Galaxy S7 showing “SIM card not inserted” and won’t connect to network

There’s a variety of SIM card-related issues that can happen on the #GalaxyS7. Today’s post will address some of them and hopefully, our suggestions will help. Many S7 users have been contacting us for their SIM card problems and related cases so hopefully, you’ll find this article useful.

Problem #1: Galaxy S7 showing “SIM card not inserted”  and won’t connect to network

Hi! I have similar problems with “SIM Card not inserted”. I had a couple of episodes before, but they all resolved on their own (sometimes even without any restarting needed I just need to wait). but this time, no matter how many times I restarted, or do the safe mode/ reboot with cache partition cleared it doesn’t work :(. The problem first occurred when my phone went out of battery. I charged it with a portable charger, then turned it on (normally), then it started showing me the message that there is no SIM card inserted. I was out then and there was no WiFi network when I switched it on. (My phone is usually on power saving mode and only updates softwares when charging, but there was no network when I switched it on, so that’s very unlikely?) When I reached home I tried restarted/ power off my phone many times, but it doesn’t work. Tried manually taking out the SIM as well, it doesn’t work no matter how many times I do it. Didn’t drop my phone or do anything drastic recently either.. I really want to avoid factory reset as from past experience the back up is often patchy and I’m bound to lose data here and there ><. Thus would really appreciate your help! Thanks so much!! — Yiqing

Solution: Hi Yiqing. There’s no complex solution to an issue like yours and factory reset is usually an important troubleshooting step to know if the problem is software in nature. “SIM card not inserted” error can be an indication of one of the following:

  • SIM card is bad
  • SIM card has been deactivated
  • you have an account issue with your carrier
  • your device has encountered a network or software glitch
  • there’s a hardware malfunction that prevents the SIM card from being detected
  • there’s an on-going network issue

If you haven’t yet, try to insert your SIM card to another compatible, known working phone and see if it detects your SIM card (and network). If the same error occurs, that means you have a SIM card or account-related issue. To address the problem, you can either get a new SIM card or contact your operator for support. This way you can verify if there’s any account issue that may be causing the service interruption.

Factory reset may be necessary if there’s no SIM card or account issue at all. To do it, follow these steps:

  1. Back your personal data up.
  2. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
  3. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  5. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  6. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  7. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  8. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  9. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  10. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

If nothing changes after you’ve factory reset the device, that can mean there’s a problem with the hardware. Contact Samsung support so they can repair or replace your device.

Problem #2: Galaxy S7 “The network didn’t respond in time. The SIM card has locked.” error

When I power on my device, after several minutes a window pops up saying “The network didn’t respond in time. The SIM card has locked. Please power cycle the device and if the problem persists contact Customer Service. CANCEL  OK.”

From the time the window pops up I have an icon up top that when I open the notification drawer the icon says “Invalid SIM card.” I have contacted my carrier (I-wireless which uses Sprint’s network, prepaid), Sprint, and Samsung but nobody has been able to help. I don’t pay for wireless data. I can make/receive calls, send/receive SMS & MMS. Is it something to do with not paying for data? Please help if you can. — Kenneth Chevalier

Solution: Hi Kenneth. Did you try anything different before your S7 started having the pop-up? If you did, consider reversing what you did and see if that will help. For example, if you recently rooted your device, try to unroot it and check if there’s an effect. Otherwise, try to reset the network settings. Here’s how:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap General management.
  3. Tap Reset.
  4. Tap Reset network settings.
  5. Tap RESET SETTINGS button.

If nothing changes after resetting network settings, try to deal with the SIM Toolkit app by clearing its data. To do that:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap More settings (three-dot icon) at the upper-right.
  4. Tap Show system apps.
  5. Find the SIM Toolkit app and tap it.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap CLEAR DATA button.
  8. Restart your S9.
  9. Check for the problem.

Problem #3: Galaxy S7 won’t recognize SIM card after an update

Bought the phone new, and phone worked perfectly all day today until the update. Phone stated update success but now wont recognize my SIM card. Sim card is fine, put my sim card in my wife’s S7 and no issues. Can’t really see a hardware issue as the phone worked perfect up till the minute till the update. Already performed a factory reset and now my phone wont activate. Also when trying to recovery boot it says no command. — Greg

Solution: Hi Greg. We don’t know what you mean exactly by “activate” but if you’re referring to a situation wherein you are being asked to enter your Google account username and password, you must deal with that first. Once you’re logged back in, make sure to re-insert the SIM card properly to the device and see what happens. If the problem remains, we suggest that you let your operator know about it so they can check if there’s any network-related bug that’s causing it. Otherwise, you really need to contact Samsung so they can repair or replace the phone for you.

Problem #4: Galaxy S7 has No SIM card error, stuck on Sprint logo screen

I would be interested to know if the listed steps worked for the NO SIM Card Error and the color of the phone. I am having the same problem and when I went to Sprint, their technicians said this is a common issue they are having with the rose gold S7s. Sprint is also not fixing the issue, they can only replace with a black phone. Also, that when they do a reset the phone gets stuck on the Sprint logo and will not go beyond that point. Thanks! — Gloria

Solution: Hi Gloria. We’re not aware of any SIM card-related glitch that’s specific to the rose gold-colored S7 devices. We strongly suggest that you try a factory reset if resetting the network settings won’t work so you can rule out possible software-related glitch. If you’ve already facotry reset your S7 before contacting us, we suggest that you take Sprint’s offer of replacing your device.

 


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