Reset a Frozen Infotainment Screen

If the touchscreen in your Peugeot 208 (Mk2/P21, 2019–Present) has frozen, gone black, or stopped responding to taps, you can force the head unit to reboot yourself in under a minute — no garage, no tools, and without losing your radio presets or paired phones.

Which system is in your Mk2 208

The second-generation 208 uses Peugeot’s i-Cockpit with a centre touchscreen running the NAC (also branded 3D i-Connect on navigation cars). There is no rotary volume knob — instead, a row of physical keys sits beside or below the screen (the toggle-style “piano key” switches on i-Connect cars, or buttons to the side on the base All-In-One radio). The one you hold to force a reboot is the source key, marked “SRC”. Freezes, black screens and slow starts on NAC are well documented and almost always a software lock-up, not a dead display.

Soft reset (reboot) the touchscreen

Do this parked, with the ignition on so the unit keeps its power.

1. Find the “SRC” (source) key in the button row beside or below the screen.
2. Press and hold it — keep holding for around 10 seconds, straight through the point where the audio cuts out.
3. When the screen goes black, release the key.
4. The Peugeot lion logo appears as the NAC system restarts; let it boot.
5. Wait up to a minute for the home screen to reload — radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay / Android Auto and media return on their own.

Will this erase anything? No

The reboot is completely safe. It does not wipe your radio presets, navigation favourites, paired phones, or settings — it simply restarts the head unit’s software, exactly like restarting a phone. Use it as often as the screen plays up.

If the screen stays frozen

• Hold longer. If a short hold did nothing, press the SRC key again and keep it held until the display fully blanks, then let it reboot.
• Unplug any USB device. A faulty stick or phone cable in the USB port is a common NAC freeze trigger — remove it and reboot.
• Let the car sleep. Switch off, lock the car and walk away for five minutes so the electronics fully power down, then unlock and restart.
• Check for a software update. Peugeot has issued NAC firmware that cures freezing and slow boots; you can download it from the official Peugeot Update site by VIN to a FAT32 USB stick, or have a dealer flash it.
• Pull the fuse (last resort). With the car off, remove the head-unit fuse for about a minute and refit it to force a cold restart. Check the fuse chart in the owner’s manual for the infotainment position.

Factory reset (erases data — rarely needed)

A factory reset is separate from the reboot and only worth doing if you are selling the car or chasing a deep, persistent glitch. Go to Settings → System → Factory Reset, confirm, and wait for the system to reboot. It erases presets, paired phones and navigation history, so only do it deliberately.

Frequently Asked Questions

There is no knob on my 208 — how do I reset the screen?

Correct, the Mk2 i-Cockpit has no rotary control. The reboot is a long hold of the physical “SRC” (source) key in the button row beside or below the screen, not a press on the glass.

Will the SRC-key reboot lose my Bluetooth pairings or presets?

No. The source-key reboot keeps every preset, favourite and paired phone. Only the menu-driven factory reset clears them.

My NAC screen keeps going black on its own — is that the hardware?

Recurring black screens on NAC are usually a software fault covered by a Peugeot technical bulletin, not a dead panel. A firmware update fixes most cases; only after that should the screen be suspected.

Is it safe to drive with the screen frozen?

Yes. The touchscreen is separate from the engine and braking systems — you only lose audio, Bluetooth and navigation. Reboot once you are safely parked.

The screen is stuck on the Peugeot logo — what now?

A unit looping on the lion usually needs a full power-down. Repeat the SRC-key hold until the screen blanks; if it still loops, lock the car and leave it five minutes. Persistent boot-loops point to a firmware update being due.

If a warning light or fault message stays on the dash after the reboot, it may have stored a diagnostic trouble code — you can look it up on autodtcs.com.