What to do if Galaxy S8 screen is not working, or showing different colors [discoloration]

Screens of Samsung Galaxy devices are generally durable and can take a beating even after years of usage. The same is true for the most recent #GalaxyS8. Unless the phone is physically impacted or exposed to water or elements, an S8’s screen should be one of the last components to go bad. This post shows otherwise though. One member of our community reports that his S8 screen is now showing discoloration. If you also happen to experience the same or similar issue, continue reading.

Problem: Galaxy S8 screen has two different tones of colors, discoloration

I have a Galaxy S8. Recently I noticed that the screen have two different tones of color. Is hard to see on black and colorful backgrounds but in white backgrounds os easily spottable. 3/4 of the screen look on a white pinkish tone and the other is normal. Also they look like an after image (idk how to explain it), you can see squares and lines (like YouTube menu). Is annoying. Sorry for my English and thanks. — Jonathan

How to fix Galaxy S8 with a screen that is not working, screen discoloration issue

In a lot of cases similar to the one mentioned here, screen discoloration is the result of hardware damage. Since you did not mention dropping your phone or damaging it before the issue started to surface, the likely reason may be software in nature. To fix the problem, follow the solutions below.

Solution #1: Restart

Any electronic device can benefit from regular restarts so even if you’re not having problems, you should not forget to restart your device. Now that you have a problem, it’s also just as important. Restarting a smartphone clears its memory and refreshes the system in general. If your screen issue is due to an unknown software bug, restarting your S8 may easily shake it off.

To restart your S8, just press and hold the Power button for 2-4 seconds, then select Restart from the options.

If your S8 happens to freeze or got stuck, you can force reboot it by pressing and holding the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds. Once the phone power cycles, you can then select Normal Boot under the Maintenance Boot screen to complete the restart process.

Solution #2: Reverse what you did

We don’t know the history of your device so there’s no way we can tell exactly what’s causing the problem. If your S8 screen started showing the problem after doing something, like installing an app, or tweaking the official software by rooting/flashing, then you should consider undoing the most recent action. If such action directly caused the screen to malfunction, undoing it may be an easy fix.

Solution #3: Restart to safe mode

Poorly coded apps can sometimes interfere with Android and most of the time, users won’t usually know if an app is bad or not during installation. If you install plenty of apps without filtering them properly, we suggest that you restart your S8 to safe mode to find out. Safe mode blocks third party apps, that is, those that did come pre-loaded with the device when you first unbox it. If the screen starts working normally when booting your S8 to safe mode, then you know a third party app is to blame.

To restart your S8 to safe mode, follow these steps:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
  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. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
  8. Uninstall apps that are causing a problem.

Don’t forget, safe mode won’t pinpoint the exact app with a problem. If you think one of the apps is buggy, you need to use the process of elimination to identify it. What you can do is to uninstall apps one by one, making sure to check for the problem after every removal. This process can take a long time if you have hundreds of apps installed but there’s no other way. If the problem coincidentally occured right after installing a new app, start by removing that app first, then observe how your phone screen works afterwards.

Solution #4: Install updates

If nothing changes even when the device is in safe mode, the next good thing to try is to install updates. Both apps and Android need updates from time to time so be sure to install updates for both to see if that will fix the problem. Remember, updates not only bring improvements and changes but also patches for known bugs.

Solution #5: Perform Factory Reset

Factory Reset is a drastic solution in this case so be sure that you won’t lose important files before doing it. Factory reset will wipe the phone and reinstall the operating system. All data (like photos, videos, music,) and customizations, etc will be erased so be sure to back them up. Once you’ve done that, factory reset your S8 by doing these steps:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  3. Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts.
  4. Tap Backup and restore.
  5. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  6. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  7. Tap the back button to the Settings menu and tap General Management > Reset > Factory data reset.
  8. Tap Reset device.
  9. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your credentials.
  10. Tap Continue.
  11. Tap Delete all.

Solution #6: Contact Samsung

If the screen remains problematic up to this point and after performing a factory reset, you can assume bad hardware is to blame. The screen may have a manufacturing defect, or it may have simply malfunctioned for some unknown reasons. Try to avoid bringing the phone to a non-Samsung service center. As much as possible, let a Samsung technician do the hardware diagnostics. Keep in mind that opening the phone on your own or letting a third party technician do it can permanently void the warranty. If you or that technician won’t be able to fix the problem and you decide to finally gets Samsung’s help, they will refuse to fix your phone, even if you’ll pay them for it.

 


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