How to Resolve Galaxy S23 Always On Display Not Working

ByGrace Posted on Updated on

If your Galaxy S23’s Always On Display has stopped showing the clock, notifications, or anything at all, the cause is almost always one of four things: an energy-saving mode is suppressing it, the AOD schedule is set to “Tap to show,” a recent One UI update has reset the display mode, or Samsung’s proximity sensor thinks the phone is covered. This guide walks through the exact One UI 6.1 and One UI 7 settings paths, the less-obvious toggles that disable AOD without telling you, and the community-sourced fixes that resolve it for the small percentage of cases where a standard reset isn’t enough — in order from most to least common.

Quick context: as of 2026, the Galaxy S23 series (S23, S23+, S23 Ultra) runs One UI 7 on Android 15. Samsung has quietly changed the AOD default behavior across several One UI releases, most significantly in One UI 6 (which introduced “Tap to show”) and One UI 7 (which added new power optimization rules that can pause AOD overnight). If AOD broke right after a software update, start with Method 2. If it broke after the phone sat flat on a table or face-down on a nightstand, start with Method 6.

Method 1: Confirm Always On Display is actually enabled

This sounds obvious, but it is the single most common cause reported on Samsung’s community forums. A One UI update, a profile migration from a previous phone, or a Good Lock theme change can silently flip AOD off.

  1. Open Settings on your Galaxy S23.
  2. Tap Lock screen and AOD (on older One UI builds this is labeled Lock screen).
  3. Scroll down to Always On Display and confirm the top toggle is on.
  4. Tap into the AOD menu and check the When to show setting. The four options are Tap to show for 10 seconds, Show always, Show as scheduled, and Show for new notifications.
  5. If the device is on Tap to show, AOD will appear blank until you double-tap the screen. Switch to Show always if you want the default behavior users expect.

If AOD was already on and set correctly, lock the phone and wait about 10 seconds before it kicks in — there is a built-in delay that catches many users off guard.

Method 2: Turn off power-saving modes that suppress AOD

Samsung’s power profiles automatically disable AOD to save battery, and this is where most silent failures originate. Three separate settings can suppress it, and you may have enabled one without realizing it disables AOD as a side effect.

  1. Go to Settings → Battery and check whether Power saving is on. When it is, a gray “Power saving is on” banner shows at the top.
  2. If Power saving is on, tap into it and toggle Always On Display back on in the sub-menu (Samsung turns it off by default as part of the profile).
  3. Back in Battery settings, tap Background usage limits and confirm AOD-related system services are not listed under Deep sleeping apps.
  4. Go to Settings → Device care → Auto optimization and turn off Close apps to save battery if you rely on AOD overnight — this feature has been reported to kill the system UI process that drives AOD on One UI 6.1 and 7.
  5. If you use Adaptive battery (Settings → Battery → More battery settings), leave it on but expect that AOD brightness may dim after several hours idle. This is intentional behavior, not a bug.

Method 3: Reset the AOD clock style and try a different mode

One UI’s “Show for new notifications” and “Show as scheduled” modes have recurring bugs tied to specific clock styles. Reddit’s r/GalaxyS23 and Samsung Members have multiple threads where users fixed a black AOD by simply switching to a different clock face and back.

  1. Go to Settings → Lock screen and AOD → Always On Display → Clock style.
  2. Tap any other clock style, then return to the clock style you want.
  3. If AOD still fails to show, try switching When to show to Show always temporarily — this bypasses the scheduler and notification-watcher code paths, which is where most One UI 7 AOD bugs live.
  4. While you’re here, disable Show music information. The media panel has a known bug where a misbehaving third-party music app (Spotify, Samsung Music, YouTube Music) can block the AOD from rendering.

Method 4: Reinstall One UI’s System UI components via Safe Mode

If AOD still won’t appear, a third-party app is interfering. Lock screen customizers (KLCK, Good Lock modules, Nova Launcher companion apps) and battery managers are the usual suspects.

  1. Press and hold the Power button until the power menu appears.
  2. Press and hold the Power off option until “Safe Mode” appears, then tap it.
  3. The S23 will restart into Safe Mode (you’ll see “Safe Mode” watermarked in the bottom-left corner).
  4. Lock the phone and wait. If AOD now works, a third-party app is the culprit — reboot normally, then uninstall recently added apps one at a time, testing AOD after each removal.
  5. Pay special attention to Good Lock → LockStar, Nova Launcher’s “Ambient Display” integration, and any battery-saver apps like Greenify or Ice Box that aggressively freeze system processes.

