Hello Everyone. I have a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5g that was gifted to me by my son. I received the the phone a little more than a year ago. On November 14th at approximately 2 am, I notice the display was not on. I use the phone at night plugged in and it does a slide show so it is like a night light. I depressed the power button which usually turns it back on. However, that did not work. The display remained dark. The phone does vibrates when the power button is depressed. So I did a soft reset, volume down + power button. Display came on and the phone started. As soon as the phone gets past the initial boot displays and returns to the unlock display, the phone display again goes dark. So next step I was able to turn the phone completely off and did performed the procedure for a Factory Reset. I was able to get the phone in that mode. I then told the phone to clear the cache and to reboot the system. No change in behavior once it got to the unlock display. Again, I get the phone to turn completely off and perform another Factory Reset. This time I left the phone in that setting. The phone will reboot approximately 30 minutes after the initial display and returns to the Factory Reset page. Additionally, the display dims after4 minutes when the reboot finishes.
I can't figure out what is going on with the phone. If anyone has any suggestions shy of actually doing the Factory Reset, I would appreciate them. The Note is my primary phone and when I back it up to my spare, for some reason not everything transfers. That means there is information on the phone I would like to retrieve.
You can back up your phone to an external device such as a thumb drive or a computer using smart switch. Then factory reset it, if you still have display issues you would need to go to an authorized Samsung service center to have the phone evaluated for repair. Seeing as the phone is almost 6 years old it might not be worth it to repair, especially if the screen needs replacement.
Funny thing about the phone is that the display will stay on as long as the phone is in the Factory Reset mode. The phone is not recognized by the computer since this issue started on November 13th, 2025.
Update, I just set the phone to restart and when the display appeared and I unlocked the phone it immediately relocked the phone. Please note I can get to the Factory Reset screen and it stays on indefinitely.
Could a screen protector cause this issue?
Well I took the screen protector off and there wasn't any change.
I can definitely understand how frustrating it is to have issues with your display on your Note 20. It is recommended that a certified Technician take a look at the concerning symptoms you are experiencing. Just click on the link here to find the closet location near you. http://www.samsung.com/us/support/service/location
Please let us know if you still need any further assistance.
