How to fix Galaxy Note10 flickering screen issue | screen has lines or damage

Over the years, phone screens have become tougher and more reliable but still, a lot of Android problems are screen-related. In this troubleshooting article, we provide the solutions that a Galaxy Note10 owner can do if he or she encounters flickering screen issue. This problem, although not that common in this phone model, occurs a lot in older Samsung Galaxy models. In case you encounter it on your Note10, you may find this post handy.

How to fix Galaxy Note10 flickering screen issue | screen has lines or damage

If you have flickering screen issue on your Galaxy Note10 and you have no idea why it’s happening, then this article might help. Learn what to do about the problem and see what solutions you can try.

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #1: Adjust brightness level

In older Samsung Galaxy models, a few cases of flickering screen problems were caused by a bug with Auto Brightness feature. Samsung has addressed this issue already and so far, we haven’t seen the feature causing screen flickering issue on the Galaxy S10 and Note10. Still, you want to check if there’s an isolated bug in your device by manually adjusting the brightness level of the screen. First, disable Auto Brightness feature, then adjust screen brightness manually as you go along on your day. If the screen stops flickering after that, make sure to update the software and apps. 

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #2: Check for physical damage

If your screen is cracked or sustained damage, bad hardware might be to blame. Although the screen of the Galaxy Note10 is tough, it’s still basically relatively easy to crack if enough force hit it head on, or if you drop it at a certain angle. Even if there’s no visible crack or damage after a drop, it’s still possible that internally, something may be broken. If your Galaxy Note10 screen started flickering after a drop, you should consider having the device checked by Samsung.

If you think that you are dealing with a cracked screen, try to refer to this post to know what to do:

How to fix Galaxy Note10 cracked screen | solutions to cracked or damaged screen

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #3: Perform soft reset

Sometimes, a flickering screen issue is temporary and can be caused by a minor bug. To address possible minor bug problem, make sure to restart your device. There are three methods to restart your phone. 

Method 1

This is the normal way of restarting a working Galaxy Note10. Be sure to try this one first before attempting the two other methods below. To normally restart your unresponsive Galaxy Note10:

1. Press and hold the Power button.
2. Once the Power menu launches, select Restart.
3. Tap Restart to confirm.

Method 2

The other way to unfreeze an unresponsive Galaxy Note10 is to do a certain hardware button combination. Unlike the Galaxy S10 series, your Note10 has no dedicated Bixby button so there’s a different way to perform soft reset. Below are the steps to turn off your Note10 using hardware buttons:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down and Bixby/Power buttons for about 10 seconds.
2. Once the Power menu shows up, release both Volume Down and Bixby/Power buttons.
3. Tap Power off.
4. This simulates the effect of having disconnected the battery from the device. If this works, this should unfreeze the device.

Method 3

This third method is basically the same as the second method. The only difference is that there’s a delay in pressing the Bixby/Power button. Here’s how it goes:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down button first and don’t release it.
2. While holding it down, press and hold the Bixby/Power key.
3. Keep both buttons held down for 10 seconds or more. 
4. Once the Power menu shows up, release both Volume Down and Bixby/Power buttons.
5. Tap Power off.

IMPORTANT TIP: Rebooting your device regularly at least once every week can be beneficial. If you tend to forget things, we suggest that you configure your phone to reboot on its own. You can schedule it to do this task by doing these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Device Care.
3. Tap the 3-dot at the top.
4. Select Auto restart.
5. Enable Auto restart by moving the slider to the right.
6. Select your schedule when Auto restart happens.

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #4: Wipe cache partition

If the screen started flickering after updating or installing an app, the cause may be due to a bad or corrupted system cache. This is a set of files that Android uses in order to load apps quickly. Sometimes, this cache may become corrupted and can cause problems. To fix possible cache problem, consider wiping the cache partition. Doing so will erase the current cache. Don’t worry, Android will rebuild this cache overtime and clearing it won’t result to any personal data loss.