Method 5: Update One UI and clear the System UI cache

Samsung has pushed multiple patches for AOD issues across 2024 and 2025. The April 2024 security patch fixed the “AOD blank after reboot” bug on the S23, and the October 2025 One UI 7 patch fixed a proximity-sensor false-positive that killed AOD face-down on charging pads.

  1. Go to Settings → Software update → Download and install and pull to refresh. Install anything pending.
  2. Once updated, clear the System UI cache: Settings → Apps → (tap the three-dot menu in the top-right) → Show system apps → System UI → Storage → Clear cache.
  3. Do not tap Clear data — that will reset your lock screen wallpaper, AOD style, and notification icons to defaults.
  4. Reboot the phone after clearing the cache.

Method 6: Rule out a proximity sensor false-positive

The Galaxy S23 disables AOD automatically when the proximity sensor above the front camera thinks something is covering the screen. A thick case, a screen protector with an opaque strip, or a stuck sensor can trigger this.

  1. Remove any case and screen protector, then test AOD on a clean desk facing up.
  2. If AOD works uncovered but not in the case, the case is cutting into the proximity sensor window. Samsung’s official S23 cases are cut for this; many aftermarket ones are not.
  3. Dial *#0*# from the phone keypad to open the Samsung diagnostics menu, then tap Sensor. The proximity reading should read “0” or “Close” when you cover the top of the screen and “5” or “Far” when uncovered. A stuck reading points to a dirty or damaged sensor.
  4. Gently clean the top of the screen above the selfie camera with a dry microfiber cloth. Dust and pocket lint are a shockingly common cause.
  5. If the diagnostic sensor reading is stuck regardless of what you do, the proximity sensor needs service — skip to the Warranty section below.

Recommended case options that don’t block the S23 proximity sensor:

Note: Amazon links should be spot-checked before publishing in case listings are out of stock or replaced with newer SKUs.

Method 7: Force restart and factory reset (last resorts)

If none of the above has worked, the phone is in a bad software state. A force restart clears a stuck System UI process without losing data.

  1. Press and hold Volume Down + Power for about 10 seconds until the screen goes black and the Samsung logo appears.
  2. Let the phone boot, then test AOD.

If the force restart doesn’t fix it, back up your data and factory reset as a last resort:

  1. Settings → General management → Reset → Factory data reset.
  2. Read the warnings — this erases all data. Back up to Samsung Cloud, Smart Switch, or Google Drive first.
  3. After the reset, skip Smart Switch during setup and test AOD on a clean system before restoring your data. If AOD works on the clean install but breaks after a restore, a migrated app or setting is the cause.

When it’s a hardware problem

If AOD still fails after a factory reset with no restore, or if the *#0*# sensor diagnostic shows a stuck proximity reading, the issue is hardware. The most common causes are:

  • Damaged display ribbon cable (usually after a drop or water exposure)
  • Failed proximity/ambient light sensor module
  • Partial OLED burn-in that renders the AOD pixels darker than the rest of the panel
  • Battery so degraded that One UI’s protection logic is suppressing AOD to preserve runtime (check Settings → Battery and device care → Battery → Battery information for capacity estimate)

For warranty service, contact Samsung directly. Phones still inside their one-year warranty are covered for manufacturing defects. Out-of-warranty repairs run roughly $99–$139 for a display ribbon replacement and $59 for a sensor module, depending on region.

Samsung Support contact:

  • US: 1-800-SAMSUNG (1-800-726-7864)
  • UK: 0330 726 7864
  • Online: samsung.com/us/support

Samsung Care+ subscribers should start the repair claim in the Samsung Members app for faster turnaround. If you bought the phone through a carrier, the carrier may offer a simpler exchange within the first 30 days — check that before going to Samsung.

A note on the S23’s AOD hardware design

The Galaxy S23 uses an LTPO OLED panel that can drop its refresh rate to 1Hz for the Always On Display — that’s the same panel generation as the S22 Ultra, so the battery draw is minimal (typically under 1% per hour). If you’re seeing AOD cause a visible battery drop of more than 2% per hour, that’s a sign the phone is redrawing the screen at a higher refresh rate than it should, and either a pending software update or a full cache wipe in recovery mode usually resolves it.

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