How to Fix Google Assistant (“Hey Google”) Not Working on Samsung Galaxy S20

Google Assistant is compatible and works well with the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. However, if the Google Assistant or “Hey Google” is not working on your Samsung Galaxy S20, it can be due to a few reasons, such as: In this guide, we show you how to troubleshoot and fix the issue of Google Assistant […]

By Vinicius Bronze in December 1, 2023 Last updated on March 25, 2025

Using a Google Workspace for Education account on your device, and the admin has turned off the settings required for “Hey Google” to work.
The “Hey Google” feature is disabled, or there are issues with the voice recognition model.
Problems with the Google Assistant app.
Interference from other Assistant services.
System software issues.

In this guide, we show you how to troubleshoot and fix the issue of Google Assistant or “Hey Google” not working on Samsung Galaxy S20 smartphones. If you are experiencing such issues with your Galaxy S20, follow the fixes and you will be able to resolve the issue and get Google Assistant working on your device again.

Note: Solutions in this guide will work on any Samsung Galaxy S20 model (S20, S20 Plus, S20 Fe, and S20 Ultra models.)

Editor’s note: We created these instructions using a Samsung Galaxy S20 running Android 13. Depending on your device’s software version, some steps and menu positions may look slightly different.

Jumps Into

Fix 01: Make Sure “Hey Google” is Enabled

The “Hey Google” is the voice activation command for Google Assistant. It needs to be enabled for the Google Assistant to respond to your voice commands.

To enable “Hey Google”, follow these steps:

Open the Google Assistant app.

Tap on the profile icon located at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Navigate to the “Hey Google & Voice Match”.

Under “This device” (Samsung Galaxy S20), check if Hey Google is enabled. If not, tap on the toggle next to it to enable it.

Then follow the on-screen instructions to set up the voice model.

If “Hey Google” was disabled, enabling it will resolve Google Assistant not working. If it was already enabled, move on to the next solution.

Fix 02: Remove the Back Cover

Some phone cases and back covers can cover the bottom microphone area of your Galaxy S20. This can interfere with the voice recognition of Google Assistant and make it unresponsive to the “Hey Google” command.

To test this possibility, follow these steps:

Remove the back cover or case from your Galaxy S20.
Try using the “Hey Google” command again.

If Google Assistant responds correctly without the back cover, this indicates that your cover was blocking the microphone. In this case, you need to consider purchasing a different case that does not cover the microphone area.

If removing the back cover does not resolve the issue, proceed to the next fix.

Fix 03: Check “Languages” in Google Assistant Settings

For Google Assistant to work correctly and respond to your commands, the language settings must be correctly set up.

Google Assistant uses language settings to understand and respond to your voice commands. If your selected language is not supported, or if there is a mismatch between the language settings of your device and Google Assistant, it will lead to the assistant not working as expected.

Follow the steps below to check and set up the language correctly in Google Assistant settings:

Open the Google Assistant app and go to its Settings again.
Tap on the “Languages” section.

If your desired language is not listed, tap on “Add a language”.

Choose the language from the list that matches the language of your device.

Google Assistant might not support all languages. Therefore, ensure you choose a language that is supported.

After adjusting the language settings, try saying “Hey Google” to see if the issue is resolved.

Fix 04: Retrain the Voice Model

The Voice Model allows the assistant to recognize your voice and respond to your commands accurately. If your current voice model isn’t accurately recognizing your voice, this is why Google Assistant is not functioning properly on your Samsung Galaxy S20.

To fix this, you need to Retrain the voice model. Here’s how to do it:

Open the Google Assistant settings.
Tap on “Hey Google & Voice Match”.
Tap on “Voice model”.

Tap on “Retrain voice model”. This will allow Google Assistant to forget the old voice model and start learning your voice again.

Follow the on-screen instructions to retrain your voice model. You’ll be asked to say “OK Google” and “Hey Google” a few times.

Fix 05: Turn Off “Power Saving” Option

The Power Saving mode extends Your Galaxy S20’s battery life by reducing device performance and limiting certain features. If this mode is enabled, it may interfere with the Google Assistant and make it not work.

To ensure that the Power Saving mode isn’t causing Google Assistant to malfunction, follow these steps to disable it:

Open the “Settings” app.
Scroll down and tap on “Battery and device care”.

Tap on “Battery”.

If the “Power Saving” mode is enabled, you will see a blue toggle mark next to it. Tap on it to disable Power Saving mode.

Fix 06: Disable Bixby and Other Assistants

When multiple voice assistants are active, they compete for resources and can cause conflicts with Google Assistant. This is why it’s recommended to disable Bixby (built-in virtual assistant in Samsung smartphones) and any other voice assistants on your Galaxy S20.

Follow these steps to disable Bixby:

Open the “Settings” app.
Scroll down and tap on “Apps”.
Tap on “Bixby Voice”.

Tap on “Disable”.

Now go back and do the same for “Bixby Vision”.

If you have other voice assistants installed, navigate to their respective settings and disable them as well. Once done, test Google Assistant to see if the problem persists.

After disabling voice assistants, restart your Galaxy S20 to allow changes to take effect.

Fix 07: Clear Google Assistant App Data

The Google Assistant won’t work correctly if the app data are corrupted. In such cases, you have to clear the data folder of the Google Assistant app to resolve these issues.

Note: Clearing the data will not delete your personal data but it will revert changes made to its settings to default and remove the voice model.

Here are the steps to clear the Google Assistant app cache:

Open the “Settings” app.
Scroll down and tap on “Apps”.
In the list of apps, find and tap on Assistant (not Google Assistant).

Tap on “Storage”.
Tap on “Clear data”.

Fix 08: Update Google Assistant and System Software

The Google Assistant app is frequently updated by Google to add new features, improve existing features, and fix bugs. Also, Samsung releases software updates for the Galaxy S20 to fix any known issues.

If you’re using an outdated version of either, updating both the Google Assistant and system software will resolve the issue.

Follow the steps below to update Google Assistant:

Open Google Play Store.
Tap on the search icon and search for “Google Assistant”.
Check if there is an “Update” button. If so, tap on it to update Google Assistant.

Follow these steps to update your Samsung Galaxy S20:

Open Settings.
Tap on “Battery and device care”.

Tap on “Software update”.

Then tap on “Download and install”.

Wait for your Galaxy S20 to check for any updates. If an update is available, you can go ahead and download it.
Once the update is downloaded, you can tap on “Install now” to install the update.

Fix 09: Reset App Preferences and Reset All Settings

If none of the above solutions have resolved the Google Assistant not working on your Samsung Galaxy S20, a misconfiguration in your device settings could be causing the problem. In this case, you need to reset app preferences and reset all settings on your phone to resolve the problem.

Resetting app preferences will not delete any app data, but it will reset all default apps, background data restrictions, and permission restrictions. Here’s how to do it:

Open Settings.
Scroll down and tap on “Apps”.
Tap on the menu icon at the top right corner and select “Reset app preferences”.

Tap “Reset” to confirm.

Resetting all settings will revert all settings on your Galaxy S20 back to their defaults. This includes settings for your system and apps. However, no data or apps will be deleted. Here’s how to do it: