4 Ways to Fix Fingerprint Sensor Not Working on Android Phones

Quick Tips

• Unregistering your fingerprint and registering it again is an effective way to resolve issues caused by improper scanning.
• Disabling face unlock and enabling increased touch sensitivity on your phone can also help address this problem.
• You may need to consider performing a factory reset on your phone if nothing else works.

Try Basic Fixes

• Make sure your fingers are dry and clean: Capacitive and optical fingerprint scanners cannot read your fingers if they are wet or dirty. Wipe your fingers clean by patting them on a dry cloth or a tissue. After that, use them again to unlock your phone.
• Remove the screen protector and clean the fingerprint scanner surface: If your phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner, it’s best to remove any screen protector. It’s also essential for the fingerprint scanner to be free from any sort of dirt or grime. Take a microfiber cloth and rub it gently on the surface of the fingerprint scanner to clean it.
• Install Android updates: All hardware components on your phone, including the fingerprint scanner, are controlled by software. If something goes wrong with your phone’s software or if there are bugs, it can affect the fingerprint scanner’s performance. To avoid this, it’s best to install any pending updates on your Android phone.

Fix 1: Unregister and Re-Register Your Fingerprints

Though cumbersome, this is one of the straightforward ways to make the fingerprint scanner work. Registering your fingerprints again might help you bring your fingerprint scanner back to life. Here’s how you can do it.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your Android and select Biometrics and Security. This option name might be different on various Android phones.

Step 2: Tap on the Fingerprints option.

Step 3: Enter your PIN. You can now access your registered fingerprints.

Step 4: Select a registered fingerprint and tap the Remove option. Repeat the process for all the registered fingerprints.

Step 5: Choose the Add fingerprint option and register all your fingerprints one at a time.

Some Android phones have a fingerprint scanner that’s not very fast or accurate. If that’s the case with your phone too, you can try adding the same fingerprint twice to improve the accuracy.

Fix 2: Enable Increased Touch Sensitivity for In-Display Fingerprint Scanners

If you want to continue using a screen protector on your phone, try increasing the display’s touch sensitivity to get the in-display fingerprint scanner to work. Unfortunately, this option isn’t present on all Android phones. You will find it mostly on Samsung and Google Pixel phones. Check the Display settings on your device to see if there’s a similar option available.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your Android phone and navigate to the Display section.

Step 2: Scroll down and find the Touch Sensitivity option. Enable the toggle next to it.

Fix 3: Turn Off Face Unlock

Most phones nowadays come with both fingerprint scanning and face unlock for unlocking. Depending on your preference, you may have enabled face unlock as well for convenience. In such a case, your fingerprint scanner may not work as expected.

Try turning off face unlock and only enable fingerprint scanning. This should allow you to use your fingerprint scanner every time you want to unlock your phone.

Step 1: Open the Settings app and navigate to Security & privacy. Then, tap on Device lock.

Step 2: Select the Screen lock setting. Ensure Face unlock isn’t enabled. If it is, delete the registered face.

Fix 4: Factory Reset Your Phone

If none of these solutions work, resetting your phone to factory settings is your last resort. Take a complete backup of your Android phone before proceeding, as this will erase all the data.

Step 1: Open the Settings app, tap the search icon, and type reset.

Step 2: Select Factory data reset from the results.

Step 3: Tap on Reset to begin the process. When prompted, enter the PIN or password to let your phone commence the process.