Right to Repair Law in the USA: What Covers Your Phone in 2026

There is still no federal right to repair law in the United States. What exists is a patchwork of state statutes. As of July 2026, 13 states have enacted right-to-repair laws, and nine of them cover consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. Whether you can get parts, tools and repair manuals for your phone depends largely on the state where the device was sold.

This guide explains what the laws actually require, which states have them, where the federal effort stands, and what all of it means if you buy or fix phones, including refurbished ones.

Devicegiant

devicegiant.com

Choose a Phone Built to Last

Device Giant offers verified refurbished smartphones, with each phone checked against a 25-point functionality checklist and a 90-day return policy.

Browse refurbished phones

TL;DR

No federal law yet. Federal bills have failed so far, and the Fair Repair Act (S. 3821) was introduced in the Senate on February 10, 2026.
13 states have enacted laws. Nine cover consumer electronics: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
What manufacturers must provide: parts, tools and documentation to owners and independent repair shops. Terms, price thresholds and cutoff dates differ by state.
Parts pairing is the next fight. Newer laws, such as Oregon’s, take aim at software that blocks the use of non-original parts.
For buyers: repairable, well-documented phones are easier to keep running and to refurbish, which is good for your wallet and for e-waste.

What right to repair means in the U.S.
Is there a federal right to repair law?
Which states have right to repair laws?
What the state laws require, state by state
What the laws do not do
What this means for your phone
Where refurbished phones fit in
Our perspective
Shop verified refurbished devices
FAQ
Sources

What right to repair means in the U.S.

The idea is simple. If you lawfully bought a product, you should be able to fix it yourself or take it to a repair service you choose, rather than being forced to use the manufacturer or its approved network. That is how WIPO describes the U.S. concept.

In practice, the laws do not say a company must repair your phone, or that repairs must be cheap. They say the company must make the building blocks of repair available: replacement parts, diagnostic and repair tools, and documentation such as service manuals.

Why it became a legislative issue: the Federal Trade Commission found that many products are harder to fix than they should be, because repairs often require specialized tools, hard-to-find parts and proprietary diagnostic software, which leaves consumers with few choices. WIPO adds that intellectual property rights in software-enabled products are often used to control who can repair them, and that the DMCA’s anti-circumvention rules are frequently cited as a barrier to independent repair.

Is there a federal right to repair law?

No. According to an American Bar Association antitrust newsletter, there is currently no federal right-to-repair law, and past federal efforts have failed.

There are two pieces of federal activity worth knowing about:

The Fair Repair Act (S. 3821). It was introduced in the U.S. Senate on February 10, 2026. It would require makers of digital electronic equipment to provide documentation, parts and tools to independent repair providers and owners on fair and reasonable terms. It would also prohibit parts pairing or similar mechanisms that block the installation of functional parts, reduce device functionality, or trigger misleading warnings about non-OEM parts. Introduction is the first step only; it is not law.
The DMCA repair exemptions. The U.S. Copyright Office grants temporary, renewable exemptions every three years to the DMCA’s anti-circumvention rules. As of October 2024, these include repairing consumer electronics, motor vehicles, agricultural vehicles and medical devices. That keeps repair legal in a narrow sense, but it does not force anyone to sell you a part or a manual.

You may also see the REPAIR Act in search results. That bill concerns vehicles and independent auto repair, not phones.

Which states have right to repair laws?

As of July 2026, 13 states have enacted statutes, grouped by product type:

Product category	States
Consumer electronics	California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington
Automotive	Maine, Massachusetts
Mobility devices	Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, Washington
Agricultural equipment	Colorado

Momentum has not stopped. As of June 2026, 33 more states were actively considering right-to-repair bills. The same source notes that implementation is uneven, with real differences in product scope from state to state.

For most phone owners, the practical effect reaches beyond state lines. A manufacturer that has to publish manuals and sell parts to meet a law in New York or California generally makes those resources available nationally, because maintaining a separate system per state is costly. That is an industry pattern, not a legal guarantee, so check the rules where you live.

What the state laws require, state by state

The core requirement is the same across the electronics statutes: manufacturers must give owners and/or independent repair shops access to parts, tools and documentation. The differences are in the details.

Comparison of state phone repair law thresholds and dates

California

California’s law has a price-based duty period. The state’s consumer guide says repair materials must be available for at least 3 years for products priced $50 to $99.99 and at least 7 years for products of $100 or more, counted from the model’s last manufacturing date. A phone selling for several hundred dollars falls in the seven-year bracket.

New York

New York’s Digital Fair Repair Act took effect on December 28, 2023. It requires makers of digital electronic equipment valued over $10 to make diagnostic and repair information available to independent repair providers and consumers, if that information is also provided to authorized repair providers. The Attorney General’s office also notes that certain products are excluded, including motor vehicles, home appliances, medical devices, farm equipment and power tools.

Minnesota

Minnesota’s law, active since July 1, 2024, requires manufacturers to supply parts, tools and documentation to independent repair providers and owners. It applies to electronics manufactured or sold on or after July 1, 2021, so older phones are generally outside it.

Oregon

Oregon’s Right to Repair Act took effect on January 1, 2025. According to the state’s PIRG chapter, it applies to digital electronics sold after 2015, with cell phones covered if first sold in the state after July 1, 2021. It also restricts parts pairing, the practice of serializing components so a phone shows warnings or loses features when a part is swapped outside an authorized process.

Texas

Texas is the newest major entry. The Repair Association lists its law as active as of September 1, 2026, covering consumer electronics retailing for more than $50.

