Some Pixel 10 owners are seeing their new phones lock up behind a blizzard of colorful “snow,” an effect that looks like an old analog TV with no signal. The screen covers in static, taps still register, but you can’t see enough to use the phone. Reports span both the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, and the glitch tends to clear on its own—until it doesn’t.
Google hasn’t issued a public fix yet, but its community support reps have begun gathering diagnostics from affected users. While we wait for an official patch or guidance, there are practical steps you can take to get your device working again and to position yourself for a swift repair or replacement if needed.
What the glitch looks like
Owners describe a full-screen wash of flickering, multicolor noise that can appear out of nowhere: unlocking the phone, switching apps, scrolling a webpage, or launching the camera. In several accounts, touch input continues to work—the phone vibrates or audio plays—but the display itself is unreadable, making the device effectively unusable until the static disappears or the phone restarts.
Community moderators for Pixel have asked for logs on Reddit and in Google’s support forums, a sign the company is trying to isolate whether this is a display driver, GPU, or panel timing issue. Similar symptoms have surfaced in past generations, including the Pixel 8 Pro and earlier models, where some users ultimately received replacements.
Quick actions that often restore the screen
Force restart your Pixel. Press and hold the power button until the device reboots (this can take up to 30 seconds). For most users, the static vanishes immediately after a hard reboot.
Try Safe mode to rule out third‑party apps. Press and hold the power button to bring up the power menu, then touch and hold “Power off” until the Safe mode prompt appears. If the problem disappears in Safe mode, remove recently installed or updated apps and reboot normally.
Update everything. Go to Settings > System > System update, and also check Settings > Security and privacy for the Google Play system update. Open the Play Store and update all apps, especially graphics-heavy apps and launchers.
Optional display toggles. Some users report fewer incidents after turning off Smooth Display (Settings > Display > Smooth Display) and disabling Always On Display. These are not fixes, but they may reduce the chances of a VRR (variable refresh rate) transition triggering the issue.
Back up before deeper troubleshooting. If the glitch recurs frequently, make sure your photos, messages, and 2FA codes are backed up before trying lengthy diagnostics or a factory reset.
Document and report the problem
Capture the evidence. If possible, record a short video of the static with another device. Note what you were doing immediately before it happened—opening the camera, launching a game, watching HDR video, or unlocking the screen.
Send feedback with logs. On your Pixel, go to Settings > Tips & support > Contact us, or use the Feedback option in Settings > About phone. Check the option to include system logs. Power users can enable Developer options and submit a full bug report after the next occurrence.
Reference official channels. Community managers from the Pixel team have been collecting case details on Reddit’s r/GooglePixel and in Google’s support forum. Adding your report increases visibility and helps engineering correlate patterns across devices.
When to push for a replacement
If static returns after multiple force restarts, appears daily, or persists after Safe mode, contact Pixel support and your retailer. Within standard return windows from carriers and major retailers, a straight exchange is usually the fastest path. Beyond that, the manufacturer warranty generally covers display and logic-board faults.
Keep your case number, videos, and timestamps ready. Users with thorough documentation tend to move through support faster. In prior Pixel launches with display defects, many customers received replacement units after diagnostics confirmed hardware involvement.
What might be happening under the hood
While Google hasn’t named a root cause, display engineers often attribute “snow” artifacts to a crash or desynchronization in the display pipeline—think GPU driver faults, timing controller hiccups on LTPO panels, or VRR handoffs at certain frame rates. Organizations that analyze mobile displays, such as DisplayMate and Display Supply Chain Consultants, have previously noted that low-luminance states, HDR transitions, and rapid refresh-rate shifts can expose panel timing edge cases.
The fact that touch input continues to register suggests software or driver instability rather than a dead panel. That would be good news: issues in the graphics stack are typically fixable via over-the-air updates. If diagnostics point to the panel or the display connector, support will steer toward repair or replacement.
Bottom line
A snowy, frozen Pixel 10 screen is alarming but, in many cases, temporary. Force‑restart first, gather evidence, update your software, and file a report with logs. If the behavior repeats, don’t hesitate to escalate to support within your return window. As Google investigates, the fastest resolution will either be a software patch—or a no‑questions exchange if hardware is at fault.