Some Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 users have found that when they enable Safe Mode on the phone, they cannot figure out how to get it back to start up normally. Here’s a tutorial on how to turn Safe Mode on or off.
Get Out of Safe Mode
- Power off the phone as you normally would by pressing and holding the “Power” button.
- Choose “Power off“.
When you’re ready, power the S8 or Note 8 back on. The device should now start normally and no longer be in Safe Mode.
Start in Safe Mode
- Power the phone off.
- Turn the phone back on while pressing and holding the “Volume Down” button.
- Keep holding the “Volume Down” button until the Home screen loads. The lower-left corner should say “Safe Mode“.
FAQ
My device still starts in Safe Mode and I don’t want it to. Why is this happening?
It is possible that your “Volume Down” button is stuck. Ensure your screen and buttons are properly cleaned. Sometimes gunk can get stuck in the buttons and cause them to be detected as “pushed”. Also be sure that your phone case is not coming in contact with any of the buttons.
If you recently installed apps onto your phone, try uninstalling them while in Safe Mode as some apps can cause the phone to get stuck in this state.
Chris says
Changed my mind after commanding it to enter safe mode. Safe mode only got as far as loading before it was restarted. However, settings/configurations have been changed in “normal’ mode as if it is still in safe mode???? (No, the words “SAFE MODE” isn’t shown). Both restarting and boot-menu forced “normal mode’ were attempted to correct this and resume configurations to no avail. Advice, tips?
changed features: wallpaper, AOD, keyboard, navigation bar, phone
interesting thing: AOD settings still shows my choice as current, but is not displayed as such (as in, somehow it actually IS still in safe mode, maybe?)
Binh Thanh Nguyen says
Thanks, you saved my days.
Sarah Puma Honorio says
Great model! But a a little overpriced this days ; even for a rugged! I have seen some AGM models around with a better PPR: now the x1 18k gold edition have been released! … i have such fond memories of this phone, tho … it started my passion for rugged phones :)
Quisha says
How/why did my phone go into safe mode and how do I make sure that never happens again?
Areeb Ahsan says
Hi,
same random gesture feature has been activated by clicking lock button and a Blue Block roaming around on the screen, even I am not able to unlock the screen, Please Suggest what to do because I am new to Samsung s8 Handset.
Thanks in advance
Kate Mathieu says
Thank you for a good solution. This worked great and saved my friend a trip to the cell phone store.