My smartphone is on Safe mode

What is Safe Mode? 

Using Safe Mode on a Samsung phone or tablet allows you to force the device to run the essential operating system, and disable most 3rd party applications. It's designed as a diagnostic tool to help solve issues with connectivity, battery life, and more. You might use Safe Mode to test whether or not a 3rd party application is causing ads to appear on your device, or maybe something is interfering with incoming and outgoing calls. A rogue app can even use up an unusually large amount of mobile data - Safe Mode will restrict mobile data access to 3rd party apps completely. You can still make and recieve phone calls and messages in Safe Mode; other apps are dependant on the specific device.

If your device is in Safe Mode, this could be due to one of the following: 

• The Menu button was touched while the phone was booting up. 
• The phone was not properly switched Off.
  
• The phone has unnecessary yet installed apps.
  

If you want to start your smartphone in Safe Mode, follow these steps:

1. Switch Off your smart phone. Wait for at least 5 seconds (at most 8 seconds).
2. Press and hold the Power key for one to two seconds to turn on the phone again.
   
3. Press and Hold the Power and the Volume Down buttons at the same time, to turn the device on.
   When you see the Samsung logo appear on the screen, you can let go of the Power button while the device boots up. Make sure to keep holding the Volume Down button.
   
4. On the Lock screen, Safe Mode is displayed at the lower-left corner of the screen. 
   

Note:

• Test the device and app functionality with Safe Mode enabled. If the previous issue fails to occur, the cause has been isolated to a third-party app and all recently installed or updated apps should be uninstalled.
• To disable Safe Mode, power cycle the device then reinstall and test each app one at a time to identify which app is causing the problem.
  

When you are done troubleshooting and you want to exit Safe Mode try one of the following: 

(There are 3 different ways to exit Safe Mode - all of them require the device to restart completely)

1. Hold Volume Down and Power for at least 5 seconds to force the device to restart.
   
2. Hold the Power button on the right hand side and select Restart on the screen.
   
3. Swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Notification panel. Select the notification Safe Mode is on and tap Turn Off on the prompt to restart the device.
   

For more information about Safe mode see How to start your device in Safe Mode

You can download the user manual from our Manuals & Downloads page. For all other queries or further technical assistance, please call Samsung Customer Care on 0800 726 786 or Live Chat with our Technical Team online, services are open 24 hours, 7 days.