Carter whitewashed John Higgins 5–0 in the quarter-finals of the World Open and swept past Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6–1 to play Joe Perry in the final. Carter completed a 10–8 win to take his fourth ranking title and first since 2013, as well as regaining his place in the elite top 16. At the Shanghai Masters he lost 1–5 in the quarter-finals to Stuart Bingham.&lt;ref name="2016/17"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; Carter reached the final of the German Masters by seeing off Martin Gould 6–2 and led Anthony Hamilton 5–2. However, he then lost seven of the next eight frames to be defeated 6–9. Carter beat Shaun Murphy 5–4 and Neil Robertson 5–3 at the Players Championship and then was defeated 4–6 by Judd Trump in the semi-finals. He lost 7–10 to Graeme Dott in the first round of the World Championship.