What to do if Galaxy Note8 won't fast charge [troubleshooting guide]

At this time, there’s an increasing number of Android users who’s contacting us about fast charging issue on their #GalaxyNote8. This troubleshooting post will answer that so hopefully, you’ll find this material helpful.

Soft reset

All through the years of supporting Android devices, we’ve seen a lot of issues or minor bugs fixed by simply restarting a device. Some errors are usually tied to the current operating system session, which means that they can’t continue to run once Android has been interrupted. This is usually the reason why bugs may sometimes not return after you’ve restarted the device. The cause of your problem may also be due to a minor bug in the OS so if you haven’t tried to soft reset your Note8, now is the right time to do so. To do a soft reset on your Note8:

Press and hold the volume down button and don’t release it.
Then, press and hold the power key while holding down the volume button.
Keep both keys held down for 10 seconds or more.

While we insist that you do a restart on your Note8 right now, it’s really a good idea to regularly restart your device. Make sure that you restart your Note8 once every few days to minimize bugs from developing.

Fast charging feature may stop for a number of reasons. If a soft reset won’t fix your current fast charging issue, make sure to do our suggestions below to address it.

Solution #1: Verify fast charging is enabled

While fast charging is enabled by default, there’s a chance that you may have mistakenly disabled it sometime before you noticed the problem. It’s also possible that a rogue app, for whatever reason, may have affected it so it’s good if you can check fast charging status. To check:

Open Settings app.
Tap Device maintenance.
Tap Battery.
Tap Advanced settings and toggle on Fast cable charging

Solution #2: Use known working charging accessories

Fast charge feature on your Note8 is a proprietary technology developed by Samsung so it may not work properly or at all if the charging accessory you’re using does not meet certain parameters. Ideally, you should only be using the charging cable and adapter that came with your Note8. If you are, then consider using another set of Samsung charging cable and adapter for the Note8 and see if that will fix the problem. We suggest that you do the same if you’re using after market cable and adapter.

If you don’t want to invest in a new Samsung cable and charger right away, borrow a known working set from a friend, or try to fast charge in a Samsung store.

Solution #3: Try turning off the screen when charging

There’s a significant difference in speed when you use your device while charging and when you turn off the screen or the device itself. It’s possible that your Note8 may actually do still fast charging but if you keep on using it while it’s topping up the battery, there may be a lot of apps or services that run at the same that drains the battery so much, slowing charging rate down to a trickle. To check, consider turning off the screen or the phone and see if it still charges faster. If it does, then our hunch is correct. From now on, make sure that you leave the phone or the screen off in order to allow fast charging to work.

Solution #4: Charge in safe mode

If you tend to be adventurous when it comes to apps, there may come a time that you install a bad one/s. Rogue or poorly-coded apps are a reality in today’s Android environment and unless you take extra precaution of minding what apps to add, there’s always a chance that one of your apps is bad. Fortunately for you, there’s an easy way to check.

Safe Mode is a good tool to know if an app or apps is interfering with Android. Basically, it works by blocking third party apps, the ones you added after setting up the device the first time, and only allowing pre-installed apps to work. So, if fast charging works on safe mode but not when you start the device again to normal mode, you can bet one of the apps is to blame.

To start your Note8 to safe mode:

Turn your phone off. To do this, press and hold the Power button and tap Power off.
Press and hold the Power button to restart your phone.
When the Samsung logo appears on screen, release the Power button, then press and hold the Volume down button.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until your phone has finished restarting.
The Safe Mode logo will appear at the bottom left of the screen when this is activated. Make sure that you check for the problem by charging on safe mode.

If our suspicion that a third party app is to blame, you should be able to fast charge normally on safe mode but not on normal mode. If this is the case, you need to identify what the problematic app is by doing these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
If fast charging works on safe mode, uninstall an app you think may be causing the problem.
Restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If the issue returns, repeat steps 1-4.

Solution #5: Install System updates

Some bugs can only be fixed by implementing coding changes to the firmware and nothing else. While we don’t have a tool to know if the reason why fast charging on your Note8 stopped working, there’s really no other valid reasons to skip system updates. Make sure to manually check for updates under Settings > Software update to see if there’s any available update for your Note8 at this time.

Solution #6: Check the charging port for water or liquid

By design, your Note8 won’t charge if it detects water, liquid, or moisture in the charging port. We also know that some Note8 and S8 users in the past did encounter fast charging issues when their device’s charging port was wet. If you recently brought the device near water, consider drying the charging port first.

Water naturally evaporates on its own but if you think the port is wet, you can try to help nature hasten the evaporation process by putting the device near a heat source, like a back of a TV or computer. Try not to expose the phone near a direct heat source though as that might damage the heat-sensitive components in the motherboard. If you are positive that there’s water or liquid in the port, do not use a hair blower or a can of compressed air. Remember, your Note8 is not water proof and the water resistance technology it uses often fails even under normal use. To prevent water damage, try not to create situations where water may be pushed inside.

Solution #7: Reset settings

Fast charging feature may be affected by incorrect software configuration. To ensure that your Note8 has the right settings, you can reset all settings by doing these steps:

Open Settings app.
Tap General management.
Tap Reset.
Tap Reset settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS button.
Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution #8: Reset app preferences

Some Note8 users were able to successfully fix fast charging issue on their device by simply resetting app preferences. This process ensures that all default, yet critical apps and services (and system apps) are not disabled. Some apps or services may disable other apps or services so it’s good if you can reset all of them back to their defaults. Resetting app preferences will have the following effects:

re-enables previously disabled apps and services
resets default apps for actions
turns off background data restrictions for apps
return app permissions to their defaults
unblock app notifications

To reset app preferences on your S9:

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap More settings (three-dot) icon at the upper right.
Tap Reset app preferences.

Solution #9: Factory reset

As the last thing that you can do, factory reset is meant to address any lingering possibility that the issue may be software-related. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s how to do it:

Create a backup of your personal data to avoid losing them.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Contact Samsung support

If not one of the solutions above will not help fix the issue, you can assume there’s a hardware malfunction behind it. It can be a bad charging port, power management IC, or any other unknown hardware issue. To know what that is, you need to let Samsung take the phone in for repair.

What to do if Galaxy Note8 won’t fast charge [troubleshooting guide]