Update: Android Nougat update for Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will prevent you from powering the phone before you unlock the phone. You can bypass this restriction by power off Galaxy S7 and S7 edge without unlocking the phone.
Who doesn’t know how to turn on or turn off Galaxy S7?
When you get a new phone, the first thing you will do is probably power it on (i.e. turn on).
Galaxy S7 (or Galaxy S7 edge) is not an exception. In most regions, Samsung does not offer 1-to-1 exchange. You have to check the phone before leaving the counter; otherwise, any problems will probably be handled through service centers.
Any kids can turn on Galaxy S7 or turn off Galaxy S7 because the power button is there.
But if Galaxy S7 does not respond to holding power button, or any buttons in Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, what can you do?
Remember, the battery in Galaxy S7 (and S7 edge) is non-removable for users. You cannot pull out the battery and insert it again.
This guide will try to show you how to turn on Galaxy S7 and turn off Galaxy S7 in all situations, including when the phone does not respond to any buttons.
When Samsung first changed design slimmed down TouchWiz for Galaxy S6 (and Galaxy S6), there are some reports that the phone is not responsive for no reason. You may read comments in this page to get a better idea on the issue in Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.
Through incremental improvements in Galaxy Note 5, the reported cases of non-responsive Galaxy S7 have significantly decreased.
But occasionally, some Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners still encountered the similar issue: Galaxy S7 is not responsive to touch screen gestures and pressing of any buttons.
The issue can be caused by some apps you installed. But most of the time, it is caused by bugs in firmware bugs or TouchWiz.
Anyway, finding out the cause of the problem is out of the scope of this post.
When Galaxy S7 is not responsive to any touchscreen gesture or any buttons (i.e, Galaxy S7 hangs), the first thing you can try is to hold power button for more than 7 seconds. In most cases, your Galaxy S7 should reboot (i.e., turns off Galaxy S7, then turn on.) .
If holding power button does not work, you should try following step to reboot Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge
- press and hold volume down button
- without releasing volume down button, press and hold power button
- Holding both buttons for more than 7 seconds.
You Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 should reboot now.
For Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, holding volume down and power buttons for more than 7 seconds is equivalent to remove and insert battery (battery removal).
In old versions of Samsung Galaxy phones, the equivalent operation is holding power button for more than 5~7 seconds.
Occasionally, you may find your Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge is dead: neither home button nor power button can wake up the screen.
In this case, you may first try to hold power button for more than 7 seconds. In some cases, this should turn on Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.
If Galaxy S7 or S7 edge does not respond to holding power button, you may try following steps.
Step 1: Charge Galaxy S7 and make sure battery is not dead
You can follow this guide to charge Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.
If the LED does not light up and nothing is showing on the screen after you connect Galaxy S7 or S7 to the charger, it usually means several hardware problems. You should not waste time and visit local Samsung service center to check and fix hardware issues.
If the LED lights up or charging icons shows on the screen, very likely, you can turn on Galaxy S7 or S7 edge by yourself. You should charge your Galaxy S7 or S7 edge for at least 10-20 mins.
Step 2: Disconnect the charger.
Although it is not required, it is strongly recommended to disconnect the charger when you want to turn on Galaxy S7, especially when you have problems to turn on Galaxy S7.
- press and hold Power button for more than 20 seconds check whether it turns on Galaxy S7 or not.
- press and hold Volume Up button for a few seconds, without releasing the Volume up button, press and hold Power button (totally 2 buttons) until you see something on the screen.
- press and hold Volume Down button for a few seconds, without releasing the Volume down button, press and hold Power button (totally 2 buttons) until you see something on the screen.
- press and hold Volume Down button for a few seconds, without releasing the Volume down button, press and hold Power button + Home button (totally 3 buttons) until you see something on the screen. If you get anything (very likely Download mode) on the screen, you can just press and hold the power button to reboot normally. It is not necessary to do anything else.
- Press and hold Volume up + Volume down + Power buttons until you see something on the screen.
- press and hold Volume Up button for a few seconds, without releasing the Volume up button, press and hold Power button + Home button (totally 3 buttons, you need use 2 hands) until you see something on the screen. This may turn on Galaxy S7 and boot into Galaxy S7 recovery mode. Once in recovery mode, you can just hold power button to reboot the phone normally.
