S6 Won’t Turn On

Hello Android fans and welcome to our new #GalaxyS6 troubleshooting post for today. We cover 12 more S6-related issues in this article so hopefully you’ll find it a good read.

If you are looking for solutions to your own #Android issue, you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page.

When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

Below are specific topics we’re bringing for you today:

Problem 1: Galaxy S6 edge won’t accept calls, calls gets directed to voicemail, soft keys are not working, screen keeps flickering after accidental drop

Whenever I get a call on my Samsung S6 edge, it goes straight to voicemail without the phone ever ringing. When I put my SIM card into another phone, I receive calls without any trouble.

Secondly the soft keys are not working. They randomly started working a couple of weeks back and then they stopped which is very frustrating.

Lastly I dropped my phone 2 days ago, nothing appears broken but the display light keeps flickering. Looking forward to hearing from you.        — Ruth

Solution: Hi Ruth. First of all, unnecessary shock following an accidental drop can lead to problems. In some devices, problems can manifest right away, while in others, issues can take some time to develop. If the flickering screen problem started to occur only after the phone was physically impacted, you should seriously consider sending the phone in. it’s the only way to identify if the problems you’re experiencing right now are due to bad hardware or not.

Secondly, your voicemail issue is most likely caused by your voice calling set up such as forwarding or call blocking. Contact your carrier so they can walk you through the steps on how to check these things.

Thirdly, soft keys seldom get damaged. In most cases, soft keys issue or loss of sensitivity in the soft keys area is due to bad hardware. To check if it works normally, you have to access the service menu. Kindly follow the steps below:

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Dial *#0*#.
3. Tap Sub key.
4. Touch the soft keys and see if they respond to your touch normally. If they won’t readily respond as expected, that’s a confirmation that the keys are damaged.

Remember, there is no amount of software troubleshooting and solutions that you can do to fix hardware malfunction. You should contact Samsung or your carrier for repair or replacement.

Problem 2: Water damaged Galaxy S6 won’t charge and overheats

My phone fell in water about 5 days ago. I put it in white rice and maybe 2 days in the 5, it started to work. I kept it in the rice and 3-4 days in it seemed to start charging. We took the card out to let it dry out more, and put it back when it was working fine. Now about 2 days later from the 5, and it loses charge real quick. It went from 80 to 20 without me using it in about a 1 or 2 hr span. Last night i put it on the charger, and i woke up to it being 91% thinking it stop charging to that. So i power it down and see if it will charge better off AND IT WAS AT 27%. now im here. Hope you can help. Its a galaxy s6. Also, the top left on thr back gets really hot compared to the rest of the back which is fine.        — Taylor

Solution: Hi Taylor. A Galaxy S6 is not water resistant like its successors, the S7 and S8 so exposing it to water can seriously lead to trouble. Yes, you did put it in a bag of rice but unfortunately that’s not enough. Apparently, your phone is showing symptoms of malfunctioning hardware so the best course of action is repair. A technician needs to do a thorough check of the hardware, and if needed, to try the inside of the device properly. Even a tiny presence of moisture in the motherboard can lead to long term issues, especially if corrosion sets in.

If possible, let a Samsung technician handle the repair. If that’s out of the question, you can tap a qualified technician to do the job. A water damaged electronics almost always lead to problems at a later date so if you’ll encounter more erratic behavior, you should simply replace the phone. You can’t just do a factory reset and hope that a wet device fixes itself. For example, if some components in the motherboard has already been shorted, or has started to corrode, a cost effective solution by a good technician is to find a similar component from a dead motherboard and replace the damaged one with a cannibalized part. This is not the norm though so if your phone has multiple components in the motherboard that are failing at this time, it would be more practical to simply replace the board entirely.

Again, we are only speculating here. It’s best that a technician can physically check the condition of the inside parts for a more accurate assessment. We are 100% positive though one or more components are not working at this time.

