With the One UI 9.0 (Android 17) update, Samsung is making a major change to how many times you're allowed to enter the incorrect PIN, password, or pattern on your Galaxy smartphone, SamMobile has learned.
Samsung has substantially reduced the number of allowed unlock attempts. On the 13th failed attempt, your Galaxy device will be permanently locked and can only be used again after performing a factory reset.
A small change with big consequences
The company says this change is intended to better protect users from brute-force attacks. Such attacks usually involve someone repeatedly trying different PINs, passwords, or patterns in an attempt to gain unauthorized access to a device.
By limiting the number of failed attempts and enforcing increasingly longer lockout periods between them, Samsung aims to make such attacks significantly more difficult.
The new policy starts enforcing temporary lockouts after the fifth failed attempt. The wait time gradually increases with each subsequent failure, ranging from one minute after five incorrect attempts to 24 hours after the 12th failed attempt.
If the 13th attempt is also incorrect, the device will permanently lock you out and require a factory reset.
The lockout durations based on number of failed attempts are as follows:
Samsung also notes that users who primarily unlock their phones with a fingerprint or face recognition should still remember their backup PIN, password, or pattern.
That's because Android requires these credentials to be entered periodically, such as after a device restart or once every 72 hours. So forgetting them could eventually leave a factory reset as the only way to regain access to the device.
Your device will clearly display how many unlock attempts remain
Samsung says One UI 9 will not leave you guessing. It will clearly display how many unlock attempts you have left once you reach the warning threshold. Samsung also says entering the same incorrect credential multiple times in a row also won't count as separate failed attempts. That should help prevent users from being penalized for repeatedly making the same mistake.
However, Samsung hasn't clarified how the new policy would apply if a phone somehow registers accidental inputs while moving around in a pocket or bag. Random touches could theoretically result in different incorrect entries.
Galaxy phones already include accidental touch protection to reduce the chances of this happening, but it remains to be seen how effective those safeguards will be under the stricter One UI 9 policy. To be on the safe side, you may want to make sure Accidental touch protection is enabled under Settings > Display.
Affects Galaxy devices launching with One UI 9.0 and later
Samsung's stricter lock screen security policy applies to devices launched with One UI 9.0 preloaded, instead of every device updated to One UI 9.
As of July 25, 2026, that includes the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8. We tested the One UI 9 beta on the Galaxy S26 and found that it does not include these changes.
It's unclear if Samsung plans to extend the new policy to older Galaxy devices that launched with an older version of One UI. Still, if your device is eligible for One UI 9, it's worth keeping this change in mind and ensuring you don't forget your lock screen credentials.
Entering the wrong PIN, password, or pattern 13 times will permanently lock the phone, requiring a factory reset to regain access. One UI 9 also introduces progressively longer lockout periods after repeated failed attempts to make brute-force attacks much harder.
For now, the new policy only applies to devices that launch with One UI 9 out of the box, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Galaxy Z Flip 8.
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