Be the first - Pre-order the Galaxy S25 Ultra today! Follow us on Google news!

SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

News For You
News For You
Notifications

Frustrated by accidental fingerprint input on your Galaxy phone? Here’s a solution

Tips & Tricks
By 

Last updated: April 13th, 2022 at 23:50 UTC+02:00

Samsung's side-mounted fingerprint scanners for Galaxy smartphones are arguably better, faster, and more accurate than in-display solutions, but they have one problem. Being embedded in the side button is both a convenience and a curse. These side-mounted sensors are fast, but they're prone to accidental touches whenever the user's registered fingerprint brushes against the side key.

This can be an issue, especially since the phone locks out the user for 30 seconds after five incorrect fingerprint scans. Or it can lead to accidental unlocks inside one's pocket. Fortunately, Samsung thought ahead, and there is a way to avoid these types of accidental fingerprint scanner touches.

How to minimize accidental fingerprint sensor touches on a Galaxy phone

Samsung's One UI has a fingerprint sensor option baked in that determines whether the sensor should work independently from the display and always scan for fingerprints even when the screen is turned off. Disabling this can prevent accidental touches. It works for both side-mounted scanners and in-display ones, even though the latter are much less prone to accidental input.

To turn this feature off, open the “Settings” app on your phone and access the “Biometrics and security” menu. Next, access the “Fingerprints” section and enter your pattern or code. And finally, disable the “Fingerprint always on” toggle.

Once this option is disabled, Galaxy smartphone users will have to press the side key and turn the screen on first before they can use the fingerprint scanner to unlock their device. You can see how disabling this option can yield positive results, especially for devices that have side-mounted fingerprint sensors.

Again, it's worth pointing out that this option is available for nearly every Galaxy device that is equipped with a fingerprint scanner, regardless of whether it's embedded in the display or the side key.

Therefore, you can also try to disable the “Fingerprint always on” option if you're experiencing accidental fingerprint touches inside your pocket for Samsung smartphones that are equipped with in-display sensors. Your mileage might vary, but you can test and find what works best for you.

Join SamMobile’s Telegram group and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get instant news updates and in-depth reviews of Samsung devices. You can also subscribe to get updates from us on Google News and follow us on Twitter.

PhoneTips & Tricks One UI
Galaxy AI summarized

Scroll for more related content
News For You

You might also like

Sports fans will love Now Bar in One UI 7 for the Galaxy S25

Sports fans will love Now Bar in One UI 7 for the Galaxy S25

Now Bar is one of the latest features in One UI 7, and after spending a bit of time with it and the Galaxy S25 for our hands-on videos at Unpacked, we're pretty sure sports fans are going to love it. Samsung's Now Bar is an interactive pill-shaped UI element in the latest firmware version […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 2 days ago
One UI 7 on Galaxy S25 can read you online articles

One UI 7 on Galaxy S25 can read you online articles

At Unpacked 2025, Samsung introduced several Galaxy AI upgrades through One UI 7 for the Galaxy S25 series. One of them enhances the existing Browsing Assist feature with text-to-speech capabilities. Same as before, the Browsing Assist tool for Samsung Internet can summarize and translate online articles for you. However, in One UI 7 for the […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 2 days ago
Now Brief is a Galaxy S25 and One UI 7 secret weapon

Now Brief is a Galaxy S25 and One UI 7 secret weapon

Although we've seen most of what One UI 7 can do through the beta program for the Galaxy S24, Samsung didn't reveal all its cards during the testing phase. The company reserved some new One UI 7 and Galaxy AI features for the final version, which will soon debut with the Galaxy S25 series. Now […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 2 days ago
Next Unpacked will be the biggest in Samsung’s software history

Next Unpacked will be the biggest in Samsung’s software history

Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked event is nearly here. The Galaxy S25 series will take center stage in San Jose in three days. But while we look forward to the next-gen phones, there's another big reason (or four) we're excited for the next reveal. Aside from marking the launch of new mobile hardware, Unpacked 2025 might […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 6 days ago
One UI 7 Now Bar could convince me to use the lock screen again

One UI 7 Now Bar could convince me to use the lock screen again

If you have habits similar to mine when using your Galaxy phone, chances are you barely even see the One UI lock screen anymore. Sure, Samsung improved the lock screen with better widgets through recent One UI updates, but none of those changes were impactful enough to make me want to break my muscle memory. […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 1 week ago
App pinning is now hidden in One UI but here’s how to reveal it

App pinning is now hidden in One UI but here’s how to reveal it

About 10 years ago, Samsung Galaxy phones received a neat software feature that allowed users to pin an app. The feature still exists in modern One UI versions, but it's somewhat hidden and has to be enabled in the Settings app before it becomes usable. This article explains how to do that. The app pinning […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 1 week ago