How to Restart a Samsung S20

This article will show you how to restart or power down the Samsung Galaxy S20, and explain the different methods for doing so.

Where Is the Power Button on the Samsung S20?

From the Galaxy S20 on, including the Galaxy S21, Samsung made a slight change to the physical design of the device. There’s no dedicated power button anymore, which makes restarting or shutting down the phone a bit more complicated, at least until you know how to do it.

There are several ways to restart and power down the phone, however. We will cover the easiest methods first.

How Do You Restart a Samsung Phone?

There are three primary methods for restarting a Samsung S20 and powering it down. They are:

• Using the power option in the Quick Settings panel.
• With a combination of hardware buttons.
• By changing what the side button does.

How to Restart the S20 With the Quick Settings Panel

One of the easiest and fastest ways to restart the Samsung S20 is to use the Quick Settings panel, which can be accessed from anywhere. Here's how to open the panel:

1. From any screen, swipe down to open the half-screen quick settings panel.
   

2. Swipe down one more time to open the full-screen Quick Settings panel. Tap the power icon in the top right.
   

3. The power settings menu will appear, allowing you to Power Off, Restart, and enable Emergency Mode. Tap the second button, Restart, to reboot the phone.
   

Just wait for the phone to finish rebooting, and you're all done.

How to Restart the S20 With the Hardware Buttons

Although Samsung removed the dedicated power button, there is still a way to use the physical hardware buttons to restart and power down the S20. Here’s how to do that:

Press and hold both the Volume Down and Side buttons. Continue holding until the power menu appears. It will open power settings menu. You will see three options including Power Off, Restart, and enable Emergency Mode. Tap Restart to reboot the phone.

How to Change the Side Button Function on a Samsung S20

By default, the side button on the Samsung Galaxy S20 will activate Bixby, Samsung’s voice assistant. That means when you press it, Bixby will start, but you can reconfigure the button to start a custom task or application. That also means you can customize the side button so it opens the power menu.

How to Change What the Side Button Does

Before we can use the side button to restart and power down the S20, we need to change what it does in the Samsung settings. Here’s how to customize that:

1.  Use one of the methods above to open the power settings menu — either with the icon in the quick settings panel or by pressing the hardware buttons.

2. Tap Side Key Settings at the bottom, below the power options.

3. Under the Press and Hold section, choose Power Off Menu.

Now, instead of opening Bixby when you press and hold the side button, it will open the power settings menu, allowing you to quickly restart or power down your Galaxy S20.