Hope you can turn on Galaxy S7 or S7 edge now.
How to power off Galaxy S7 and S7 edge when you cannot unlock the phone?
With Android Nougat update, you are required to unlock the phone if you want to power off Galaxy S7 or S7 edge.
But sometimes, you may want to bypass this restriction to power off Galaxy S7 and S7 edge without unlocking the phone.
For example,
- You need to power off someone’s Galaxy S7 or S7 edge when he/she is not around.
- You want to reset Galaxy S7 or S7 edge because you forget the PIN/password and you cannot use Samsung’s Find my mobile to unlock Galaxy S7 remotely.
- You may break the screen and you cannot use the power button option on the screen.
You can force Galaxy S7 or S7 edge to power off without unlocking the phone by following these steps:
Step 1: Connect Galaxy S7 and S7 edge to wall charger with the USB cable and make sure it is charging.
Step 2: Press and hold Volume down button and Power button (holding two buttons) for about 7 seconds.
Step 3: Release power button, then volume down button.
Now, Galaxy S7 or S7 edge should be powered off. You can wake up the screen to verify. It should show a charging battery icon.
When must I visit service center?
If the problem is caused by faulty or damaged hardware, you should send Galaxy S7 or S7 edge to local service center for a repair.
Some signs of hardware problems for Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge;
- no sign of charging when it is connected to a charger.
- flicking screen.
- stopping at splashing page (with Samsung logo or Android).
- booting loop without reaching lock screen.
Do not try to open Galaxy S7 unless you have proper tools and know what you are doing.
Do not try to flash the phone firmware unless you know what you are doing when you have problems to boot up the phone.
Can you turn on and turn off Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge when phone hangs?
If you have any questions or problems to turn on Galaxy S7 or turn off Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, please let us know your questions or problems in the comment box below.
The community will try to help you.
You can get the official Samsung Galaxy S7 user manual (user guide) in your local language here, and Galaxy S7 edge user manual (user guide) in your local language here.
For other guides on using Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, please check Galaxy S7 online manual page.
For detailed Galaxy S7 how-to guides, please check Galaxy S7 how-to guides page.
For more Galaxy S7 camera guides, please check Galaxy S7 camera guide page.
Anonymous says
There is blue light blinking on my S7 edge, but it’s not working. What should I do?
If I go to a local center can they make the mobile work without removing any data of mine? Please let me know as I am really worried.
simon says
It’s hard to tell. It depends on the actual problem. Anyway, you should always back up your data if they are important.
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Ian says
Thanks Simon, I was visiting a friend recently and he said if I double tap the camera button, it might work. It did. When you dont know, you dont know. But usually some one else knows. And now I know.
Thanks again.
simon says
Glad to know you solved the issue. Actually it depends on the Android version on S7. In the older version, there is a switch button. In the newer version, you can use swipe up or down to switch. These are explained in this page https://gadgetguideonline.com/s7/galaxy-s7-and-galaxy-s7-edge-android-nougat-update-guide/use-galaxy-s7-camera-app-with-android-nougat-update-in-s7-and-s7-edge/
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Ian says
hello my Samsung Gal S7 won’t permit me to take normal pictures. Selfie mode has taken over. Can it be turned off please
simon says
How did you try to switch between the front and rear cameras?
If the button disappears or the gesture doesn’t work, you can try to clear the cache partition to see whether it helps.
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David says
thanks for your help, i just tried to reboot it to recovery mode but not working. I noticed that the blue light was on till it’s drain the battery, later I plugged in the charger and it charged while turned off, immediately I tried to put it on it hang again till the battery drained off. I was contemplating it’s softwa issue. Please advise on what to do.
simon says
If the phone cannot reboot into the recovery mode, very likely, there are some hardware issues. You probably have to visit the local Samsung service centre to check the hardware.
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David says
I was charging my Samsung s7 while it’s off, after the phone had charged to 85%, I removed the charger and put it on then connect the charger back. To my suprise the phone did not ON and a blue light was on permanently the screen was not on have tried several options to restart it but not working, please what can I do to make it work.
simon says
First, disconnect the charger, wait for a few mins.
