Android Phone Restart

Sometimes, when your Android device is lagging, if apps are opening slowly or some parts of the OS simply don’t work as you would like them to, a way to fix them is reboot or reset.

Difference between Soft and Hard reboot

You might think that the words hard and soft in this context would specify the “reboot intensity”, as ridiculous as this might sound. To some extend you’re right. The words Soft and Hard come from SOFTware and HARDware.

That means that if you are using software to reboot your Android phone, it’s a SOFT reboot (like rebooting the usual way). Pulling the battery would be a HARD reboot, since it involved the device’s hardware.

Restart your phone

One of the simpler methods with dealing with issues on your device is just to restart it. If you’ve still got access to controls on your device and it’s responding, you just need to hold down the Sleep/Power button for a few seconds.

A notification will pop up and present you with some different options based on what kind of ROM you’re running. You can select Power Off and wait a few seconds for the device to turn off. From there, just hold down the power button until it boots up again.

Force Restart

If your phone is truly frozen then the above method of restarting your device may not be entirely feasible. If so, you can force your device to restart on its own. On most Android devices, you can force restart your device by holding the Sleep/Power button at the same time as holding the Volume Down button. Hold this combo until the phone screen goes blank and then you hand hold Sleep/Power button until your phone boots up again.

Please note, this varies from device to device as to what button combo performs a force restart. On the Nexus 7, you have to hold down the Sleep/Power button and both volume buttons for a few seconds. If in doubt, please refer to your device documentation in order to figure out how to perform a force restart on your device.

Another method of force restarting your phone, if you can do so, is by removing the battery. If you’ve got a device with a replaceable battery, you can simply slip off the cover, remove the battery for a few seconds, replace it and the cover, and then fire up the phone again.

Restart Android in Safe Mode

Safe mode is indispensable when it comes to troubleshooting pesky software problems on your computer. But have you ever wished that a similar feature existed on your Android device? It does, and it’s easy to use: Here’s how to restart your Android phone into safe mode.

Press and hold your phone’s power button for a few seconds until Android prompts you to turn off your phone—just as you would normally do to power it down. Next, tap and hold Power off for a few seconds until your phone asks you to confirm that you want to enter safe mode. Tap OK, and your phone will restart into safe mode.

Are you sure you want to restart into safe mode? If so, tap OK. While in safe mode, you won’t be able to open any apps you’ve downloaded onto your phone, and a “Safe mode” badge will appear in the lower left corner of your screen. You may find safe mode useful if you’re trying to determine whether an issue you’re having with your phone is due to an app you’ve installed, or due to Android itself.

While in safe mode, you won’t be able to open any third-party apps. Android will remind you that you’re in safe mode with a badge in the lower-left corner. Safe mode is all-or-nothing when it comes to disabling third-party apps—you can’t disable, say, just the Dropbox app—but it’s better than nothing.

Once you’re done with safe mode, go ahead and power down your phone as you normally would by pressing and holding the power button, then turn it back on.