The Samsung Galaxy S8's almost bezel-less display is truly a sight to behold, especially when set to Immersive Mode. While transparent when on the home screen, the navigation and status bars on the S8 will often turn opaque depending on what app you're using at the moment. This, in turn, can detract from the overall experience when viewing anything from the S8's display, as the bars along the top and bottom of the screen bump the phone's aspect ratio down to lower levels.
As it turns out, it's actually possible to permanently set your Galaxy S8 into Immersive Mode using a method that has worked on other phones in the past. While no root is required to perform this modification, you will have to run an ADB command. So here's a guide on how to get the most out of your S8's gorgeous display — just be sure to take your time and follow the steps exactly as they appear, especially if this is your first time with ADB and Fastboot.
Requirements
- Developer options and USB debugging enabled
- Windows, Mac, or Linux computer
- ADB and Fastboot installed
- USB data cable
Step 1: Allow USB Computer Connection
To get started, connect your Galaxy S8 to your computer using a USB data cable. A "USB Computer Connection" notification will automatically appear once you plug in the phone, so tap "Allow" on the prompt to grant access.
Step 2: Run ADB
Running an ADB command is necessary to modify the S8's display and keep it on Immersive Mode at all times. So next, you'll need to open a Command Prompt or Terminal window in the platform-tools folder inside of your ADB installation directory.
If you downloaded the SDK Tools from Google and did a default installation, go to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk folder. Otherwise, go to the folder where you installed ADB, then open the platform-tools folder located inside. From there, hold the shift button on your keyboard, then right-click within the window and choose "Open command window here."
For Mac and Linux, just open a Terminal window, and change directories to the platform-tools folder. Perform a search on your hard drive for "platform-tools" if you don't know where it is, as the folder's exact location can vary depending on where you extracted ADB and Fastboot when the utilities were installed.
If you need a more thorough guide on the topic, head over to our full ADB and Fastboot guide to get to know this essential modding process a bit better.
Step 3: Input Commands
With the S8 connected and ADB up and running, you'll just need to type in a single command. However, there are three different commands that you can pick from, depending on if you want to hide the status bar, navigation bar, or both.
To hide only the status bar at the top of your screen, enter this command:
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.status=*
If you'd just like to hide the navigation bar while leaving the status bar visible, enter this command:
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.navigation=*
Finally, if you'd like to hide both the status and navigation bars, use this command:
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=*
Step 4: Enjoy Full-Time Immersive Mode
Immediately after sending one of the above commands, your status and/or navigation bars will disappear. At this point, it would be a good idea to restart your phone so that any apps that were previously open can redraw themselves to accommodate the extra screen real estate.
From now on, you'll still be able to access the navigation and status bars on your S8 by swiping in from either the top or bottom of the display, depending on which one you wish to access. The keyboard will still pop out as it normally does whenever you tap on a box that requires text input, and the home button's haptic feedback still remains active, but you'll need to reveal the navigation buttons to access Google Assistant.
Reverting This Mod
Finally, if you ever want to bring your S8 back to its stock configuration and re-enable the status and navigation bars, simply type in the following command to bring the display back to its original settings:
adb shell settings put global policy_control null*
So how are you enjoying the extra bit of screen real estate you reclaimed by performing this mod? Let us know in the comment section below.
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25 Comments
Doing the above will also get rid of those buttons on the home screen - and they look really nice there.
In order to exclude the home screen, perform the following instead (I went with full):
any tips on bringing up the Nav bar with ease? some apps are tough for me without it.
Open 'My Files', go to Internal storage>Android>data and find the the actual name of the app starting 'com.' and remember it, for example, the samsung internet is 'com.sec.android.app.sbrowser'.
and then open terminal on PC or Mac and punch in the name of the app starting with 'com.' after
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-
Thanks. Helped out a ton. You the real MVP lol
how do I do more than one app?
e.g
"adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-com.snapchat.android"
and then also the home screen
"com.sec.android.app.launcher"
I would recommend going to the Galaxy store and downloading One Hand Operation +, it's made by Samsung and allows you to program back, home, and recent as swipes in different directions on the side of the phone.
Thanks for the tip Florin!
If you're using Nova Launcher here's the command to keep it on the homepage: adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-com.teslacoilsw.launcher
Getting rid of the nav bar breaks tabs in Samsung internet browser... Any fixes
adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-com.sec.android.app.sbrowser
Works great! but is there anyway to remove the nav bar with the keyboard open? It comes back when im typing and cuts the top of the screen off
I'd like the opposite. With the larger screen, I'd like to make the clock bar always visible, especially since for many apps it uses the new dead space at the top of the screen. Horses for courses and all that, but can immersive mode be disabled totally?
I did everything like the tutorial. My S8+ is connected.
when I run the prompt adb command, I have an error : "no devices/emulators found"
any idea please ?
make sure you have unlocked the developer mode in your settings...
then make sure usb debugger mode is switched on,
tone plugged in there should be a prompt ,tick it then put in the info in your command then it should work
When i hide the notification bar by enabling immersive mode on my galaxy s8 plus If i want to write a text message,when i open the keyboard, the top half of the screen gets cut off so i don't see the messages,only the keyboard and a blank screen are visible on the screen. Hiding only the navigation bar in immersive mode doesn't cause this problem.If the keyboard is closed the messages in the conversation are visible.I attached a screenshot below.If anyone else has this problem and you found a fix,please reply. Thanks.
how do I do more than one app?
e.g
"adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.full=apps,-com.snapchat.android"
and then also the home screen
"com.sec.android.app.launcher"
There is a problem when split screen and using two app side by side. For example youtube and chrome(screenshot belove). Youtube video works but the chrome shows just a black image and 1/3 shows the actual site.
Any method to fix this? I remember Nexus 5X had same problem with this command.
Im using to hide nav buttons: adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.navigation=*
All, I recently found this page, much more details here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guide-hide-navigation-bar-status-bar-app-t3509747
Thanks
I tried this on my Galaxy S8 plus with Rogers in Canada and got the message below. Can anyone help? Thank you!!!
Update. Refused debug access, re-allowed and now it works. Thanks anyways.
how do I open the platform tools command window!!! it wont let me !! only offers to open the windows powershell window
this doesn't seem to work with multiwindow and the new white navigationbar. Is there a way to remove the navigationbar from multiwindowscreen?
Anyway to hide things in lockscreen?
Install Substratum from the Play Store, and the paid complement to make it work with Samsung, and there is a theme that clears up things in the lockscreen, it's in the Samsung category in the theme store within Substratum. I left the clock and date alone and it looks beautiful. I wish I could change that S8 ronded font though...
I wanted to contribute with my findings... This command: "adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.status=*" hides the status bar in all apps, but some of them get bugged, for example in Instagram you can't see the text field when replying on a story, or Twitter doesn't display the bottom part where you can insert pictures to your post while typing.
I discovered that if you type "adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.status=apps," then Instagram works fine without the status bar, and of course you could add twitter after that to exclude twitter.
But this is a bit random, I don't know exactly why Instagram gets fixed by this and I wonder if there is a way to fix other apps...
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