Reset a Frozen Infotainment Screen

Last updated: June 12, 2026

If the screen in your Chevrolet Aveo (T300, 2011–2015) has frozen, blanked out, or stopped responding to taps, you can usually force the radio to restart yourself in under a minute — no tools and no data loss. The method depends on which head unit your Aveo came with, because not every T300 has the MyLink touchscreen.

Which radio is in your Aveo

• Base/early cars: a standard radio with a small mono display and physical preset buttons. There is no touchscreen here, so a “frozen screen” really means a locked-up radio — the fuse-pull below is the cure.
• MyLink-equipped cars: a 7-inch MyLink colour touchscreen in the centre stack, with smartphone integration, Bluetooth and on-screen menus. This is the unit that genuinely freezes and that the button reboot is designed for.

A frozen MyLink is almost always a software lock-up inside the radio module — the car drives normally while the display sticks. You reboot it with the unit’s hard buttons, not a touch menu (which won’t respond anyway).

Soft reset (reboot) the MyLink screen

Park up and keep the ignition in the ON/accessory position so the radio stays powered.

1. Find the Power/Volume knob at the side of the MyLink unit (its centre is the on/off press).
2. Press and hold that knob for about 10–15 seconds. On some 7-inch MyLink units the reboot is instead Home + Seek-forward (>>) held together for ~10 seconds.
3. Hold until the screen goes black and the Chevrolet logo reappears.
4. Release and let it reload for up to a minute before expecting touch and audio to work.

Safe — it loses no data

This reboot does not erase your presets, paired phones or MyLink settings — it just reloads the software. You can repeat it as often as you like with no risk to your saved data.

If it stays frozen

• Hold longer. If a 10-second hold did nothing, retry for a full 20–30 seconds.
• Cycle the ignition fully. Switch off, open the door, lock the car and walk away for a few minutes so the radio powers right down, then restart.
• Pull the radio fuse (reliable last resort). With everything off, remove the radio/infotainment fuse — the lid of the dash-end or engine-bay fuse box lists it as “RADIO” or “INFO”. Wait 30–60 seconds and refit it for a hard power-down.
• Disconnect the battery briefly. If you cannot identify the fuse, disconnecting the negative terminal for a minute does the same job.

Factory reset (erases data)

Only needed if a recurring glitch survives a normal reboot, or you are selling the car. On the MyLink touchscreen open Settings and choose Restore / Return to factory settings. This wipes paired phones, presets, favourites and personal settings back to factory defaults — note anything you want to keep first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Aveo definitely have MyLink?

Only if it has the 7-inch colour touchscreen in the centre stack. Many T300 Aveos left the factory with the plain mono radio and physical buttons, which has no touchscreen to reboot — use the fuse method for those.

Will the reboot wipe my radio presets or paired phone?

No. Only the factory reset in Settings clears them. The button reboot keeps your presets and pairings.

The screen is black and the button hold does nothing — now what?

Pull and refit the radio fuse, or briefly disconnect the negative battery terminal, to force a full power-down. If it still won’t light up, the unit may have a backlight or hardware fault.

Can I drive while the screen is frozen?

Yes. The radio is independent of the engine and brakes, so you only lose audio and phone functions. Reboot when safely parked.

A warning light is on after the reboot — is that related?

No, the two are separate. A dash light that stays on may mean a stored fault code — look it up on autodtcs.com.

If a warning light or fault message remains on the dash after the reset, the car may have logged a diagnostic trouble code — you can decode it on autodtcs.com.