Are you experiencing the Note 9 screen flickering issue? Screen flickering issues can be a sign of a hardware issue but sometimes it’s not really that serious. There are times when apps may cause the screen to flicker and firmware issues may also cause the same symptoms. There are Samsung Galaxy Note 9 owners who have been complaining about the screen flickering issue on their devices so we have to address this problem.
In this post, I will guide you in troubleshooting your Note 9 that has a screen flickering issue. We will try to consider every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can determine what the issue really is and hopefully fix it. So, if you’re one of the owners of this great phone and are currently having the screen flickering issue, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or the other.
Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our Galaxy Note 9 Help Guides page to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds.
Troubleshooting Galaxy Note 9 with screen flickering issue
What you need to do with this problem is to rule out all possibilities that may suggest that the screen flickering issue with your phone is just due to software issues either by apps or the firmware. At the end of this troubleshooting guide, if the issue continues to bug you, then it’s safe to assume that the problem is with the hardware. And that’s the time you have to bring the phone back to the store or local shop to get it checked by a technician. But before that, here are the things you need to do:
Note 9 Screen Flickering Fix 1: Make sure it’s not just due to a minor firmware glitch
You must begin troubleshooting your phone by doing the forced restart. This simulated battery removal will tell you right off the bat if the issue is just due to a minor firmware problem because if it is, then the screen flickering issue will disappear once the phone has finished the reboot. Here’s how to do it:
- Press and hold the Volume Down button and don’t release it yet.
- While holding down the volume button, press and hold the Power key as well.
- Keep both keys held down together for 15 seconds or until the Galaxy Note 9 logo shows on the screen.
Once the phone has successfully restarted, try to see if the screen flickering disappeared. If it remained, then move on to the next procedure.
ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 shows the error “Messenger has stopped”
Note 9 Screen Flickering Fix 2: Run your phone in Safe Mode
By running your Note 9 in safe mode, you’re temporarily disabling all third-party applications that may have also contributed to the occurrence of this problem. If the screen flickering doesn’t occur while your phone is in safe mode, then it means that there is a third-party app that’s causing the issue. Here’s how you restart your device in safe mode:
- Press and hold the Power key until options show.
- Tap and hold the Power off option until it changes into Safe Mode.
- Tap the Safe mode icon to restart your device.
- Once the reboot is successful, you should see ‘Safe mode’ at the lower-left corner of the screen.
Assuming that the screen flickering doesn’t occur while your Note 9 is in safe mode, then follow these steps to determine the cause of the issue and eventually fix it.
- Restart your phone normal to boot into standard mode.
- Remember the apps you installed about the time when the phone screen started to flicker.
- Once you already have an app in mind, swipe down from the top of the screen to pull the notification panel down.
- Tap the Settings icon on the upper-right corner.
- Scroll to and then tap Apps.
- Find and tap suspected app.
- Tap Storage.
- Touch Clear data and tap OK to confirm.
- Tap the back key once and then touch Uninstall.
- Confirm that you want to remove the app from your phone.
On the other hand, if the flickering occurs even in safe mode, then it’s time you troubleshoot the firmware.
Note 9 Screen Flickering Fix 3: Reset all settings to fix screen flickering
I personally encountered all sorts of performance and hardware issues in the past simply because I changed some settings on my phone. If you are like me who likes to experiment on some settings, then you must do this procedure before you move to the next one as it could be just due to one setting that you changed:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen to pull the notification panel down.
- Tap the Settings icon on the upper-right corner.
- Scroll to and tap General management.
- Touch Reset.
- Tap Reset settings.
- Tap the Reset settings button.
- If prompted, enter your PIN, Password or Pattern.
- Finally, tap Reset.
If the problem remains after this, then try the next procedure.
Note 9 Screen Flickering Fix 4: Wipe cache partition to fix screen flickering
When the system cache gets corrupted, performance problems may occur including the screen flickering issue. Therefore, it’s best to delete the old cache so that it will be replaced with a new one. Don’t worry, you won’t lose any of your important files and data if you did this.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Galaxy Note 9 logo shows, release all three keys.
- Your Galaxy Note 9 will continue to boot up into the Recovery Mode. Once you see a black screen with blue and yellow texts, proceed to the next step.
- Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
- Press Power key to select.
- Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Note 9 Screen Flickering Fix 5: Backup your files and reset your phone
After deleting the system cache and the screen flickering issue remained, then it’s time you did the master reset. It’s pretty effective in fixing all sorts of problem with the firmware so if this issue occurred without apparent reason, a reset might be all you need to make your phone work normally again. However, make sure to create a backup of your important files and data as they will be deleted. After that, remove your Google account so that you won’t be locked out. Once ready, follow these steps to reset your phone:
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the Galaxy S10+ logo shows, release all three keys.
- Your Galaxy S10 Plus will continue to boot up into the Recovery Mode. Once you see a black screen with blue and yellow texts, proceed to the next step.
- 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’ 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.
If the screen flickering continues after the reset, then it’s time to bring the phone to the local shop or Samsung Experience store so that it will be checked by a technician.
I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with screen flickering issue. We would appreciate it if you helped us spread the word so please share this post if you found it helpful. Thank you so much for reading!
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