How to fix a Galaxy Tab S4 if it is unresponsive or won’t turn on

Smartphones sometimes freezes or becomes unresponsive. Not all software bugs can be anticipated by developers to any electronic device can encounter a hiccup. In this post, we bring you solutions and troubleshooting steps that you can do when a Galaxy Tab S4 has become unresponsive, or worse, won’t turn on at all.

Problem: Galaxy Tab S4 is unresponsive and won’t turn on

Just purchased a new Galaxy Tab S4. I fully charged it yesterday. Today, I turned it on for the very first time. After spending about 10 minutes doing the initial setup (logging into Google and activating the devices security features), I was in the process of downloading apps from the Play Store when the screen, conversely the entire device, just turned off. Pressing the power button does nothing. The battery had been at 97% prior to it turning off. I’ve tried the pressing and holding down of the Power Button and the Volume Down Button for 45 secs. I tried that 3 separate times to no avail. I then tried the holding down of the Volume Down butting first THEN pressing and holding down the Power Button for 45 secs . I’ve tired this 3 times to no avail. Nothing works and I’ve had the device less than 2 days.

Solution: If it’s a brandnew device, the system may have frozen if while it’s updating downloading or updating apps, or when it’s trying to install a software update. This can sometimes occur if a user tries to interfere with the system when it’s trying to configure or set up something. If that’s not the reason for the problem, other factors like bad app, software glitch, or even hardware malfunction can come into play. To troubleshoot it, follow our suggestions below.

Forced reboot

This is the first troubleshooting step that should be done in this situation. Forced reboot is useful in cases wherein a device is frozen and unresponsive. To do it, just press and hold the Power button and the Volume button down simultaneously for more than 7 seconds to restart it.

Charge using a computer

If your Galaxy Tab S4 is still unresponsive after simulating a “battery pull” or forced reboot, the next good thing to do is to connect it to a computer via USB cable to simulate slow charging. Some users found this simple step effective in bringing their Samsung tablets back to life in the past. Make sure that you are using a known working USB cable when doing it. Leave the phone charged through your computer for at least 30 minutes before you attempt to power it back on.

Boot to Safe Mode

If your phone is not totally dead and you are able to power it down, you can also check if rebooting it to safe mode will help. Safe Mode is a separate software environment and is useful for checking third party app issues.

To boot your Galaxy Tab S4 to safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key.
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. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode on the device.

While running on safe mode, no downloaded apps will run. If your Tab S4 successfully boots to safe mode, one of the apps must be the culprit. Use the method of elimination to identify which one is problematic. This is what you must do:

1. Boot to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
5. If your Galaxy Tab S4 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Master reset

If you can, try fixing the problem by booting the device to Recovery Mode so you can wipe it with a master reset. This is a drastic solution that often works if the reason for a problem is a software bug. Make sure to create a backup of your data before wiping the phone.

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo screen displays, release all of the keys, the press and quickly release the Power key
4. ‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then a ‘No command’ Android will appear before showing the Android system recovery menu options.
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Repair

Not all Android issues can be fixed by an end user. If you are unable to boot the device to Recovery Mode, or if nothing changes after doing all the suggestions above, you can assume that the problem might be on the hardware side. To know what specific component may have failed is impossible unless a full hardware diagnostics can be done on the device. In your situation, the best people that can help is Samsung. Be sure to contact them so they can set up repair or replacement appointment for you.

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