How to Fix: Fingerprint Scanner Not Working on Samsung

1. How to Fix: Fingerprint Scanner Not Working on Samsung Most Samsung new models are equipped with fingerprint scanner, including: Galaxy A5/A7/A9/A9 Pro Galaxy S5/S6/S7/S7 Edge Galaxy Note 4 /Note 5 It is very convenient for us to unlock Samsung phones with fingerprint. However, thing doesn’t always go well and at some point, the fingerprint scanner just stops working for some reasons. Here we list all situations that Samsung phone is unable to be unlocked by fingerprint and how to fix them. Case 1: Samsung Failed to Recognize My Fingerprint Q: I have a Galaxy Note 5 and use fingerprint to unlock my phone. It had been working fine. But suddenly my phone just couldn’t recognize my fingerprint. What’s worse, I have forgot the backup password. Now I am locked out of the phone. Help! Please!!!!!!! A: Firstly, don’t panic. Secondly, check if your Note 5 is connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data. If it does, you can unlock your phone again with Google account or via findmymobile.samsung.com. Unlock Samsung with Google Account Precaution: To unlock your Note 5 with Google account, you should have google account added to your phone before you have been locked out. After entering the wrong backup password for more than 5 times, you get the option of “Unlock via Google”. Then type your Google email and password, tap “Sign in”. After you log in, the “Lock Screen” will be reset as “Swipe”.

2. Unlock Samsung via Findmymobile.samsung.com Precaution: You should have added Samsung account and turned on “Remote Control” on your Samsung phone to use the unlocking feature on findmymobile.samsung.com. Go to findmymobile.samsung.com and log in with your Samsung account. Then find the “Unlock my screen” option. Click on “Unlock” button and your get the message: the screen is unlocked. Setup screen lock on the device. Your Galaxy phone should be unlocked now. Unlock Samsung by Factory Resetting What if you have switched off network connection or don’t have a Google/Samsung account? You can still get your phone unlocked by resetting the phone to factory settings. Step 1. Put your phone into recovery mode. Turn off the device. Then press and hold the “Volume Up”, “Power” and “Home” buttons at the same time until the Android logo appears. Release “Power” button but continue to hold the other buttons until the following page comes up.

3. Step 2. Tap "wipe data/factory reset" and "wipe cache partition" to erase all the settings and data in the phone. Then, reboot the phone, the screen lock will be removed. Note: Factory resetting will wipe out all your settings and data in the phone. So you’ll lose all data if you don’t have a backup. Case 2: Fingerprint Scanner Stopped Working after Upgrading Q: I used to unlock my phone with fingerprint. However, after I upgraded my Galaxy S6, the fingerprint scanner stopped working. Every time I tried to add a fingerprint or use the scanner, I got the message: Make sure Home button is clean and dry, then try again. What’s going on with my phone? A: Every Android new update may have some small bugs and cause problems in some models. To eliminate the bugs, you should first wipe the cache partition in recovery mode first: Put your phone into the recovery mode Use the volume buttons to scroll down to highlight “Wipe Cache Partition”. Press the Power button to confirm. After that, choose “Reboot System Now” to restart the phone. If the problem persists after that, you may try factory reset the phone under recovery mode. (Factory resetting the phone will delete all data and bring your phone back to factory state. Therefore, backup important data to computer via FonePaw Android Data Recovery before performing a factory reset).

4. If none of the above method works, then you may want to downgrade your Galaxy S6 by flashing a new firmware to your phone. Any more questions about fingerprint scanner not working on Samsung? Leave your question below and we’ll see what we can do.