One of the Raspberry Pi’s most useful add-ons is a touchscreen display. While other displays of different sizes (bigger and smaller) are available, they’re all particularly useful for all manner of projects. However, the 7-inch display from Raspberry Pi itself is perhaps the best.

Powered from the Pi’s PSU, the touchscreen works well, but setup can be intimidating. This guide explains how to set up the official Raspberry Pi touchscreen.

Can You Install a Touchscreen Display on Your Raspberry Pi?

Not all Raspberry Pi models are compatible with the touchscreen display. If you’re not sure which one you have, use our quick guide to checking your Raspberry Pi model.

The Raspberry Pi touchscreen display will work with:

  • Raspberry Pi A+
  • Raspberry Pi B and B+
  • Raspberry Pi 2
  • Raspberry Pi 3 and B+
  • Raspberry Pi 4

The Raspberry Pi touchscreen display is not compatible with a Raspberry Pi 400.

However, only the Raspberry Pi 2 and later are compatible with the mounting screws on the back of the touchscreen. As such, you’ll need to find another way to securely attach your Pi board.

Raspberry Pi B, Raspberry Pi 3, and Raspberry Pi Zero WH

This guide features a Raspberry Pi 3 in the accompanying photos. However, it has been tested with a Raspberry Pi 4, and everything works as described here.

Don’t Remove the Protective Film Yet

One thing you should not do until your Pi and your touchscreen display are correctly connected and attached is to remove the protective film that comes already applied to the display.

It may look unsightly, but at this stage that doesn't matter. With the protective film attached until the last minute, the new touchscreen device is protected from any scratches and nicks that might occur during the connection process.

So do yourself a favor, and leave the protective film in place, just a little bit longer!

Connect the Display Board to the Touchscreen Display

Before you connect the Pi to the touchscreen display, take an extra precaution. You should either leave the display in its box, but face down so that the touchscreen is resting upon the foam packaging, or place it face down on a towel on table.

Next, establish whether the display board is connected to the orange ribbon cable and the display.

Raspberry Pi display face down on a towel

The orange ribbon cable connects in two places on the display board; the narrow end connects to the Panel 1 connector, which has a small clamp that will need to be undone before you insert the ribbon and tighten it again. The wider ribbon connects to the other side, to the connector labeled Panel 2, in the same way. Use the four spacers to fix the display board to the back of the display, and you're ready to continue.

Some Raspberry Pi displays come pre-assembled, with the ribbon cable connected.

Connect the Raspberry Pi to the Touchscreen Display

The next stage is to mount your Raspberry Pi to the touchscreen.

Raspberry Pi touchscreen cables

Do this by first connecting the four cables to the 5V, Ground, SCL and SDA connectors on the display board. Although it doesn't strictly matter, we suggest you follow convention and use red for 5v, and black for Ground.

Then insert the white ribbon cable; the end that you're inserting now should have the blue side facing the display (the other end will have the blue tab facing upwards). Lock it in place by securing the catch.

Connect the ribbon to the DSI port

Next, place your Raspberry Pi on top of the risers, and secure it with the screws. Note that if you purchase a photo frame-style display for this, you may find that things are more compact if you mount the Pi with the GPIO underneath. For now, however, the GPIO needs to be accessible, so leave it facing up.

Raspberry Pi touchscreen power cables

Connect the four jumper cables to the GPIO, matching 5V to 5V, Ground to Ground, etc. Check the GPIO array for your Raspberry Pi model to ensure you've got the cables connected correctly; on a Raspberry Pi 4 the cables will be connected as above.

Power wires from Raspberry Pi 4 to touchscreen

As you might have guessed, these cables manage the power supply from the Pi to the display, but also transmit touch information to earlier Pi models – on newer models, the green and yellow I2C connection is built into the ribbon cable, so they aren't actually needed.

You don't have to connect them like this though, though; you couldn't place a HAT on top, for instance. You might prefer to use a Y-splitter from a standard Raspberry Pi power supply, or use a second power supply. If you're using a portable battery for this project, you'll be able to keep the display and Pi running from the same power source.

Next, connect the ribbon cable to the Raspberry Pi, first unclipping the catch, and slotting it into place without twisting. Press the catch down when the ribbon is fully inserted to secure it.

Raspberry Pi touchscreen mounted

With all of this done, it's time to connect your power cable to the Pi and boot into Raspberry Pi OS.

Be gentle with the ribbon cable port catch. This is arguably the most delicate component on a Raspberry Pi.

Prepare Your Raspberry Pi for a Touchscreen Display

The official touchscreen display and most others should work with the latest Raspberry Pi OS. If you’re starting a new system from scratch, install the Raspberry Pi OS on a microSD card.

If you already have a Raspberry Pi up and running, you should upgrade to the latest version. These days, Raspberry Pi OS checks for updates automatically, but you can hurry things along by opening a terminal and entering:

        sudo apt-get update 
    

Reboot if prompted.

With a fresh Raspberry Pi OS installation, eject the microSD card from your computer and insert into the Pi. Connect the power supply to the Raspberry Pi, then wait for the operating system to start. If the cables have been correctly connected, the Raspberry Pi should restart a few times. Your Raspberry Pi touchscreen display is set up and ready to use!

(Once you have connected the device to your network, it will check for updates.)

Configuring the Raspberry Pi 7” Touchscreen

In some cases -- particularly if you're using the display with a stand -- you might want to rotate the display so it stays at the correct orientation.

This can be done on the Raspberry Pi OS desktop:

  1. Opem Menu > Preferences > Screen Configuration
  2. Here, select Layout > Screens > DSI-1 > Orientation
  3. Choose Inverted
  4. Click Apply, then Yes when prompted to reboot

A few moments later, the orientation should be correct.

Your Raspberry Pi, with a Touchscreen Display!

Whether you’re using a Raspberry Pi 2, 3, or Raspberry Pi 4, the touchscreen setup process is straightforward. Thanks to driver updates and improvements to the operating system, a once-clunky and unreliable process is now streamlined and requires minimal configuration.

With the touchscreen display attached, you can do so much more with your Raspberry Pi. Naturally, of course, you’ll want to make a Raspberry Pi tablet...