Speed up a slow Android device

Try the steps on this page if your phone:

  • Runs very slowly
  • Lags
  • Takes a long time to respond

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

Important: You're using a custom Android version. If these steps don't work for you, check with your device manufacturer.Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 8.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Troubleshoot your connection for slowness

  1. Check your network and connection settings. Learn how to connect to the Internet.
  2. If you still have Internet connection issues, contact your network administrator, Internet Service Provider (ISP) or mobile operator. 

Troubleshoot your phone for slowness

Restart your phone
  1. On most phones, press your phone's power button for about 30 seconds, until your phone restarts.
  2.  On the screen, you might need to tap Restart Restart.
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 and then 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 and 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 for slowness

Check for app updates

Check if an update for the Camera app is available:

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

Check if an Android system update is available:

  1. Open your phone’s Settings app.
  2. Tap System.
  3. Tap Software updates.
  4. Tap System update.
  5. 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 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 to be causing your problem. Go to the next step. If the problem doesn't go away, skip to Advanced troubleshooting.

Restart your phone normally and 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.

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.

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