Now, if you connect the charger to the phone, does the LED light up (it should be red)?
If yes, you may disconnect the phone from the charge. Wait for a few mins. Then holding volume down + power buttons for more than 30 seconds.
If this does not give you anything, wait for a few mins, then try to hold 3 buttons (Home, volume up, Power) for more than 30 seconds to see whether it can reboot into the recovery mode.
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Kausar Latif says
My Samsung s7 edge is hanged and showing no response without red light please tell m what shall i do now plz????please leave a reply now if somebody knows?????
simon says
Hold volume down button + power button for more than 7 seconds.
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Benjamin says
Thank u so much my Samsung galaxy s7 was in responsive but now it work perfectly fine now
Ray says
I have tried all combinations of buttons but still my S7 is locked , I was about to back up all my contents but concerned now by sending to service I will lose everything. Any other method to unlock this expensive phone would be welcomed.
simon says
You should unlock the phone with your PIN/password/pattern, not turning on and off the phone. The buttons are not for unlocking the phone.
If you cannot turn on the phone are all these combinations, then you have to visit local Samsung service centre.
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Charles S says
How can you turn off the S7 when the touchscreen is broken? I dropped my phone perfectly and damaged the face. It went completely blank, I can’t use the face and I need to turn it off.
simon says
When battery drain out, it will power off automatically.
If the phone is still working, you can power it off using ADB commands from the PC. But it’s not a trivial job to set it up.
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Vicki says
I am stuck in with a blue screen and an Android on his side with an exclamation point in yellow. This was after several tries to reboot using your instructions, not nothing happens.
What next?
simon says
Wait a while, it should enter recovery mode as explained in this guide https://gadgetguideonline.com/s7/sasmung-galaxy-s7-how-to-guides/how-to-reboot-into-galaxy-s7-recovery-mode/
Anyway, do you really have problem to power up the phone with power button?
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Dominic Gallo says
Hey, so I took my phone in the shower cuz I was watching a YouTube video, and a little after I got out I realized only my power button, and home button don’t work. I thought the phone was waterproof for 30 mins in 5ft water. Didn’t realize spraying water did shit. But for some reason my home buttons finger scanner works fine. So does anybody have any ideas on what I should do?
simon says
Unfortunately, in most regions, water damage is not covered under warranty. You have to visit local Samsung service centre to repair it.
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Gayle says
Thank you thank you thank you!! I had the black screen of death for less than 24 hours and was able to follow the reboot instruction and get my screen to come back on. Awesomeness!
simon says
Glad to know the guide helps you. Enjoy the phone.
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Rathi says
The phone S7 edge very often got struck and switched off automatically. After that the blue color light blinking but trying to switch on couldnt on . Pls advise how to switch on the phone
simon says
If the phone cannot reboot normally, you can try to reboot it into recovery mode and clear cache partition to see whether it helps.
If the phone has any hardware problems, you have no choice, but have to visit local Samsung service center.
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Lucy says
My owed button is broke and my phone ran out of battery how can I switch phone on without having to use power button?
simon says
It depends on your region. In some regions, when you connect the phone to the charger, the phone may start automatically when battery level is about 5%. But it’s not a universal feature.
Anyway, you should repair the power button.
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alice says
great, is work !
super! I’m crazy when my phone no action when i press any button, and the battery can’t removeable won’t able to restart, i’, nearly to smashed my phone.
Thanks for this helpful page
Joky says
How can I switch my s7 off ??? This guide is for restart or switch on … but when I get stuck on Samsung screen when boot up (firmware issue) I need to switch my phone off and boot in recovery or safe mode, which is not possible when I restart phone with volume down+home+power or volume down+power ….
simon says
It is about timing. when you press volume down and power button together, it actually power off first, then power on.
If you stuck in boot loop, you can use Volume up + home + power button when Samsung logo is in the splashing screen.
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Marco says
I have tried several steps above but the samsung sign has been showing up all the time, how can I turn this off? The phone gets very hot, that keeps me worried.
simon says
What’s the problem with your phone? You cannot remove the Samsung logo in the splashing page.
The phone may be warm when rebooting. But it should not be so hot. If you are uncomfortable with it, you can check the phone in the service centre. They have professional tools to find out possible issues.
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