Problem 3: Galaxy S6 stuck in Samsung logo screen

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 and it has a new update. It worked for the past few days and last night it turned itself off and since then it’s been stuck on the logo screen, the green downloading screen. My phone now won’t charge, won’t do anything. it’s not working at all. I have tried everything the Internet says with the holding the power button, the volume down button, and the home key but nothing is working and it’s not doing anything. — Jayay

Solution: Hi Jayay. The first step that you want to do in the troubleshooting ladder of this case is to see if you can reset the phone. Sometimes, an Android glitch can cause the phone to freeze or stop responding and doing a simple reboot can fix it. To do a soft reboot, follow these steps:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and hold the Volume down and the Power buttons together for 10 to 15 seconds.
3. Wait and see if the phone reboots normally.

If your device remains stuck in logo page, you then want to check if you can restart it to alternate modes — Recovery Mode, Download Mode, and Safe Mode. Both Recovery Mode and Download Mode runs independent of the operating system so if the issue is on Android level only, your phone should be able to boot to either Recovery or Odin mode.

Below are the steps that you must do:

Boot in Recovery mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. You can either wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset when in this mode.

Boot in Download Mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume DOWN keys, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume DOWN keys.
4. Wait until the Download screen appears.
5. If you can boot the phone in download mode but not in other modes, that means that your only way out may be to flash a stock or custom firmware.
6. Use Google to look for a guide on how to do it.

Boot in safe mode:

1. Charge the phone for at least 30 minutes.
2. Press and hold the Power button.
3. Once the Samsung Galaxy logo appears, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the button until the phone finishes rebooting.
5. Once you see the text “Safe mode” at the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.
6. The only difference of safe mode from normal mode is that the former prevents third party apps from running. If you can boot the phone in safe mode but not in normal mode, uninstall all apps until the issue (that prevents you from booting normally) is eliminated.

If your phone won’t boot to any of these modes at all, you should send it in.

Problem 4: A portion of Galaxy S6 edge screen stops working

I have a Samsung S6 edge running Nougat. The ZXCVBNM row of my keyboard stopped working suddenly. I did certain things but of no help, which are:

• uninstalled certain third party apps

• Booted phone in safe mode

• Hard reset. Factory reset. When I did this, and while I was going through initial set up, my keyboard including the row mentioned above was working fine. But only after 5 or 10 mins it again stooped responding. Only that particular row.

• I ran diagnosis by dialing *#0*#. When I touch my finger in the area of that particular row it does not respond. But when I touch gradually it gets filled by color. Please please please help. — Uvwz9z

Solution: Hi Uvwz9z. The fourth item that you did says it all — that part of the screen is defective. It’s most likely a bad LCD but there’s also a chance that the digitizer above the LCD portion is also malfunctioning, which is why it doesn’t register your touches at all. Please contact Samsung and let them repair or replace the screen.

Problem 5: Wet Galaxy S6 won’t charge or turn on

I was playing some music and washing at the same time and the phone drop in the water and shut off right away. And fron that time till now it was not turning on till i put it in the sun for about 30min. Then i try to turn it on again and it turn on for just a split second and show Samsung Galaxy S6 and then turn off. Now it’s just the blue light. i see screen is still black. — Cyberkstudios4

Solution: Hi Cyberkstudios4. You clearly have a water damaged hardware. In an ideal situation, you are supposed to do the following:

1. open the phone up
2. remove the battery
3. dismantle the motherboard and all removable components
4. clean the parts with appropriate type of alcohol
5. wipe the components dry
6. put all cleaned components in a bag of rice for a few days
7. assemble everything back and test the device.

All these steps (in this order) constitute the “first aid” procedure. They are not the cure. An important thing to note is the second step– battery removal. In older Galaxy phones, battery removal is a no-brainer. We know it’s not so in a Galaxy S6 so leaving the battery inside a wet motherboard must have already shorted some components at this time.

The said steps are meant to prevent further damage on the hardware. If you’ll encounter problems even after doing all the steps above, that’s the time that you need to let a professional take a look at the device. Since your phone is apparently out of order at this time, don’t waste your time waiting for a software miracle. There’s nothing that you can do (software-wise) to fix your S6. have it repaired, or better still replaced. Period.

