How to fix Samsung Galaxy J3 that shows “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error [Troubleshooting Guide]

The error message “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” in your Samsung Galaxy J3 phone is one of the most common errors you may encounter from time to time for as long as you’re using Android. It basically means that the built-in multimedia manager called gallery has stopped working for some reason. It may be due to an app problem or it could also be a sign of a serious firmware issue. We don’t know for sure what the case is just be looking at this error.

In this post, I will help you troubleshoot your phone that’s plagued by this error. We’ll look into every possibility and rule them out one by one until we arrive at a point wherein it would be a lot easier to determine the issue because in that case, we would be able to formulate a solution that might get rid of the error and prevent it from happening again in the future. If you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently bugged by this problem, continue reading below as this post may help you.

Before we jump right into our troubleshooting, if you have other issues, drop by our Galaxy J3 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed many issues with this phone since we started supporting it. Try to find problems that are similar with yours and use the troubleshooting procedures or solutions we suggested. Should you need further assistance from us, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit. Don’t worry, it’s free.

How to troubleshoot your Galaxy J3 with “Gallery has stopped” error

Problem: Hello. My phone is a Galaxy J3 I  bought in December. I don’t have any problems with it except one and it keeps showing “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” when I open the camera. Consequently, I can’t take photos or record videos because the moment I open the camera, the error shows but it doesn’t say about the camera. It’s a bit confusing on my part because I’m not really good with technology. Can you help me out?

Troubleshooting: Both the camera and gallery apps work together when you take pictures or record videos. The former take the actual pictures while the latter manages them. Needless to say, when you open the camera, the gallery must also be running and the fact is, both are loaded when the phone boots up. So, it’s not really surprising that one app may cause the other to crash and such is the case with your phone. For this, here’s what you need to do…

Step 1: Clear the cache and data of the Gallery app

While it’s clear that the camera is the one that triggers the error, we have to go after the app that’s actually crashing so in this case, it’s the Gallery app. It’s a built-in app so we just can’t remove or uninstall it. Instead, we just need to clear its cache and data to reset it. If the problem is limited to the app only, this procedure is enough to fix the problem and get rid of the error. So, try to follow these steps to reset Gallery…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Gallery.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.

You should immediately know if the problem is fixed by opening either the camera or the gallery but assuming the problem still occurs, the next step is necessary.

Step 2: Clear the cache and data of the Camera app

It’s now time to go after the app that triggers the issue since the error still occurs after you’ve reset gallery. Don’t worry, none of your pictures and videos will be deleted when you do this so it’s actually safe.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Gallery.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.

If the error still shows up after this, then it’s time to look at this problem at a different angle.

Step 3: Run your phone in Safe mode and trigger the error

There might be a third-party app that’s causing the problem so it’s now time to isolate the issue. Just run your phone in Safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party apps. If this error is caused by one or some of the apps you installed, then it shouldn’t show up in safe mode.

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

Assuming the error doesn’t show up in this mode, it’s clear that one or some of the apps you installed is causing the problem. If you don’t have a clue as to which of those app is causing, you better find out if there are apps that need to be updated as it might be just a compatibility problem.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Play Store.
  3. Tap the Menu key and then tap My Apps. To keep your apps automatically updated, tap the Menu key, tap Settings, and then tap Auto-update apps to select the check box.
  4. Choose one of the following options:
    • Tap Update [xx] to update all applications with updates available.
    • Tap an individual application and then tap Update to update a single application.

However, if you are already suspecting an app or two, try clearing its cache and data or even uninstall it to find out if it’s the culprit.

How to clear apps caches and data on Galaxy J3

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap Menu icon > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
  7. Tap Clear cache.

How to uninstall applications from your Galaxy J3

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap Menu icon > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  5. Tap Uninstall.
  6. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

If the error still shows up in safe mode or after you did all this, then it’s time troubleshoot the firmware.

Step 3: Wipe cache partition

It’s possible this problem is caused by some corrupt caches and since we can’t tell which cache is corrupt and which is not, we just have to delete all of them at once. Don’t worry, they will automatically be rebuilt once the phone boots up and none of your files and data will be deleted so it’s a safe procedure. All you need to do is boot your phone up in Recovery mode and wipe cache partition:

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key.
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
  8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Step 4: Backup your files and data and reset your phone

After wiping the cache partition and the phone still shows the “Gallery has stopped” error, then it’s time to reset your phone. The error is often a minor problem and a reset will always take care of it. The reason why this procedure always comes at the end of our troubleshooting is because of the hassle it entails in backing up your files and data prior to the reset and restoring them after.

Before you actually reset your phone, make sure to disable the Factory Reset Protection so you won’t be locked of your device…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Cloud and accounts.
  4. Tap Accounts.
  5. Tap Google.
  6. Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
  7. Tap Menu.
  8. Tap Remove account.
  9. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to perform the Master Reset on your Galaxy J3

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off the device.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  5. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  6. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  7. Press Power button to select.
  8. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  9. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  10. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  11. Press the Power key to restart the device.

You can also reset your phone from the Settings menu if you like…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Cloud and accounts.
  4. Tap Backup and restore.
  5. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  6. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  7. Tap the back key twice to return to the Settings menu, then tap General Management.
  8. Tap Reset.
  9. Tap Factory data reset.
  10. Tap Reset device.
  11. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
  12. Tap Continue.
  13. Tap Delete all.

I hope this helps.

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