NFC stopped working after a system update
Check the setting before believing anything you read online. Updates reset preferences and relocate menus far more often than they break anything, and this particular question attracts a great deal of confident advice that ends in a factory reset nobody needed.
Check the setting first
An update can reset a preference or move it to a different menu. NFC switched off after an update looks like a broken feature and is a toggle.
Search the settings for NFC, confirm it is on, and toggle it off and on once.
Restart the device afterwards. A service that did not come back cleanly after an update often does after a restart, and that is a two minute check.
Only if all of that fails is it worth thinking about the update as a cause.
Then check whether the update changed what a tag does rather than breaking it. From Android 17, the Android NFC basics guide says a tag holding a web link shows an open link notification and opens nothing until the user acts on it. From Android 16, a user can stop a given app receiving tags, under Settings > Apps > Special app access > Launch via NFC.
Coincidence is common
Updates are memorable and they arrive constantly, so any fault noticed afterwards gets attributed to one.
Meanwhile the actual cause is often something that changed at the same time: a new case, a phone dropped, a tag that has been in a pocket for months, a magnetic mount fitted last week.
Test with a tag you know works, on a phone with no case, before concluding anything. That single test separates a phone problem from everything else.
And test a second phone that received the same update. If it reads fine, the update is not the explanation.
When it is a real regression
Genuine regressions do happen. The signature is that several devices of the same model, all updated, all fail in the same way, and none of the ordinary checks helps.
That is a manufacturer issue and it is resolved by a subsequent update rather than by anything you can do.
Report it through the manufacturer's own channel rather than a forum, since that is the only route that reaches whoever can fix it.
In the meantime, check whether reading works from inside an application even if it fails in the background. Partial function is worth knowing about and is a useful detail in a report.
What not to do
Do not factory reset on the strength of an online answer. It is the most commonly recommended step for this symptom and the least often necessary, and it costs you a day.
Do not install an application promising to repair or re enable NFC. There is nothing for such software to do, since the capability is controlled by the system.
Do not roll back the system, which is usually impossible and occasionally damaging.
Do the free checks, wait for the next update, and use the phone from inside an application in the meantime if that works.
Frequently asked questions
Can an update disable NFC permanently?
Not in the sense of removing the hardware. Software regressions happen and are resolved by later updates.
Should I roll back the update?
Generally you cannot, and attempting it introduces more risk than the fault. The ordinary checks are a better use of the time.
Why do so many answers say factory reset?
Because it occasionally coincides with a fix and is easy to recommend. It is rarely necessary and it costs a day of your time.
How do I know it is a real regression?
Several devices of the same model failing identically after the same update, with all ordinary checks passing. One device is not evidence.