How do you fix an Android phone that’s freezing?

There’s no doubt about smartphones flooding into the market are more powerful by the day. To better address increasing user needs for data and processing speed, manufacturers are coming up with devices that have more powerful CPU, bigger RAM, and larger storage. However, it’s not uncommon to see an Android phone freeze. This issue can particularly be annoying especially if it keeps on happening. So you can imagine how frustrated you get when your phone freezes just when you’re about to get on that important call about a business partnership or something important.

Optimize your device

There are many reasons why your phone could be freezing every now and then. For once, you might have persistent issues with your apps and screens. Before you resolve to any extreme measure (factory reset in this case), you want to make sure that you do everything possible to see whether you can resolve the problem more easily. Remove all apps that you do not use, clear your cache, and delete anything that doesn’t add value to your Android smartphone experience. Read this article on how to optimize your phone and follow the easy steps. If the phone gets a freeze after you do this, the only solid remedy is to do a factory reset.

Conduct a factory reset

The Android operating system is equipped with a rollback feature that mitigates situations like this. Essentially, what this feature does is that it returns your device to factory defaults. The preferred fix involves conducting a factory reset from the Backup & Reset screen.

A.     Preferred method

Open the ‘Settings’ app to launch the settings menu. Tap to select the Backup & Reset.

1. In the menu that appears, select the ‘Factory Data Reset’ or “Reset Phone” option that appears at the bottom. You’ll be presented with a warning screen saying that all software and settings data saved on the phone’s internal storage will be erased. This includes your Google account, downloaded apps, any system and app data or settings, music, photos and other user data. There’s also an option to “Erase SD Card” (if could also show as “Erase All Data”). If you also intend to format your SD storage during the reset, turn on the checkbox beside this option. You can leave it empty if you want to keep files you have saved on the SD card.
2. Tap ‘Reset Phone’. Have it in mind that Android’s master reset takes a couple of minutes to complete. Once the process carries through to conclusion, the device will either reboot automatically, or you’ll be presented with a dialog prompting you to press the reboot button. Once the phone is back up again, the original factory software and settings will be restored. This resolves whatever problem could have been causing the phone to freeze.

B.     Alternate method

Alternatively, you can do a hard reset when the phone is off (remove then reinsert the battery to make sure the phone is off).

1. Press a combination of keys to launch the Android system recovery on your device. This usually entails holding the Volume Down key then the Power button key on top of that (the combination could be different depending on your device).
2. Release both keys when the Android recovery menu shows.
3. Scroll down (using the Volume Down key) to the ‘Factory Reset’ option, then select using the Power key. Your device will perform a master reset and wipe all data.
4. You’ll be presented with a ‘Reboot System Now’ option. Press on the Power Button to reboot your phone. Everything should work fine now and you shouldn’t suffer from any unnecessary freezes.

It’s important to note that important data will (or may) be deleted from your device during the reset process. Backup all your data in advance before going through with this process.

Image Source: Digital Trends