What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 has a screen flickering issue

Depending on how the flickering started, it could be a minor issue caused by some apps or glitches in the system or it could be a serious hardware problem. If your new Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 got dropped and then this problem started, then it could be the latter but if it started without apparent reason or cause, there still could be something you could do about it.

Continue reading as I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy Tab S4 with a flickering screen. We’ll try to determine if it’s a hardware problem or a software-related issue. Remember that it’s a hardware problem, there’s only so much you can do about it. You better let the technician check it for you. But if it’s just a software problem, then you can fix it on your own.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy Tab S4 with screen flickering issue?

The purpose of this troubleshooting guide is to determine if it’s a hardware or software problem and fix it if it’s the latter. Here’s what you should do regarding this issue…

Reboot your tablet first – before begin, make sure to restart your Tab S4 first because it’s always possible that the problem is just a minor glitch in the system. Some glitches are even caused by apps that are running in the background and doing a reboot will close all of them and thus, fix the issue. If this doesn’t fix the problem, then proceed to the next step.

Run your tablet in safe mode – this is to find out if the cause of the problem are some third-party apps or services. By running your Tab S4 in safe mode, you’re temporarily disabling all third party elements in your device. So if the problem is indeed, caused by one of them, the flickering won’t occur in this mode. If that’s the case, you just need to find the app that’s causing the issue and uninstall it. Here’s how to run your tablet in safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key.
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. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode on the device.

Wipe cache partition – it’s also possible that the cause of the flickering are some corrupt system caches. While these are temporary and small files, they can still cause a lot of trouble if they get corrupted or obsolete and the immediate result would be issues with the performance of the device and that also includes screen flickering and other minor hardware problems. By wiping the cache partition of its contents, you’re not just deleting the cache and replacing it with a new set. Here’s how it’s done…

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 logo screen displays, release all three keys, then press and quickly release the Power key
4. ‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then a ‘No command’ Android will appear before showing the Android system recovery menu options.
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Press Power button to select.
7. When the wipe is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Perform the master reset – this is your last resort and if the problem continues after this, then we can say that the problem is really with the hardware, specifically the screen. But before we can say that, your device should be brought back to its default settings and configuration. There’s a lot more things happening when the device is reset so this is potentially a very effective solution against this kind of problem. However, make sure to make a backup of your important files and data as they will be deleted during the process. Here’s how to reset the Galaxy Tab S4:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Samsung Galaxy logo screen displays, release all of the keys, the press and quickly release the Power key
4. ‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then a ‘No command’ Android will appear before showing the Android system recovery menu options.
5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key 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.

Once the reset is completed, continue your observation to know if your table still has a flickering screen because if so, then it’s time you brought it back to the store or shop so that a technician can check it up for you.

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