How to fix Samsung Galaxy S8 that doesn’t have notification when receiving a message [Troubleshooting Guide]

By default, your Samsung Galaxy S8 should play the notification sound or ringtone when new messages or calls come in. So, unless you’ve changed the settings, the notification problem might be due to a firmware glitch or issue.

In this post, I will tackle an issue wherein the Galaxy S8 reportedly doesn’t play any notification tone when messages come in. Let’s try to take into consideration that maybe some settings have been changed and then let’s move into other possibilities and rule them out one by one until we can determine what the problem really is.

It is important that we know what the real problem is as well as what caused it because it’s in knowing those things that we’d be able to formulate a solution that might fix it as well as prevent it from happening again in the future. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently bugged by similar problem, continue reading below as this post maybe able to help you.

But before anything else, if you’re currently experiencing different issues with your phone, then I suggest you visit our Samsung Galaxy S8 troubleshooting page for we’ve already started providing support to our readers who own this device. We understand your phone is still brand new and it should work perfectly without a hitch but not even Samsung can guarantee there won’t be any problems. What we do here is provide help to our readers the best we can so if we haven’t published posts about your concern, feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

How to troubleshoot your Galaxy S8 that doesn’t play notification sound

Problem: I can’t receive alerts when I get a message I have checked all the things to make sure they are on and they are. I can’t take out my battery. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8. Please help!

Troubleshooting: In this type of issue, there are a number of possibilities you need to consider why this is happening. As you stated that you tried everything to resolve the issue but the problem still persists, then there is a possibility that the speaker of the device is defective. If so, all you need to do is bring the device to the local shop in your area and let the tech fix it.

On the other hand, if you are using an SMS third-party app on your phone that would be the reason as well that this problem occurs. However, before we can jump to the conclusion we recommend you to perform first the basic troubleshooting procedures on your phone to determine if it is software or hardware problem triggered it.

Step 1: Find out if the app’s notification is disabled

Unlike before, we can now individually disable notifications of every app so if you downloaded or installed a third-party messaging app, try to find out if it’s one of the apps whose notification is disabled:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Notifications.
  3. Toggle All apps on/off at the top.
  4. Alternatively, you can select which apps’ notifications should be turned on/off.

After doing this, send a text message to your own number to know if the phone plays the notification sound, if still no, then move on to the next step.

Step 2: Restart your phone

Sometimes, due to number of apps that runs in the background the firmware could no longer perform properly. So, the purpose of doing this method is to refresh memory of your phone and to close those unused applications in the system. This how to do so:

  1. Press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys together for 7 to 10 seconds.
  2. The device will then reboot.

However, after you restarted the device try to send a text message (SMS) to your own number to see if the issue is already fixed. If not, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Boot your device in Safe mode

If you downloaded some applications on your phone before the issue occurs, there is a possibility that one of them is culprit and triggered the problem. Through safe mode, all third-party apps you installed in the system will be disabled temporarily. So, while in this state and your phone has already a message notification, then obviously a culprit is responsible that the problem is happening. The best thing that you should do is to find that app and uninstall it to prevent the issue from happening again. Here’s how you can boot in safe mode:

  1. Turn your Galaxy S8 off.
  2. Press and hold the Power button.
  3. Once the ‘Samsung Galaxy S8’ logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
  4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
  5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.

In this mode, send a text message to your own number and if the problem persists, move on to the next step, otherwise, find the app that’s causing the problem and uninstall it.

Step 4: Wipe cache partition as some caches may be corrupt

If the problem persists while in safe mode, the best thing that you should do is to delete the system caches of your phone. There are two-types of caches your phone have the apps and system caches, but this time, we have just have to delete the system files stored in the partition of the device. So, if these temporary files had been outdated and the firmware could no longer recognized it, that would be the reason that the device function abnormally. But don’t you worry about the method because your important files won’t be deleted.

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S8.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S8 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.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ 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.

Step 5: Reset your phone for it might be a serious firmware issue

Remember, you can do the reset if all procedures you performed on your phone failed to fix the issue. Through reset your device will be back to its default settings, meaning, all files and data saved in the internal storage will be erased including: third-party apps, photos, videos, contacts and etc. So, before you follow the steps try first to create a backup for all of it. This is how you reset your phone:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S8.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S8 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.
  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.

After the reset observe closely if the issue still occurs on your phone. If so, then a big possibility that a hardware problem is causing it. In this case, the best thing you should do is to bring it to the nearest shop in your area to be checked by the tech. But remember, you will be the one to pay and purchase all the components that your phone is needed in order to fix the problem.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

TheDroidGuy Mailbag

🛠️If you have questions, check our Help section for details on how to submit your questions.💡


Posts You Might Like

2 thoughts on “How to fix Samsung Galaxy S8 that doesn’t have notification when receiving a message [Troubleshooting Guide]”

  1. Thank you, after months of trying to solve this problem I uninstalled apps which did not come with my Samsung s8 plus.

  2. Had probs with notifications on messaging, ended up being an O/S update conflict with unecissary recently downloaded app. your fix solution worked perfectly.. thank you!

Leave a Comment