Fix an Android device that freezes or won't respond

Try the following steps if your phone:

• Freezes
• Stops responding 
• Is stuck with the screen on

After each step, restart your phone to see if it fixed the issue.

Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 8.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Restart your phone

If your phone is frozen with the screen on, hold down the power button for about 30 seconds to restart.

Troubleshoot your phone

Check for Android updates

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

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

Check storage & clear space

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

1. Open the Google Play Store app .
2. At the top right, tap the profile icon.
3. Tap Manage apps & devices.
4. Under "Updates available," choose to update all apps or a specific app.

Close apps you're not using

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

1. Open your phone's Settings app.
2. Tap Apps See all apps.
3. Tap the app  Force stop OK. 

 

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

Find out whether 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 learn how to restart a phone in safe mode, visit your manufacturer's support site.

Check if the problem goes away

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

Restart your phone normally & check apps

1. Restart your phone.
2. One by one, remove recently downloaded apps. Learn how to delete apps.
3. After each removal, restart your phone normally. See whether removing that app solved the problem.
4. 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

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.

• Learn how to back up and restore data.
• Learn how to perform a factory data reset.

Tips:

• If your phone doesn't respond or stays blank, you can use the 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.

Contact your device manufacturer

If you still have trouble, visit your carrier or manufacturer support site.

Related resources

• Fix a phone that's restarting or crashing
• Speed up a slow phone
• Manage storage & memory