How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge that’s heating up or overheating [Troubleshooting Guide]

While it is normal for smartphones to develop heat over time, it is absolutely worrisome if your device, in this case a #Samsung #Galaxy S7 Edge (#S7Edge), heats up too much to the point that it overheats.

#Overheating is one of the worst cases that will happen to your phone due to mishandling and misuse. For instance, if you’re playing a CPU intensive game (and set at a very high resolution) while charging, the phone will probably overheat especially if you use it like that for an hour or so. Fortunately, smartphones have a fail-safe procedure to prevent its hardware to get seriously damaged–they automatically shut down to cool off.

Furthermore, if the phone got dipped in water and the latter found it’s way inside, the device may also overheat due to short-circuit. This case is worse than the first one because depending on how serious the problem is, the phone may still overheat even when powered off. If the short-circuit is somewhere near the battery terminals, there’s a chance the battery may explode or expand, which will cause really serious problems to the hardware not to mention a chance to crack or break the display.

Before we jump into the details of this guide, if you have other concerns with your device, make sure you drop by our S7 Edge troubleshooting page as it contains hundreds of problems we’ve already addressed. Find issues that are similar to yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need further assistance, you can always reach out to us by completing our Android issues questionnaire.

Troubleshooting Galaxy S7 Edge that heats up or overheats

It is imperative you troubleshoot or take time to inspect your phone once you notice that it’s developing too much heat or at the point wherein you feel uncomfortable touching it. Overheating may often be accompanied with random shut downs and screen flickering issues but don’t wait for these symptoms to occur. That said, here are the things you can do if your Galaxy S7 Edge is heating up…

Step 1: Verify the LDI (Liquid Damage Indicator) isn’t tripped

It is very important that before you go to other troubleshooting procedures, you must verify if the cause of the heating up or overheating is liquid damage because if it is, DO NOT continue troubleshooting your device.

I personally saw batteries explode due overcharging, short-circuit and exposure to heat and fire. At this point, we really don’t know what’s the real cause of the development of heat in your device but as part of a safety pre-caution, immediately check the Liquid Damage Indicator if it’s tripped or not.

Remove the SIM and microSD card slot from your phone and look into the port and check the LDI. If it’s white, then it might not be liquid damage but if the sticker appears to be purple, pink or red, there’s a bigger chance that it’s really liquid damage that’s causing the device to heat up. In this case, NEVER attempt to turn on your phone (if it powered off) nor charge it even if the battery level is low. Doing so may cause more problems.

Assuming your phone is suffering from water damage, don’t put the SIM and SD cards back. Instead, place the phone in a bowl of rice in an upright position to let the grains absorb the moist that’s within your phone. After a couple of days, try to turn it on and charge it for a few minutes. If it still heats up or if it doesn’t come back on, it’s time you let the technician check it for you.

MUST READ: Things you need to do if your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge fell in water and won’t turn on after that

Step 2: Boot your S7 Edge in safe mode and observe

You should only try this if you’re 100% sure your phone hasn’t gotten wet or submerged in water. We are now trying to find out if your apps have something to do with the problem. As you know, there are apps or games that use too much resources (CPU and RAM plus display, etc.) and these are the kinds that can cause the phone to heat up.

Booting your phone in safe mode will temporarily disable all third-party apps. This will immediately give you an insight whether it’s the third-party apps that cause the problem or pre-installed ones depending on the result. But please note that booting in safe mode doesn’t fix anything. You’re doing this to observe the performance of your device. Here’s how you boot your Galaxy S7 Edge in safe mode:

1. Press and hold the Power key.
2. As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
3. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
4. You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Once in this state and the phone is still heating up, then the problem might be caused by pre-installed apps or the firmware itself. Otherwise, you just need to find third-party apps that might be causing the issue and try disabling or uninstalling them. You may also try to re-install them to see if that makes a difference. If this is the case, you don’t have to worry so much about your phone as it is fine.

Step 3: Perform the Master Reset to rule out firmware issue

You only have to do this if your phone still heats up while in safe mode, that is, of course, if the device is still powered up with enough battery. The purpose of this procedure is simple; to rule out the possibility that one or some of the pre-installed apps or the firmware itself is causing the problem. As you know, a reset will bring the phone back to its factory settings or state wherein everything works fine.

However, you need to backup every file and data you don’t want to lose as they’ll be deleted during the process and can’t be retrieved if that happens. That’s also the reason why this procedure must come in last.

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key. NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds. NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

This 3-step troubleshooting guide is for units that are heating up but can still boot up or turn on successfully.

Other Overheating Problems

• For units that heat up only when charging, just try to charge them while powered off. If they’re still heating up to the point that it’s uncomfortable holding them, immediately send them in for repair.
• For those that heat up when using or playing games, a reset is necessary to fix the issue especially if the device wasn’t heating up during the first few weeks of using the app.
• Units that got dropped on a hard surface and started to heat up after that, it’s obviously physical damage and you need a technician for that.
• If your phone started to heat up without apparent reason, backup your data and reset it. If the problem persists, consult a technician right away.

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