Our Samsung Galaxy Note 3 troubleshooter series is one of our longest running series on our site. Since we receive hundreds of emails each week from our readers, you will see more posts like this. Majority of the problems we receive are minor and many are simply asking about a glitch or two they’ve encountered with their devices. In this post, at least, ten problems were addressed and few questions answered.
If you have concerns about your device, feel free to contact us via [email protected] and make sure you include all necessary details. This is a FREE service and we enjoy doing this so please do your part and describe your problem clearly so that we can assess them properly. Screenshots are always welcome because they provide details you may fail to mention. And to our readers who prefer to use social media to reach out to us, don’t hesitate to post your concerns on our Facebook wall and Google+ page.
For you problems, since we already published 40 parts of this series, I suggest you visit our Galaxy Note 3 Troubleshooting page as we’ve indexed all issues that we already published. Try the solutions and troubleshooting procedures you can find and if they don’t work for you, tell us about them. Now, click on the link below to jump to a specific problem:
- Facebook, Other Apps Force Close On Galaxy Note 3
- Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4.4 KitKat Question
- Making Galaxy Note 3 To Connect To 3G Network
- Galaxy Note 3 Has Multiple Identical Contacts
- Galaxy Note 3 Not Registering On Vodafone Network
- Galaxy Note 3 Voice Recorder Problem, Soft Reset Question
- Galaxy Note 3 Won’t Boot Up Completely
- Galaxy Note 3 Android 5.0 Lollipop Update Question
- Galaxy Note 3 Can’t Get Out Of Safe Mode
- Galaxy Note 3 Screen Moving On Its Own
- Galaxy Note 3 WiFi and IP Issues
Facebook, Other Apps Force Close On Galaxy Note 3
Problem: Hello. My name is Aimee and I have the galaxy note 3 and have been having some major issues. My sister gave me this email address to send you a note about my issues. I’ve gone to the att store and we thought the problem was fixed but it still hasn’t been resolved. My Facebook app won’t download and gives and error code then it did re download and then it would open and just close out. This is happening with several of my apps also so I did the same thing and now they seem to be fine. I cannot use the youtube app either. I had to disable it because it kept having a pop up saying “you tube is not responding” and it would also close out. I love my phone but am at my wits end of knowing what to do. I have saved all of my contacts to my sim card and I do have an sd card to save photos to. My last resort would be to do a factory reset and start over but I wanted to check with someone first before I do that. I hope you can help me! Thank you! — Aimee
Troubleshooting: Hi Aimee. We’re glad you reached out to us regarding your problem. I’m wondering, with all these app-related problems, does the phone still work as responsive and fast as it was before? More often, the phone slows down when there are applications that crash. And more often, this problem is caused by firmware glitches that may have resulted from corrupt data due to recent updates.
Thanks for providing the names of apps you’re having problems with as well as the steps you did to make sure your data are safe just in case. What’s lacking is your observation about the phone’s performance or the device’s behavior in general prior to the problem. You also didn’t mention if the phone was recently updated so I really can’t pinpoint what’s the cause of the problem and how to fix it. Needless to say, it is logical to just go ahead and reset the phone to its factory defaults. I understand it’s a general troubleshooting procedure but there’s no other options left for you to do. If there was only one app that’s crashing, we could say it’s just an app issue but as you said, there are many apps that won’t respond. So, yes, go ahead with factory reset.
Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4.4 KitKat Question
Question: Hello android guy my problem is not the after math of the kitkat 4.4.4 update its I can’t get my phone to update to 4.4.4 kitkat. I’m use at&t & I’ve seen people on line that have the update already. I heard that it could be because of the area I live in which is the Leigh Vally not to far from philly & New York. I just don’t know if its my phone or they just haven’t done my area yet. As far as I know there’s no nothing wrong with my phone. It’s just I heard of the rollout a while ago & still nothing ? Do you have any suggestions anything would be helpful thanks. — Brian
Answer: In the U.S. updates are rolled out in batches so that wireless services will not be affected by the surge in data usage. So, it is more likely that your device is not among the phones to receive updates just yet. But you know what? There are two ways you can check for updates; either you manually search for it in your phone’s Settings menu or you can use Samsung KIES to pull down updates from your provider’s servers.
If you’ve already done those procedures and you can’t find an update for your phone, I suggest you call your provider and inquire about it. They can answer your questions better.
