You’re staring at a black screen on your new #Samsung Galaxy S7 (#GalaxyS7), wondering what to do because it turn on when you press the #Power key and it won’t respond no matter what. It’s new and it was working fine yesterday, left it lying on the table overnight with enough battery but in the morning, the screen is just black. What could have happened?
A few days after the Galaxy S7 was released, there were already owners that complained about their devices that won’t turn on. In fact, we already received a few complaints about this problem and so we publish this troubleshooting guide to address this very specific issue encountered by our readers. Read on to learn more about this problem and how to fix it.
Problem
“Hi! I have the new Samsung Galaxy S7, it’s still 5 days old and it has been working since day 1 without issues until today. The screen is black and it looks like it has turned off. I tried to turn it on but it won’t. Tried charging it but it won’t respond either. I know I can go to the store where I bought it and have it replaced but it’s a 40-mile drive, so I want to try a few things first before heading out. What would you suggest I do to try to fix this problem? Thanks.”
Symptoms and Possible Causes
Aside from the obvious black and unresponsive screen, there are other symptoms you may encounter when your new phone has this problem:
- LED indicator is lit up but the screen is black and unresponsive
- Screen is black, LED indicator is not lit and phone won’t turn on if Power button is pressed
- You can hear the notification sounds but the screen is black
- Device just turn off on its own and refused to power back up
This issue is common to all smartphones. In fact, we did receive hundreds of issues from our readers who encountered this problem using previous Galaxy models and among the most common causes are the following:
- Battery completely drained that it takes a few minutes before the phone responds to the charger when plugged in
- The Android system crashed leaving the phone unresponsive when the power key is press or if the charger is plugged in
- Some downloaded apps keep crashing that also caused the system crash
- The power key got stuck or damaged after the phone fell on a hard surface
How To Troubleshoot Samsung Galaxy S7 Wont Turn On
More often than not, won’t turn on issues are caused by system crashes. When it happens, the device won’t respond when you press the Power key and it won’t charge if you plug it in. It’s because the firmware plays a big role in starting up the hardware as well as charging the battery. So, here’s what you need to do in case this problem occurs…
First step: Force restart your Galaxy S7
By pressing and holding the Volume down and Power keys together for 10 seconds, your phone will perform the simulated battery disconnect. It’s just like when you pull the battery out of your phone to reset it.
This procedure is hardwired so it should work as long as it’s done correctly. Again, just press and hold the Volume Down and Power keys together for 10 seconds to do this.
Moreover, the Forced Reboot procedure will refresh the phone’s memory so whatever firmware and/or hardware glitch that occurred would be fixed immediately.
What if the forced reboot procedure failed?
Second step: Plug in your Galaxy S7 to charge
Maybe the reason why your phone turned off and won’t turn back on is because the battery got drained. It might also be the reason why the Forced Reboot procedure failed. So, it’s time you plugged the charger in and leave the device for, at least, 5 minutes before attempting to turn it on.
After 5 minutes of charging, try turning on your phone and if that won’t work, try the first step again.
Third step: See if the Galaxy S7 can boot in Recovery Mode
Now, this procedure will tell us whether it’s just a firmware issue or a serious hardware problem. In recovery mode, the Android GUI won’t be loaded during boot up but all the essential components will be powered up. So, if the phone boots up in recovery mode, it means the problem is with the firmware, probably. Otherwise, it’s a hardware problem.
- Press and then hold the Home and Volume Up keys, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
- When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
If the phone can successfully boot up in recovery mode, proceed with wiping the cache partition using the Volume keys and the Power button to select the option and then try to boot up normally. However, if the recovery mode procedure failed, proceed to the last step.
What if the phone refused to boot up normally after the recovery mode?
Fourth step: Try booting the Galaxy S7 in safe mode
There’s a chance the problem was caused by a third-party app that may have crashed considering there are still apps in the Play Store that have compatibility issues with Android M (Marshmallow). In this case, you need to boot your phone safe mode just to see if it can and to rule out the possibility of the hardware problem once and for all.
- Press and hold the Power key.
- As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
- Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
- You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.
If your phone successfully booted up in safe mode, try to uninstall suspected apps. Or, you can proceed with Factory reset through Settings or Master reset by booting up your phone in recovery mode again. Either way, the problem will be fixed. However, if the safe mode boot up was unsuccessful, then the last option is the last step.
Last step: Have the technician troubleshoot the problem or have the phone replaced
At this point, you did everything you could to try to fix the problem without compromising the phone’s safety and voiding the warranty. It’s time you went to the store where you bought it and let the technician check it for you. If the problem can’t be fixed by the tech, you will receive a replacement unit.