These are the steps to clear a cache partition:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby / Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release both keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. The Recovery screen menu will now appear. When you see this, release the buttons.
5. Use the Volume Down button until you are highlighting ‘Wipe cache partition.’
6. Press the Power button to select ‘Wipe cache partition.’
7. Use Volume Down to highlight Yes.
8. Press the Power button to confirm the action to clear the cache.
9. Wait for a second as the system wipes the cache.
10. Press the Power button again to reboot the device. This will return the device to the normal interface.
11. That’s it!

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #5: Check for bad third party app

If the problem after installing a new app on Galaxy Note10, delete the new app and see what happens. You can also run the device on Safe Mode to check this. When on safe mode, all third party apps are prevented from running so if the app works on safe mode only, you can bet an app is to blame. If the screen works normally on safe mode and won’t flicker, a bad app is most probably to blame. 

To restart your Samsung Galaxy Note10 to safe mode:

1. Press and hold the Power button until the Power off menu appears then release.
2. Touch and hold Power off until the Safe mode prompt appears then release.
3. To confirm, tap Safe mode.
4. The process may take up to 30 seconds to complete.
5. Upon reboot, “Safe mode” should appear in the lower-left of the home screen.
6. Check for the problem.
7. If the issue goes away on safe mode, turn safe mode off by pulling down the notification shade from the top and tapping on the notification. This should allow you to check if the issue returns. If it does, you’ll need to identify the bad app.

Safe Mode may be a useful trick in checking for a problem but it won’t pinpoint the problem app. In order to identify which of your apps may be behind the problem, you’ll have to do a process of elimination. Here’s what you need to do exactly:

1. Boot Galaxy Note10 to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. If the issue returns or once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps one by one. You’ll need to do spend some time doing this if you have plenty of apps installed. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added. 
4. It’s important that you only uninstall a single app at a time. After removing an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem again.
5. If your Galaxy Note10 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4 until the rogue app has been identified.

Keep in mind that there’s no shortcut to knowing which app is bad or buggy. Just be patient and keep repeating the cycle above if the problem returns after removing one app. Once the issue stops, the most recent app you deleted must be the culprit. Be sure not to re-install the bad app. You can add the rest of the apps you deleted previously afterwards.

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #6: Install updates

Some Android problems are due to poor coding. Although we don’t hear any flickering screen problem due to firmware glitch, it’s not a bad idea to keep Android and apps up-to-date. If you’re lucky and your unique case is due to an unknown software or app glitch, installing updates may help.

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #7: Factory reset

In some cases, screen problems are caused by a bad software. If you are positive that there’s no hardware problem on your phone, or if you never dropped the device at all, a likely reason for the problem might be a software bug. To fix it, you need to factory reset the device. 

Below are the two ways to factory reset your Note10:

Method 1: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy Note10 via Settings Menu

This is the easiest way to wipe your Galaxy Note10. all you have to do is to go under Settings menu and follow the steps below. We recommend this method if you have no trouble going under Settings.

1. Create a backup of your personal data and remove your Google account.
2. Open Settings app.
3. Scroll to and tap General management.
4. Tap Reset.
5. Select Factory data reset from the given options.
6. Read the information then tap Reset to continue.
7. Tap Delete All to confirm action.

Method 2: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy Note10 using hardware buttons

If your case is that the phone is not booting up, or it boots but Settings menu is inaccessible, this method can be helpful. First, you need to boot the device to Recovery Mode. Once you successfully access Recovery, that’s the time that you begin proper master reset procedure. It may take some tries for you before you can access Recovery so be patient and simply try again.

1. If possible, create a backup of your personal data ahead of time. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
2. Also, you want to make sure that you remove your Google account. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
3. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
4. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby / Power key.
5. When the green Android logo displays, release both keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
6. The Recovery screen menu will now appear. When you see this, release the buttons.
7. Use the Volume Down button until you are highlighting ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
8. Press the Power button to select ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
9. Use Volume Down to highlight Yes.
10. Press the Power button to confirm the action to clear your phone data.

Galaxy Note10 flickering screen fix #8: Call Samsung 

If none of the solutions above has helped, or if there’s an obvious sign that the screen is damaged, you must get help from Samsung. Try to visit your local Samsung store or Service Center for assistance regarding the matter.

 

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