Speed up a slow Pixel phone

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 carrier. 

Troubleshoot your phone for slowness

Restart your phone

1. Restart your phone.
   • On Pixel 5a and earlier: Press and hold the Power button for about 30 seconds, or until your phone restarts.
   • On Pixel 6 and later, including Fold: Press and hold the Power button + Volume up button for a few seconds.
2. Tap Restart .

Check for Android updates

1. Open your phone's Settings app.
2. Near the bottom, tap System  Software update.
3. When the update status appears on your screen, follow the steps.

Check storage & clear space

1. Open your phone's Settings app.
2. Tap Storage.
3. See how much storage you have available. Your phone can have issues when less than 10% of storage is available. If you're running low on storage, learn how to free up space.

Troubleshoot apps on your phone for slowness

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

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.

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.

Post your question to a Google forum

For possible solutions to other issues with your phone’s camera, you can post questions on the Google Pixel Help Community or the Pixel Tablet Help Community.

Still have issues with a slow Pixel phone?

If your phone still runs slowly, lags, or takes a long time to respond, you can get help. Learn how to contact us.

Related resources

• Fix a phone that's restarting or crashing
• Fix a phone that freezes or is unresponsive
• Manage storage & memory