> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zerokeyusb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Broken / No Screen Mode

> If the OLED fails, ZeroKeyUSB can type what would be on screen over USB so you can still enter your PIN and use the device.

If the display breaks, the device is not bricked. A **screen-reader mode** makes ZeroKeyUSB type the current screen contents over **USB HID (keyboard)**, one line at a time, into a focused text field on your computer or phone. You can still enter your PIN, browse credentials and type passwords — blind.

<Note>
  The host types into whatever text field is focused. Open a notes app / empty text box **before** activating, so the output goes somewhere harmless.
</Note>

***

## Activate it

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get to the PIN screen">
    Plug the device in and reach the PIN prompt (the normal boot screen).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Hold Center for 10 seconds">
    Press and **hold the Center button for \~10 s**. A border fills around the screen over the full 10 s; when it completes, the mode toggles. Release before 10 s and nothing happens.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch the text appear">
    The device starts typing the current state into your focused text field, e.g. `ZK reader ON` then the PIN line.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Hold Center for 10 s again to turn it off.

<Tip>
  To make it **permanent** (useful when the screen is genuinely dead), enable it in **Settings → Reader: On/Off**. That stores the choice in EEPROM and the device boots straight into screen-reader mode. The 10 s gesture only toggles it for the current session.
</Tip>

***

## What it types

The device keeps **one line** on screen, erasing and rewriting it as you navigate:

| Screen                         | Types                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| PIN entry                      | `PIN 125 >7` — the digits entered so far, then the currently selected digit (`>OK` = the confirm tick) |
| Credential (site)              | `3: google.com`                                                                                        |
| Credential (user / pass / 2FA) | `3: user`, `3: password`, `3: 2FA`                                                                     |
| Menu                           | `Menu: <selected item>`                                                                                |
| Confirm page                   | `<title> Hold=OK Left=No`                                                                              |

Entering the PIN blind: use **Up/Down** to change the selected digit (watch `>n` update), **Right** to add it, **Left** to delete, and select the tick (`>OK`) then **Right/Center** to unlock — exactly as on screen, but reading the typed line instead of the OLED.

When you press **Center** on a credential, the announcement line is erased and the **real value** (user / password) is typed — so with a dead screen you can still read a password by pressing Center in a text box.

***

## Notes & safety

<Warning>
  This types your screen contents — **including PIN digits and, on Center, passwords** — into the focused field. Use it for recovery, into a private text field you control, and clear that field afterwards.
</Warning>

* It works at the PIN screen even before unlocking, so a broken-screen device can still be unlocked.
* The Bitcoin **seed** is never typed by this mode — it is screen-only by design.
* Typing is deliberately paced, so each line takes a moment to appear.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Navigate the menu" icon="bars" href="/getting-started/menu-navigation">
    Where the Reader setting lives.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/support/troubleshooting">
    Other recovery options.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>