While the Galaxy Note 20 holds great promise, it can sometimes leave us in a frustrating bind. It happened to me once before – defying my taps and swipes, seemingly frozen and obeying its whims.
But after diving deep into research and hours of experimentation, I managed to restore sanity to my misbehaving smartphone.
Why are we here, then? Well, the touchscreen issue has since happened to some of my other friends who owned a Galaxy Note 20 and the fixes I shared worked like a charm!
In this blog, we’ll tackle the common problems and eight proven troubleshooting techniques to help you restore your Note 20’s touchscreen. Read on!
What causes touchscreen issues on Samsung Galaxy Note 20?
Below are the most common causes for the touchscreen issue on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 phones. Studying these causes will help determine what measures to use in fixing a faulty touchscreen.
- Software & System Error: Recurring bugs and glitches can cause your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen not to work, especially if its current software version is outdated.
- Faulty Accessory: If the S Pen suffers from errors, your phone’s touchscreen won’t respond correctly.
- Overloaded Phone: Running multiple apps on your phone will overload its processor, causing it to overheat and freeze.
- Physical Damage or Defect: A defective touchscreen panel won’t register your touch inputs.
How to Fix Touchscreen Issues on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Below are proven fixes to the touchscreen issue on your Samsung Galaxy Note 20. We recommend you go through them and apply them in the order they are presented.
NOTE: The solutions below apply to the Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s base and Ultra models.
FIX 1. Reboot the phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 50 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 |
For problems with your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen, we first recommend subjecting your phone to a reboot. Doing so should help your Galaxy Note 20 refresh its system memory, fixing minor errors that cause touchscreen issues.
This method is effective since touchscreen-related problems on the Galaxy Note 20 are often due to system bugs and errors. Thus, you’ll likely fix your Samsung phone’s faulty touchscreen after letting it complete a reboot sequence.
Step 1: Hold the Samsung Galaxy A52’s power and volume down keys simultaneously. |
Step 2: Release the keys when the Samsung Galaxy logo appears on your phone screen. |
Step 3: Wait as your Samsung Galaxy A52 completes the bootup sequence. |
| Step 4: Operate your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen to confirm whether it works. |
FIX 2. Clean the touchscreen
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 20 to 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 A soft microfiber cleaning cloth Distilled water 70% or higher Isopropyl or Ethyl alcohol solution |
When it comes to touchscreen issues, one of its common causes is dirt buildup and moisture. Over time, it’s inevitable for your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen to collect dirt or dust, primarily when you actively use it while outdoors.
Cleaning your phone’s touchscreen regularly to prevent layers of dirt or moisture from affecting its sensitivity is advisable. A microfiber cloth is the best material to use when cleaning touchscreens since you won’t risk scratching its surface.
You can also apply distilled water or alcohol to the cleaning cloth to clean more effectively. However, the alcohol you use must be at 70 percent concentration to ensure it’s safe for your phone.
FIX 3. Remove your Galaxy Note 20’s screen protector
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 20 to 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 A replacement screen protector |
A screen protector can reduce the reliability of your touchscreen panels. This effect is more prominent on cheaper screen protectors with terrible build quality, making them incompatible with your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen.
In such cases, removing the screen protector is the only way to fix the problem if your touchscreen is acting up. Otherwise, you must find a suitable replacement screen protector.
FIX 4. Improve your Galaxy Note 20 touch sensitivity
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 10 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 |
Improving your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s touch sensitivity is an excellent way to ensure its touchscreen works even with a low-quality screen protector. Thus, it’s the ideal solution to fix a faulty touchscreen without neglecting your phone’s protection.
You can use this method to temporarily address the touchscreen issue of your much-loved Galaxy S20 while you search for a proper screen protector.
Step 1: Go to Settings. Note: You navigate to your device’s quick settings panel from its notification bar and click the cog icon to open its main settings menu. |
Step 2: Go to Display. |
| Step 3: Scroll down and click the Screen Sensitivity switch to toggle it.  |
FIX 5. Soft reset your Galaxy Note 20’s S Pen
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 An S-Pen |
If you operate your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 using its S Pen, the latter might be the one with the issue — not the touchscreen.
To confirm whether or not this is the case, you must reset the S Pen. Doing so will fix the connection error that’s possibly causing the touchscreen issue.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Select Advanced Features. |
Step 3: Select S Pen. |
Step 4: Go to the kebab menu. Note: Your S Pen must be inside your Galaxy Note 20. |
Step 5: Click Reset S Pen. |
Step 6: Wait while the S Pen resets. |
FIX 6. Use safe mode
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 1 minute and 50 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 |
Aside from system errors and faulty accessories, your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen may malfunction due to problematic apps. Fortunately, it’s easy to identify the culprit once you’ve figured out which apps you installed when the touchscreen issue started occurring.
