How to fix the Edge, 3G or 4G icon constantly appearing on an Android phone’s status bar



Edge, 3G or 4G icon wont disappear on an Android phone

One of the reasons you would miss an important notification is because your Android phone’s status / notification bar is so full that it can’t accommodate any more icons.  You might not be around your phone when the sound or vibration attempts to notify you but that icon at the top tells you all you’ve missed once you pick your phone. Keeping your notification bar as free as possible is thus an important task.

Today’s tutorial ventures into notification and status bar space issues on an Android phone. This particular issue is an Edge (G) , 3G or 4G icon always appearing (instead of the signal bars alone) on the status bar even when mobile data is set to off. This not only causes you to panic that your phone could be connecting to the internet without your consent, the extra icon also occupies important real estate to the detriment of your notification bar.  In essence, when you turn off mobile data, your status bar will still look something like;

how to turn off mobile data on android

Instead of like;

how to turn on mobile data on android phone

What is the difference between the status bar and notification bar on an Android phone?

Simply put, the Status bar is where Android gives you the basic status information for your device while the Notification bar is where your applications can drop you a note that there’s something new to check out.

difference between status bar and notification bar on an Android phone

How do I clear the notification bar on an Android phone?

To clear the notification bar on your Android phone, slide down from the top of the screen. You should see something like this;

how to clear Android notification bar

You can then choose to open a given notification by tapping it or remove by sliding it to the left.

Why does the G, 3G or 4G icon keep appearing despite disabling mobile data?

These network status icons tell you your internet connection speed. This suggests that they ought to appear only when you have an active internet connection, right? Some reasons the icons could stubbornly remain on your status bar include:

  1. You have not successfully disabled or turned off mobile data: There are two places to check that you have successfully turned off mobile data. Failure to do this correctly means mobile data will remain set to On
  2. The ROM’s icons were themed this way:  The ROM’s SystemUI.apk in the system/app folder controls your status bar icons. If – in the ROM your phone is running on –  all network signal bar icons include a G, 3G or 4G image then what should be a mere signal bar would be one with a G , 3G or 4G icon included. In order words, its a mere icon
  3. Some application keeps overriding your settings and connecting to the internet: You will often experience this when you have Malware installed on your Android phone. These Malware will keep enabling your internet connection, downloading and installing unwanted applications on your phone. See https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-remove-privacy-guard-easy-tool-monkey-test-and-time-service-malware-from-an-mtk-mediatek-android-phone/ for more on this

How do I confirm that my phone is not connected to the internet?

There are three methods:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Data usage > Select your network provider from the tabs and turn off Cellular data
  2. Navigate to Settings > More > Mobile networks > Data connection > Set to Off
  3. With mobile data set to On, try using any application which requires an internet connection. Turn off mobile data then try using this same application. You should get a connection error

Why does my data connection constantly drop from 3G or 4G to Edge?

This is often associated with varying signal strengths and should be nothing to worry about. The problem however arises when Edge is picked well over 3G and 4G. To resolve this issue, see https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-3g-or-4g-constantly-dropping-to-2g-or-edge-on-an-mtk-android-phone/ .

How do I remove the Edge (G), 3G or 4G icon always appearing in the notification bar?

Some steps you could take include:

  1. Ensure Mobile data is set to Off (see the steps above)
  2. Do a factory reset in recovery mode or under Settings > Backup & Reset
  3. If you suspect that a Malware keeps turning on your Mobile data then scan your phone using a strong Antimalware .
  4. Wipe the phone then re-install the firmware or stock ROM
  5. You could modify your UI icons by installing Xposed Installer and using the SystemUI icons module. Note that the phone needs to be rooted to do this. See https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-root-android-easily-without-pc/ to know more about rooting an Android phone

Hovatek….just a button away!



3 thoughts on “How to fix the Edge, 3G or 4G icon constantly appearing on an Android phone’s status bar”

  1. Hey brother, i have some issue with my realme c3 i bought a new one. Battery is draining at night time when i don’t use it. I just figure out that i was because of that 4g icon showing at status bar i think my internet is not completely off. When i remove my sim card it was ok no battery draining. Please kindly guide me how to remove that icon and how to fix it. Thanks

  2. The question is not the reason why the icon is constantly there, but how to fix it, how to remove it. Your title is clearly deceiving as it didn’t exactly say how to fix it, how to remove it.
    Thank you!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

live chat
whatsapp telegram instagram
Scroll to Top