Problem 6: Galaxy S6 screen stays off, S6 won’t power on

Hey there. My Galaxy S6 decided Sunday night that it was going to turn itself off. While that’s not abnormal for me (its restarted itself several times), this time it never came back on and wouldn’t respond to the power button. I plugged it up and it was fine. Today it did the same thing but has yet to return to normal. None of the tips on your page of elicited any results and even plugging it in gives me the lightning bolt charge screen but nothing else. The indicator light that is normally blinking when charging is not active and when I unplug it, whole thing goes off again. I imagine i’ll have to take it into a shop, but id really rather not. Thanks much! — Ajani

Solution: Hi Ajani. We don’t know the full history of your device to be of any help (apart from having provided you some tips before contacting us) here but you can try to use a known working charging and USB cable first. If that won’t work, you can also try to use a wireless charger. Both of them are meant to check if the issue lies on the charger or cable you’re using. If that’s not the case, then the issue must be phone-related.

If you can’t boot it to other modes (Recovery Mode, Odin Mode, and Safe Mode), you’re out of luck. You must go ahead with your plan to bring it to a shop.

Problem 7: Galaxy S6 screen stays black

My Samsung S6 edge. I was reading an article and the screen just went out. But my phone is still on. It sense my touch and i hear it when i get phone calls and messages but the screen is completely black. I try to restart it by pushing all the buttons down or by the lock and volume down button and still no luck. I hear it when it restarts but the screen is still black. P.S. I’m not sure what version the phone is it so i put a random option since its required.  — Erica

Solution: Hi Erica. A black screen issue like the one you’re having can be caused by a number of things but if the phone appears on, it may be a hardware malfunction. Try to see if you’ll be able to restart the phone to alternate modes so you can do follow up troubleshooting. Otherwise, just send it in.

Problem 8: Galaxy S6 active stopped charging

I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 active that will not charge. I had it plugged in all night and when I plugged it in it was at 25% and when I woke up this morning it was at 10%. I know it is not the charger because it works on other Samsungs that we have. The phone also does not charge with the fast charging cords, not sure why. Do I need a new battery and can you even replace Samsung Galaxy S6 active batteries? Please help, I really don’t want to buy a new phone. Thank you! — Lisa

Solution: Hi Lisa. Yes, there’s a chance that bad battery may be the main reason why your phone is now charging erratically or not at all. And no, we don’t recommend that you replace the battery yourself. Sure you can follow video tutorials from Youtube (we strongly suggest that you watch some of them) on how to do it but most of the time, inexperienced users will often cause more problems after doing DIY (do-it-yourself) repairs than fix the main issue. The main reason for that is the fact that these video tutorials are usually there to provide the concrete steps on how to fix a problem, but not on how to identify it (diagnosis). If you haven’t tried opening a Galaxy S6 or any electronics before, you’re not in a hurry to do it now. Let a professional check the phone’s hardware if you suspect that the battery might be going bad, or if there’s another hardware issue at hand.

Another possible cause for the issue can be a bad power management IC. Knowing if it’s working or not is the domain of a trained professional so if you’re not confident that you can do repairs, don’t risk it.

Problem 9: Galaxy S6 callers can’t hear sound during calls

Callers cannot hear me but I can hear them. When i call my provider there is no issue at all. The call is normal and clear. They say it’s an issue with my microphone. But obviously not because they can hear me just fine. There has been a recent ice storm in the area but the tech people said that would not be related. This confuses me. How can they hear me but nobody else. — Tina

Solution: Hi Tina. We don’t think it’s your phone’s microphone at all and to confirm that, you can try to record yourself first. To do that, just open the Voice Recorder app  (usually included under Samsung folder) and tape yourself for at least 30 seconds. Once you’ve done that, listen to the recording and see if your voice is fading out or not. If the sound is normal, you must do further troubleshooting.

Now, the next thing that you want to do is ask yourself if this problem occurs only with one caller, or with multiple callers. If it only happens with one contact, the problem must lie on your contact’s end. You must tell him or her to troubleshoot the device or the network.