Making Galaxy Note 3 To Connect To 3G Network
Problem: Hi! It’s been several months since I’ve got my note 3 and I observed something with the mobile data. In our classroom, I’ve got classmates with different brands of smartphones like lenovo, i-phone, other models of samsung, nokia and other brands. Everytime we had a research to finish, I observed that my note 3 is the only phone that can’t connect in 3G rather I’ve always got an EDGE data while everyone got 3G data on their phones. I’ve done several possible solutions already like:
- Reboot (Turn it off then remove the battery and turn it on again)
- Changing the SIM CARD (LTE capable)
- Having enough load for the data
- Tried to look over the settings of mobile data and followed the instructions on the internet like checking the flight mode, network mode and network operator.
Can you give other possible solutions please! Thank you!
Potential Solution: Maybe your phone was set to connect to EDGE. Have you tried checking what network your phone is set to connect? Well, follow these steps:
- Pull download the Notification Panel down.
- Choose Settings.
- Touch Connections tab, then More networks.
- Touch Mobile networks, then choose Network mode.
- Choose LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect) but if it’s already selected, choose WCDMA only.
After doing this and the phone is still getting EDGE, call your service provider as they can answer your questions better because it is apparently a network thing.
Galaxy Note 3 Has Multiple Identical Contacts
Problem: Good afternoon, I want to know why I keep getting multiple info in my contacts for example: I open up a contact and it has 5 home phone numbers the same and 5 mobile phone numbers all the same and when you go to edit it shows it shows that you have 1 google contact and 5 devices and they don’t necessarily have all the same info in each device. How do I stop getting these duplications? Thank you, Connie.
Solution: Hi Connie. Yes, things like that could happen but don’t worry, Google already foreseen it. The best way to resolve this issue is to merge those information into one contact. Just follow these steps:
- Launch the Contacts app.
- Touch Contacts tab.
- Choose the contact you want to merge.
- Tap the Menu key and choose Join contact.
- Press the contact(s) you want merged with the one you selected a while ago.
That’s it!
Galaxy Note 3 Not Registering On Vodafone Network
Question: Dear sir, I am living in India and I am facing strange problem using note 3 which I bought from China. My Indian Vodafone SIM card is working in Hong Kong when I am in Roaming but when I come back to India the same card is not registering in the Vodafone network.
I return the phone with complain to the shop also but after sending this to the Samsung and getting it back it is giving the same problem. What could be the reason for this? Please let me know how to rectify the error as Samsung India is not supporting it. Regards, Amit.
Answer: Amit, let’s be realistic here. The problem you’re currently experiencing is apparently a network issue. When you send your phone to Samsung for repair, it will undergo thorough inspections and tests and once the technicians find out it doesn’t have any problem with its hardware and firmware, they won’t open it. Instead, they will send it back to the owner with all warranty stickers intact. Whatever problem you had, they will still be there because Samsung can’t fix something if there’s nothing to fix.
I believe Vodafone reps explained to you what the problem is. But based on your description, it is clear that the problem has something to do with the network it’s trying to connect to.
Galaxy Note 3 Voice Recorder Problem, Soft Reset Question
Problem: Hi dear, this is a fabulous website I’ve ever seen till now. Thanks to all of you. I’m new user of Samsung Galaxy Note 3 but not new in Android. I have two questions about my Galaxy and “boot the device” which you explain in your website;
- When I want to use built-in application “sound Recorder”, I got this message “another application is recording now”. I dive in it, to find which application is running, finally I found “kid Record voice” is working, after force close that, I expected it work probably, but the same message again pop up. When I restart the device, it comes to work. But after a while, when I want to use it again the same problem, comes up. I cannot disable the kid mode because my little girl is playing with it. (if you please, tell me how many apps should be disabled if I want to disable the kid mode, there are lots of apps belong to kid mode). I try some other application like voice recorder, all work perfect with No Error! But I love the quality of built-in sound recorder. Please tell me, is there any solution for this problem.
- I read almost the whole of your Solutions, for several solution you instruct to “boot the device” as below; while the phone is ON remove the battery and “hold power button” for… sometimes 1 minute, sometimes 3 minutes, and sometimes more than 3 minutes! My question is, what’s the difference between these times. What happens if I hold the power button for less than or longer than this times?
☆People like you, are the meaning of kindness☆
P.S.: English is not my default language, sorry for errors! — Keivan
Suggestion & Answer: Keivan, I’m a little confused here. You said that you don’t want to disable Kids Mode because your kid is playing with your Note 3 but you’re asking me how to disable it? Well, Kids Mode in select Note 3 models (not all Note 3 have Kids Mode) are the same as with the one used in Galaxy S5–it’s just an app and not necessary an extension of its firmware. Needless to say, you can just go to Application Manager, choose Kids Mode and force stop it from there. Or, you can get into it and tap Exit.
