Galaxy S8 screen stays black after using Power Saving Mode [troubleshooting guide]

This troubleshooting article addresses an issue with some #GalaxyS8 units having black screen problem after turning on Power Saving Mode. While we don’t have an exact count how many S8 devices are affected, we are aware of the problem even with the older Samsung Galaxy models in the past years. Hopefully, those who encounter this trouble will find this article helpful.

How to fix a Galaxy S8 black screen issue after using Power Saving Mode

Some S8 users have experienced getting black screen issue after enabling Power Saving Mode. If you’re one of them, make sure to try our solutions below in this particular order.

Solution #1: Force reboot your S8

Sometimes, an electronic device may encounter an error during boot up that it can’t recover from. In most cases, it’s due to some software bug although at times, bad apps can also lead to it. Ideally, you’re supposed to remove the battery from the system in order to interrupt the boot error that’s happening but since the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus don’t have a removable battery package, all you can do is to perform a soft reset. This procedure simulates the effects of a battery removal from the system and it’s pretty effective in many cases. To do that, just follow these steps:

• Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles.

Note: Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.

• From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot.

Note: Utilize the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Also, allow up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Solution #2: Charge the phone

Some users were able to fix black screen issues by charging. Sometimes, connecting your S8 to the charger may jump start the operating system again causing an error loop to break its cycle. If you have another charging cable and adapter for the S8, we suggest that you use that too to see if there’s any issue with the charging accessories you’re using right now. Keep in mind that we are troubleshooting blindly in this case and anything can be the cause. This simple troubleshooting trick might help reset the system back to its working order.

Solution #3: Restart the phone to safe mode

This troubleshooting step aims to determine two things:

• to see what happens after booting to safe mode
• to see if a third party app is the problem

While you should enable Power Saving Mode when your S8 runs regularly on normal mode, an operating system bug may have caused the system to shut the display out. How this happens is beyond us of course but it can due to a unique factor in your phone. We use Power Saving Mode from time to starting when the Galaxy S3 was released but we haven’t encountered any problem with it. In order to determine if this glitch is triggered only when your S8 runs normally, you can try to boot it up to safe mode to see if there’s any difference.

Of course, safe mode is also a good way to know if a third party app is the reason for the trouble. In case you don’t know, apps can also interfere with Android if they’re not properly coded, making them incompatible. Since there’s no way to know which of your apps may be the culprit, all you can do is load the device to safe mode. If the screen works in this mode but not in normal mode, that means that there may be an operating system bug behind it, or you’ve installed an incompatible third party app.

To boot your phone to safe mode, follow these steps:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
8. Uninstall apps that are causing a problem.

Solution #4: Boot to Recovery and /or Odin Mode

There are two other boot modes that your S8 can run to aside from normal mode and safe mode. If your S8’s screen remains black still even after booting to safe mode, you can try to load it to either Recovery Mode or Download/Odin Mode to see if Android has encountered an error with the display. This, of course, assumes that the screen was not physically damaged which might have caused it to fail permanently. When your S8 is in any of these modes (Recovery or Odin), Android is actually not running so it’s a good way to verify if the screen problem is caused by an unknown Android error or not. In order to boot the device to any of these modes follow the steps below:

How to boot an S8 to Recovery Mode

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).

How to boot an S8 to Download Mode

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold down the Bixby button, Volume Down, then the Power button.
3. Once the phone quickly boots you can let go of all the buttons.

Solution #5: Clear the cache partition | Master reset

If the screen works in Recovery Mode but not in normal mode, that implies that there’s an on-going Android issue on your device. The thing is, you’ll be in no position to know what the real problem is and you have no other choice but to resolve the issue by going back to recovery to perform either a cache partition wipe or factory reset. While cache partition won’t wipe your unsaved data (photos, videos, documents, etc), master reset will. So, you want to do a cache partition wipe first. If that won’t work, then you have to go ahead with master reset.

Keep in mind that these two procedures can only be performed if your S8 display works while it’s on Recovery Mode.

Solution #6: Contact Samsung support

Should the screen of your S8 remain black even when you attempt to bring the system back to Safe Mode or Recovery Mode, then that’s not good news at all. In fact, it only means one thing: there’s hardware malfunction causing it. To fix the issue, you’ll need professional help. If possible, bring the device to a Samsung Service Center so it can checked by a technician there. This is the least that you can do. At most, this will end up with either a repair or replacement.

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