However, if the problem occurs with all callers, the next good thing that you want to do here is to ensure that the Phone app you’re using is working fine. You can do that by wiping its cache, then its data. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings menu either through your notification shade (drop-down) or through the Settings app in your app drawer.
2. Navigate down to “Apps”. This may be renamed to something like Applications or Application Manager in OEM skinned versions of Android 6 or 7.
3. Once in there, find the Phone app and tap it.
4. You’ll now see a list of stuff that gives you information about the app, including Storage, Permissions, Memory Use, and more. These are all clickable items. You’ll want to click on Storage.
5. You should now clearly see the Clear Cache and Clear Data buttons for the application.

If the problem continues after wiping the cache and data of the phone app, try using another app like Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts when answering calls. You can switch the default calling app by doing the following:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap the More option on the upper-right hand side (three-dotted line).
4. Tap Default apps.
5. Tap Calling app.
6. If you have the alternate calling app installed, you should see it in the list. Simply tap your desired alternate calling app.
7. Replicate the issue by answering calls.

If the problem persists even after doing all the steps above, do a factory reset. Here’s how:

1. Create a backup of your important files such as photos, videos, contacts etc. You can use Smart Switch for this task.
2. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
3. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
4. When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
5. Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
6. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
7. Press the Vol Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
8. After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.

Problem 10: Red band showing in Galaxy S6 screen, S6 screen ghosting issue

I have recently noticed a pale red band, most clearly seen with a pale background. it runs horizontally whether the phone is held in portrait or landscape position. It doesn’t move with a zoom. The phone has been dropped of course, a few times but none very traumatically! I don’t link the noticing the band to ahh drop. Everything else seems fine. The images appear fine, with no line or band visible on other computers. Is there anything worth checking out, or do I live with it? — Philip        

Solution: Hi Philip. Any screen discoloration, visible running lines, or the like in your screen is usually caused by a bad screen. The red band you’re seeing is what we call “ghosting,” wherein the screen displays something that not part of an app or picture. Since you’ve confirmed that said red band is not present in your photos, that’s a confirmation that you have damaged screen. The drop before may have caused it, or you may have put too much pressure on the screen unknowingly. If you’re not bothered by the said red band, then just let it be. However, if you want to get to the bottom of the problem, we suggest that you have the screen repaired.

Problem 11: PC won’t detect Galaxy S6 via Smart Switch

Subject: PC with Windows 10 doesn’t recognize Samsung Galaxy S6.

Hey, I’m using the original cable but i’m still having trouble with transferring my photos to my PC. When i plug the usb in, it makes noises and the phone doesn’t show up. I have the Smart Switch app installed but it doesn’t help because it disconnects all the time (when it does recognize it for few seconds). What can i do in order to transfer my photos and music from my cellphone to my PC?        — Yael

Solution: Hi Yael. To check if the problem lies on the computer or phone, kindly connect your S6 to another computer that has Smart Switch installed in it. If the issue continues, then your phone is problematic. In that case, you might want to use the wireless capability of Smart Switch app to your advantage. Make sure that you have a  laptop so that you can use Smart Switch wirelessly. Make sure that both Smart Switch apps (in your computer and S6) are running the latest versions.

Basically, you want to use wireless instead of USB cable in moving your files. There are a lot of Youtube videos that can give you an idea how this is done so try to do some digging up.

Problem 12: Galaxy S6 submerged in water for 15 minutes won’t turn on

Hi. My phone got sucked into an ice cooler for about 15 min or so. once I saw it I took it out and tried removing the battery but unfortunately, it was impossible. so I placed it very close to a blowing AC/heater unit for about 10 hours. I checked on it tried turning it on but no luck nor any sign.. Heard people swear by saying to place it in rice for about 3 days might bringing it back. At the moment I have it in rice for about 4 hours.. Please help me bring my phone back! — Maria

Solution: Hi Maria. 15 minutes is way too much for a non-water resistant phone to be left submerged in water. Leaving it in a bag of rice for a year won’t make any difference. The phone is probably permanently damaged at this time. If you want to know if that’s the case, or if you think there’s still hope in this one, have it checked by a professional.

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