You mentioned about the error “another application is recording now” and things you did to get rid of it. The error message doesn’t necessary mean other voice recorders are running. What it means is that other applications are using the microphone and there are a lot of apps that use the mic–Google Voice, camera (video recording), Voice Search, etc. When this error pops up, just press and hold the Home key and swipe left or right the app that you think is using the microphone. That should do it.
Now about your question on the difference between length of time the power button should be pressed and held without battery, well, there’s no difference. The purpose of that procedure is to drain electricity stored in capacitors and 1 minute is more than enough to do so. Nothing special will happen if you hold the power button for 3 minutes.
Galaxy Note 3 Won’t Boot Up Completely
Problem: Hi I have a Galaxy note 3 and as soon as i turn on the phone and the “Galaxy Note 3” screen appears it automatically reboots. It never goes pass that screen and just starts rebooting. I already tired to hold down the up volume home key and power and “recovery booting…..” appears in the left corner but then it restarts again. Never leaving that screen. I cant call the phone company because my water damage sticker is red but this happened a long time ago and my phone was working just fine until now. any suggestions would be great. Thanks, Zoraida.
Suggestion: Based on this behavior, it seems like the Power button is stuck that’s why the phone is in boot loop. The first thing to do is check the Power button. Try to press it to see if it snaps like it used to. If not, then it might be stuck but the worse thing is, it could also be damaged.
But the thing is, we don’t really know what caused the boot loop. If it just happened without apparent reason, there’s a chance it’s a temporary hardware glitch. You can address it by pulling the battery out and holding the power key for a minute to “soft reset” the phone. Don’t worry, your data will not be touched.
In case the problem started after an update or installation of apps, boot the phone in safe mode and find problematic apps. If you can’t boot up successfully, have the tech re-flash the firmware.
Now about the Liquid Damage Indicator (LDI) turning red, there’s nothing we can do about that. Actually that small sticker is one of the basis of Samsung whether to grant your warranty or not. If it turned red and the company said no to warranty, you can’t do anything about because it shows the phone had water damage in the past.
Galaxy Note 3 Android 5.0 Lollipop Update Question
Question: Hello! I recently read your blogs they are really interesting. I’m using note 3 which is bought on 2013 October. I just wanna know whether I can upgrade it to the latest lollipop OS or not? I’m now going on with 4.4.2 kitkat. Please inform me will it possible for Note 3? If not I need a reason. Thank you! — Surya
Answer: There’s no official word from Samsung yet but based on the specs of the Galaxy Note 3, it can run Android 5.0 Lollipop with ease for sure. Rumors have it that even Galaxy S4 will be getting 5.0 so it’s safe to assume Note 3 will also be updated to Lollipop.
Galaxy Note 3 Can’t Get Out Of Safe Mode
Problem: Help! I can’t seem to disable Safe Mode. Power off, battery out doesn’t seem to work! Haven’t downloaded any new apps of late. Thanks in advance. — Nicole
Solution: Hi Nicole! It could have been helpful if you included the reason why the phone booted in safe mode or at least, your observation of its performance before this issue happened. You know, the most effective way to fix this is to wipe the cache partition by booting in recovery mode. Here’s how…
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
- When ‘GALAXY Note 3′ appears on the screen, let go of the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
- When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
- Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
- Press the Power key to select and wipe the cache.
- With ‘reboot system now’ highlighted, press the Power key to restart the device.
Galaxy Note 3 Screen Moving On Its Own
Problem: Hi. I’m Samsung Note 3 user. I having the problems are screen automatic swipe and keyboard automatic typing. The screen keep moving and i have to restart my phone. I have been sent to Samsung service centre to reinstall the software and reformat but still the same. — Jacklyn
Troubleshooting: The fact that the re-flashing (reinstallation) of the firmware didn’t fix the problem is evident that it is a hardware issue. I’ve seen a lot of problems like this in the past wherein the phone seems to operate on its own and more often, the digitizer is to blame. The digitizer is the glass on top of the display panel; it makes touchscreen possible. It’s better you have the phone checked physically this time. Any tech could understand if you told them everything was done on the firmware but the problem still persists.
Galaxy Note 3 WiFi and IP Issues
Problem: Hello. I’ve got a note 3 sm-n9005 and lately I’ve noticed that my device has a problem with wifi connection. Often when I turn on the wifi it just won’t connect to the router. It seems the problem is the IP. I found a solution though, every time I have to turn off and on the router but it’s annoying me. Are there any other solutions? Thanks.
Suggestion: I’m not sure what you meant by “the problem is the IP” but if you were referring to duplicate IP address error or if there’s a conflict assigning an IP address to your device, then it’s apparently an issue with your router. Forgetting your network from device and letting it detect it once again fixes this problem.
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