finger print scanner - An error has occurred with the fingerprint sensor

Shortly ago, my J7 Prime stopped recognizing my fingerprint.

When I go to Settings -> Lock screen and security -> Fingerprint Scanner I get

An error has occurred with the fingerprint sensor. If this message appears repeatedly, restart your device.

I tried a few options I found, and none worked:

1. Rebooting.


2. Going into Safe Mode. The same error appears. Plus, almost all my widgets in the home screen disappeared, so I had to redo it.


3. Settings -> Apps -> Three dots -> Show system apps -> Fingerprint -> Clear Data . The cache was already empty. Rebooting.


4. Logging off and into my Samsung account.


5. Developer options (this was already enabled) -> OEM unlock -> Enable. Reboot. Developer options -> OEM unlock -> Disable, and Developer options -> Disable.

What I did not (and I cannot) try:

1. Rooting my phone (it is a corporate device).


2. Resetting my phone (same).

What can I do to fix the problem? (other than taking it to the IT dept.)

Answer

There was a system update pending. After I updated the fingerprint sensor came back to life.

(Note: Not only that... about 1.5GB were freed, which I very much needed. Unfortunately, Android's gluttony will promptly take care of it.)

I cannot propose this as a general solution as:

1. I am not sure it will always work (although after the update there were a few glitches that got fixed, so I guess there are chances it will work).


2. This depends on the existence of a pending update, which will not always be available.