Fix an Android device that's restarting or crashing

Try the following steps if your phone has any of these problems:

Randomly reboots or restarts
Shuts down without restarting
Restarts constantly: Go to the Advanced troubleshooting section.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Troubleshoot your phone

Important: Settings can vary by phone. For more info, contact your device manufacturer.

Open your phone's Settings app.
Near the bottom, tap System Software update.
- If needed, first tap About phone or About tablet.
When the update status appears on your screen, follow the steps.

On most phones, you can check how much storage you have available in the settings app. Settings can vary by phone. For more info, contact your device manufacturer.

Your phone can start having issues when less than 10% of storage is free. If you're running low on storage, learn how to free up space.

Troubleshoot apps on your phone

Check for app updates

Check if an update for the Camera app is available:

Open the Google Play Store app .
At the top right, tap the Profile icon.
Tap Manage apps and devices.
Under 'Updates available', install any updates available for Pixel Camera.

Check if an Android system update is available:

Open your phone’s Settings app.
Tap System.
Tap Software updates.
Tap System update.
Tap Check for update.

Close apps that you're not using

You can usually force stop an app through your phone’s settings app. Settings can vary by phone. For more info, contact your device manufacturer.

Tip: To help to identify which apps are causing problems, make a list of the apps that you force stop.

Find out if an app causes your problem

Restart in safe mode

Important: Safe mode temporarily turns off all downloaded apps.

Restarting in safe mode varies by phone. To find out how to restart your phone in safe mode, visit your manufacturer’s support site.

Step 2: Check if the problem goes away

Check if the problem goes away. If it does, an app is likely to be causing your problem. Go to the next step. If the problem does not go away, skip to Advanced troubleshooting.

Step 3: Restart your phone normally and check apps

Restart your phone.
One by one, remove recently downloaded apps. Learn how to delete apps.
After each removal, restart your phone normally. See whether removing that app solved the problem.
After you remove the app that caused the problem, you can add back the other apps that you removed. Learn how to reinstall apps.

Advanced troubleshooting

Remove cases and external batteries

If you’ve put a case, external battery pack or other accessory on your phone, try taking it off while you troubleshoot.

Make sure that external accessories don’t cover your phone’s sensors or touch its buttons.

Consider resetting your phone to factory settings

Important: A factory data reset will remove all data from your phone. You can restore any data stored in your Google Account, but all apps and their associated data are uninstalled. Before you perform a factory data reset, back up your phone.

Tips:

If your phone doesn't respond or stays blank, you can use your phone's buttons to trigger a factory data reset.
If an app that you downloaded caused the issue and you reinstall that app, the problem could come back.