display shining again, and these are our 10 recommended methods for removing scratches from a smartphone that we've used in the past.
What else can I try to remove scratches from my smartphone?
If you've tried one (or all) of the proposed solutions to remove scratches from your phone screen, then there's always the high-quality liquid-adhesive screen protector to use instead. They act as an overlay and usually use LOCA glue to fill in the gaps, effectively hiding scratches from your device. It means that the damage disappears from view and acts as new. These are sometimes sold as Nano Liquid or Liquid Glass screen protectors, and are far easier than using a kit with a tube of glue and small, fiddly tools.
Failing everything that we've listed above, the last resort is a professional screen replacement. Whether you go directly to the handset manufacturer, such as Apple through AppleCare, or contact the likes of Samsung, Nothing, or Sony, this can be pricey. Some high street mobile phone shops can repair or replace a display, but the rates will be variable depending on the quality of the display and the competency of the smartphone technician. Prevention is always better than cure in this case, after all.