Other electronics states

Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas and Washington also have electronics statutes. Their scope, price floors and effective dates differ, so read your state’s text or your attorney general’s consumer page before assuming a particular phone is covered.

What the laws do not do

Expect limits. Repair laws are narrower than the headlines.

They do not require free or cheap parts. Manufacturers may charge, though many laws say terms must be fair and reasonable.
They have exclusions. Motor vehicles, medical devices, farm equipment, home appliances and some other categories are carved out in various states.
They are not retroactive in every state. Cutoffs such as July 1, 2021 in Minnesota and Oregon (for phones) mean older devices may not be covered.
They do not remove every technical barrier. Parts pairing was the loophole early laws left open, and only the newer statutes address it directly.

The state-by-state variation is the main reason a single national standard keeps coming up in Congress. Consumer groups, including Consumer Reports, have backed the new federal bill, while some industry trade groups oppose repair legislation, citing concerns about data access and reverse engineering of original parts. The disagreement is about scope and safeguards, not about whether repair should exist at all.

What this means for your phone

For a typical smartphone owner, the laws change three things.

More parts and manuals are available. In covered states, an independent shop can obtain what it needs to replace a screen or battery without going through the manufacturer’s network.
More competition on price. The Wyoming Legislature’s staff memo on other states’ laws says right-to-repair legislation aims to reduce the costs and downtime of depending only on manufacturer-authorized repair. Whether prices actually fall in your area is a local question.
Longer useful life. A phone that can be repaired is a phone that stays out of a landfill. The FTC has also said that reducing repair barriers may make it easier to refurbish older laptops and expand their supply. The same logic applies to phones.

If you are fixing a phone yourself

Check whether your model was first sold after your state’s cutoff date, then look for the manufacturer’s published repair guide and parts store. Use original (OEM) parts where you can, since software checks on third-party components can trigger warnings. Our guide to OEM versus aftermarket parts in refurbished phones shows which components tend to give the difference away.

If you are buying a phone

Repair rights are a reason to prefer devices from makers that publish parts and documentation, but they are not a substitute for a good return window. Whatever you buy, new or refurbished, know your return terms before you pay. We lay out what to expect in our refurbished return policy guide.

Where refurbished phones fit in

Refurbishment is the other half of repair culture. A phone that is tested, repaired and resold gets a second life, and that is the point of both movements: keep working devices in use and out of the waste stream.

Illustrated path from phone repair to reuse

Repair-friendly laws help the refurbishing chain in practical ways. Easier access to parts and diagnostics means more used phones can be restored rather than stripped or scrapped. For buyers, that translates into more choice in the secondhand market, and for the planet, fewer devices discarded early.

It also raises a question worth asking any seller: what was repaired, and with what? A trustworthy refurbisher tells you the grade, the tests performed and the return terms. If you want a framework, read how to buy refurbished electronics online without getting burned.

Our perspective

We sell refurbished phones, tablets and watches every day, so right to repair is not an abstract policy debate for us. It decides how easily the devices we handle can be restored in the first place.

Here is what we have learned from the bench side of it. The biggest quality gap in refurbished phones is rarely the device. It is the information. Buyers are told “like new” with no definition, no list of tests, and no clear return period. That is why every phone we sell goes through our TrueGrade 25-point functional inspection and is graded separately for cosmetic condition, with the grade disclosed up front. Our return window is 90 days, which we believe is longer than most sellers offer.

We welcome the direction of the laws. Wider access to parts and documentation makes proper repair easier and gives refurbished devices a longer life. We would also like to see parts pairing restrictions go further, since a phone that shows a warning for a genuine working part is a phone that is harder to resell and more likely to be thrown away.

Our advice to buyers is practical: pick a seller that tells you exactly what was checked, read the return terms before you buy, and keep your phone going as long as it serves you.

— Saad

Shop verified refurbished devices

If the right to repair conversation has you thinking about keeping devices in use longer, a refurbished phone is the most direct way to act on it. At Device Giant, every phone is put through our TrueGrade 25-point inspection, graded for cosmetic condition, and backed by a 90-day return policy. You can browse refurbished iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones, Android phones, tablets and smartwatches on the Device Giant store.

Devicegiant

If you repair phones, we also carry AS-IS phones for repair and parts, and wholesale and bulk lots for repair shops and resellers.

FAQ

Is there a federal right to repair law for smartphones?

No. There is no federal right-to-repair law at this time, and earlier federal attempts have failed. The Fair Repair Act (S. 3821) was introduced in the Senate on February 10, 2026, and would cover digital electronics if it passes. Until then, your rights depend on state law.

Which states have right to repair laws covering phones?

As of July 2026, the consumer electronics states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Each has its own scope, effective date and price threshold. Check your state’s text or attorney general’s page for the details on your model.

Can I legally repair my own phone?

Generally yes. The Copyright Office’s DMCA exemptions cover repair of consumer electronics, and in states with electronics laws, manufacturers must make parts, tools and documentation available. That does not guarantee that every part is easy to get or that your warranty stays intact, so read your warranty terms before opening a device.

Do right to repair laws cover old phones?

Often not. Minnesota’s law applies to electronics made or sold on or after July 1, 2021, and Oregon covers phones first sold in the state after that same date. California’s duty periods run for 3 or 7 years from a model’s last manufacturing date, depending on price.

Do right to repair laws help refurbished phone buyers?

Indirectly, yes. Better access to parts and diagnostics makes it easier to restore used phones, which can widen supply and extend device life. The FTC has made the same point about refurbishing older laptops.