What to do if Galaxy S9 touchscreen stops working when using Facebook

We’ve been getting some reports lately of a few Galaxy S9 devices freezing on Facebook, or apparently encountering touchscreen problems when using this app. If you happen to experience the same type of problem, find out the troubleshooting steps that you can try to fix it.

Solution 1: Restart the device

Many minor bugs are fixed by simply restarting a device. That’s because these types of bugs are temporary and usually exists only as long as the current system session is active. To get rid of them, you simply have to turn off the phone and start it again.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
  2. From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Solution 2:  Cache partition wipe

Problems may sometimes show up after an update or app installation. This is because sometimes, the system cache being used by the Operating System becomes corrupted following an update. If you encounter bugs or issues, it’s best to wipe the cache partition to ensure that the system cache is in good shape.

To wipe the cache partition on your S9 Plus:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. 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).
  4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
  5. Press Power button to select.
  6. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
  7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Solution 3: Close Facebook app

Because the touchscreen specifically stops working only when running the Facebook app, the first step to deal with the app itself is to close it. Simply tap on the Recent Apps button (the one on the left side of Bixby key), then tap on the X icon of the Facebook app. After that, restart the device and see what happens.

Solution 4: Clear Facebook app cache

At times, app issues are fixed by clearing the cache of the said app. Make sure to do this on your Facebook app. If you haven’t tried clearing an app cache yet, here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Show system apps.
  5. Find and tap your app.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear cache button.
  8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution 5: Delete Facebook app data

Should nothing change after clearing the app’s cache, the next step is to see if reverting it to its defaults will help. Doing so will log you out of your Facebook account as the app itself will be returned to its factory state.

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Show system apps.
  5. Find and tap your app.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear data button.
  8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution 6: Install updates

Another good way to lessen the chances of bugs is by making sure that all apps and the OS updated. By default, your S9 Plus should automatically download and install app updates. If you changed this behavior, be sure to manually check for app updates in the Play Store. Here’s how:

  1. Open Play Store app.
  2. Tap More settings icon at the upper left.
  3. Tap My apps & games.
  4. Hit UPDATE ALL button.
  5. To check for software updates, you can go under Settings > Software update.

Solution 7: Uninstall app

If you noticed that the touchscreen stops working properly when using Facebook only after you installed an app, it should be a good idea to remove that app for now. Once you’ve deleted it, you can then try to observe the phone again and see how the touchscreen works.

Solution 8: Reset app preferences

Resetting app preferences is oftentimes overlooked in many Android troubleshooting articles but when it comes to an issue like yours, it might help a lot. It’s possible that one or some of your default apps may not be set correctly, causing this glitch to occur. Because there’s no way to know if this guess is true, what you need to do is to simply ensure that all default apps are turned on. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps.
  3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
  4. Select Reset app preferences.
  5. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Solution 9: Reset all settings

To check if the cause of the problem is a software misconfiguration, you can reset all settings. Just follow the steps below and see what happens.

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
  3. Tap Reset settings.
  4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
  5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Solution 10: Factory reset

Lastly, you want to perform a drastic possible solution by wiping the phone completely. This will delete all apps and personal data so be sure to back your files up ahead of time.

To factory reset your device:

  1. Create a backup of your data.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. 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).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

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