Samsung Galaxy Note 9 WiFi switch is disabled. Here’s how to fix it.

Some owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 have been complaining because the WiFi toggle switch seems to have been disabled or greyed out for no apparent reason at all. Some said they can no longer connect to any network because the WiFi just won’t be enabled no matter how many times they tapped on the switch. Others however were lucky enough because the WiFi switch stopped responding while they connected to a network. But the thing is they can no longer disable it when they need to. 

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy Note 9 with its WiFi switch that has been disabled or greyed out. We will perform some troubleshooting procedures to rule out each and every possibility until we can determine what the issue is and hopefully fix it. So, if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently being bugged by this problem, continue reading this post as it may be able to help you. 

Before we move on to our troubleshooting, if you happen to find this post while looking for a solution to a different problem, then visit our Galaxy Note 9 Help Guides page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this device. We may have already published articles that could help you fix your problem. Find issues that are similar to yours and feel free to use our solutions.

Troubleshooting Galaxy Note 9 with disabled WiFi switch

We have encountered this problem in the past and I can assure you that it’s just a minor issue with the firmware and you can fix it on your own. With that being said, here are the things you need to do to fix this issue…

First solution: Run phone in Safe Mode and toggle the switch

This was the solution I used with my phone before. I have to run the device in safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party apps and services. Once in safe mode, the toggle switch was enabled and I could turn it on and off without a problem. Since it was greyed in normal mode and my wifi was disabled, I had to enable it in safe mode after switching WiFi on and off 3 times. When I rebooted back to normal mode, the switch has already been enabled. Honestly, I didn’t know the reason why my phone did that but it may also work on your device. So, follow these steps to run your Note 9 in safe mode first:

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the 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. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
  7. While in Safe mode, you can now toggle the WiFi switch on and off a few times.

If you were able to do that in this mode, then it could be the same with case before. Reboot your phone normally and try to check the switch after that. If it’s still enabled, then I guess the problem is solved, although there’s no guarantee if it will occur again in the future. 

However, if the WiFi switch is still greyed out in safe mode, then you have to move on to the next procedure. 

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 WiFi connection keeps dropping. Here’s the fix.

Second solution: Reset Network Settings

Since we’re dealing with a network related issue, it’s best to reset the network settings of your phone as it might be due to some corrupt services that are still being used by the system. By doing this, you’re bringing all the network configurations back to factory defaults and that might just fix the problem. Here’s how it’s done…

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > General Management > Reset > Reset network 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.

Once it’s done, only the mobile data is enabled so try to see if you can now enable WiFi. If still not, then try the next solution.

Third solution: Wipe Cache Partition

It is also possible that the system cache got corrupted or became obsolete after the update. Such things happen more often than you think so it’s important that you try this procedure just to be thorough with our troubleshooting here’s how it’s done:

  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 Android logo displays, release all three keys.
  4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
  5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
  6. Press Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

After this and the switch is still disabled, then move on to the next solution. 

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 WiFi connection keeps dropping. Here’s the fix.

Fourth solution: Backup files and reset your phone

After wiping off the contents of the cache partition and the WiFi switch is still not enabled, then you should just reset your phone. It’s the most effective solution to this problem but I’m always hesitant to suggest it without exhausting all possible solutions because you might lose some important files and data. At this point though, you have no other choice, so make sure to create a backup of your important files. After the backup, follow these steps to reset your phone:

  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 Galaxy Note 9 logo shows, release all three keys.
  4. 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. 
  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’ 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.

I hope that we’ve been able to help you fix your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 with disabled or greyed out WiFi switch. 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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