Why can't I swipe down to access my flashlight and everything else on the panel?

Exactly as I said-I can't swipe down on the screen to use my flashlight or anything from the notification panel! Also my home and back button require multiple taps to work now. Removing the battery and even restarting doesn't work. Just today all this keeps happening.

Removing the battery? How old is your phone? What device is it? This is important as with age devices start losing functionality and it's possible the digitizer or touchscreen has started failing on your device.

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Welcome to Android Central! Which phone? Does it work in Safe Mode?