Before uninstalling the faulty apps, though, you must first boot your Note 20 into safe mode to determine if the issue persists there. After all, we don’t want to waste time and valuable data. Here’s how to get things going:
Step 1: Hold your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s power and volume down keys simultaneously. |
| Step 2: Release your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s power key once the screen shuts down, but hold its volume down key until the Samsung Galaxy logo appears.  |
Step 3: Wait while your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 boots into safe mode. Note: Sometimes, booting into your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s safe mode may fail. Repeat steps 1 to 3 until your phone boots into safe mode. |
| Step 4: Operate your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen to confirm whether the issue persists in safe mode.  |
| Step 5: Hold your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s power and volume down keys simultaneously to force it to restart.  Note: Release both keys when you see the Samsung Galaxy logo on the device’s screen. |
| Step 6: Uninstall your Galaxy Note 20’s newly added third-party apps to confirm whether it will resolve the touchscreen problem. |
FIX 7. Wipe system cache partition
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 8 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 1 minute and 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 |
Another thing you must do to fix a touchscreen issue is wipe your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s cache partition. We recommend this because your phone’s cache partition may store corrupt temporary data, causing various system errors.
Here’s how to do it:
| Step 1: Hold your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s power and volume down keys simultaneously until it shuts down.  |
| Step 2: Hold your Samsung Galaxy Note 20’s power and volume up keys simultaneously until its logo appears.  |
| Step 3: Wait while your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 boots into its Android Recovery menu.  |
Step 4: Select “Wipe cache partition.” |
Step 5: Click Yes. |
| Step 6: Wait until a “Cache wipe complete” confirmation message appears at the bottom-left corner.  |
| Step 7: Select “Reboot system now” to restart your Galaxy Note 20.  |
| Step 8: Operate your Galaxy Note 20’s touchscreen to confirm whether it works. |
FIX 8. Update your phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 5 minutes |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 A working internet connection |
Since improving your Galaxy Note 20’s performance has a significant likelihood of fixing its faulty touchscreen, performing a software update is the ideal solution. With this, you can equip your phone with the latest software upgrades and bug fixes.
In particular, the bug fixes may even resolve the faulty touchscreen, especially if it’s a recurring issue in your phone’s old software version. After all, phone developers often release software updates to patch common problems on their products.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Select Software Update. |
Step 3: Click “Download and Install.” |
| Step 4: Go to Download. Note: Your Galaxy Note 20 has an “Auto-download over WiFi” feature that allows it to download updates in the background. You may not see the download button if this feature is enabled. |
Step 5: Click “Install Now” to update the Galaxy Note 20’s software version. |
| Step 6: Wait while your Galaxy Note 20 installs the software update and reboots its system. |
FIX 9. Software factory reset your Galaxy Note 20
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 5 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 3 minutes |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 |
When software updates are insufficient, conducting a factory reset is the best recourse. Instead of upgrading your Galaxy Note 20 to the latest version, this action will revert the device to its default factory settings.
Doing so will delete your user data and apps from your phone, including malware and viruses infecting its system. Thus, it’s the most effective solution against software problems caused by corrupt or harmful files and data.
| Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Go to General Management and tap Reset. |
Step 3: Click “Factory data reset.” |
Step 4: Go to Reset. |
| Step 5: Press the Delete All button to restore your Galaxy Note 20 to its default settings. |
FIX 10. Replace its touchscreen
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 to 60 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy Note 20 A working internet connection |
If nothing fixes the unresponsive touchscreen on your Samsung Galaxy Note 20, consider replacing its faulty screen.
Contact Samsung Support or visit their nearest official store so their certified technicians can inspect and repair your faulty phone.
The repair service and replacement will be free if your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is under warranty. However, the damage must be a manufacturing defect, not due to your mishandling.
H2: Tips to Prevent Touchscreen Problems on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Here are some tips to prevent Galaxy Note 20 touchscreen issues. The good news is these tips also work on other Samsung Galaxy devices.
- Don’t run multiple apps on your phone simultaneously, as it can cause it to overheat, freeze, and become unresponsive.
- Update your Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and its apps whenever possible.
- Don’t install apps outside the Galaxy and Google Play Store.
- Avoid charging your phone wirelessly.
FAQs about Galaxy Note 20 Touchscreen Issues
System and app errors may cause your Galaxy Note 20 to become unresponsive. When this happens, the touchscreen will freeze and won’t react to your touch inputs.
Various factors can cause an unresponsive Samsung touchscreen. The most common reasons are dirty touchscreen, incompatible screen protectors, faulty apps, and outdated software.
Toggle your phone’s touch sensitivity to calibrate its touchscreen according to your preference. You can also update the firmware of your phone’s touchscreen panel by dialing *#2663 on the phone app and clicking TSP FW Update.
