How to fix Samsung Galaxy J5 that’s stuck in bootloop [Troubleshooting Guide]

We’ve been receiving complaints from our readers recently about their Samsung Galaxy J5 that reportedly entered the boot loop and can’t get out of it. Boot loops are actually firmware issues but there have been cases wherein third-party apps and services caused the device not to boot up successfully. There have also been situations wherein a technical problem caused the phone to keep restarting.

So, in this post, I will tackle this issues once again with the Galaxy J5 being the subject of our troubleshooting. We will look into possible causes and rule out each one of them until we can pinpoint what the problem is all about. If you own this device and are currently having issues booting up, then continue reading below as this post may be able to help you.

But before we jump right into our troubleshooting, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed a lot of issues with this device. Try to find problems that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

Troubleshooting Galaxy J5 that’s stuck in bootloop

We always want to help our readers especially those who are reaching out to us for assistance. While we don’t suggest procedures that can potentially damage the phone, things might happen while you’re troubleshooting so please proceed with caution and at your own risk. Now, before we jump to our troubleshooting steps, here’s one of the messages we received from our readers that best describes this problem…

Problem: I own the Galaxy J5 and it has a problem booting up. It cannot continue turning on to the home screen like it used to but it keeps restarting. It turns on, shows the logo, show a black screen, vibrate and then turns on again. The cycle never ends until the battery is drained. I don’t know what to do about it so if you could help me, that would be great. I’m thinking of going to a shop but I’ll give it a shot with you guys. The problem, by the way, started about two days ago. Thanks.

Troubleshooting: Based on our experience, getting stuck in bootloop is a minor problem and can easily be fixed by basic troubleshooting procedures unless you tried to modify the firmware, which is a different story. But assuming you didn’t attempt to root or modify the operating system, then here’s what you have to do:

Step 1: Verify the Power key is not stuck

As what our reader said in his message, the phone turns on, shows the logo, then the black screen and followed by  a vibration. It’s sign that the phone tries to boot up but turns off just before it reaches the home screen. With this behavior, we can say that the problem might be with the power key. It might be stuck for some reason and that might be the cause why the phone is in boot loop. In which case, your device won’t respond when you press and hold the Power key.

To try to fix this, press and release the power key for several times until the loop is broken and your phone finally boots up successfully. If, however, the Power key doesn’t snap when you press it and it doesn’t appear to be stuck, then it might be damaged. You will need a technician to fix it for you if this the case.

Step 2: Charge your phone to see if the phone still restarts

Just plug it in to see if it still reboots even with a stable power source. If the problem is fixed, then the battery might be the problem. In this case, remove the battery and physically inspect it for lumps and leaks. If you see something unusual, discard the battery and buy a new one or you may consult a technician about it. However, if everything looks perfectly normal, place the battery back in and make sure it’s fit in properly and secured by the back cover. Move on to the next step…

Step 3: Attempt to boot your phone in safe mode

We know that the phone isn’t booting up successfully in normal mode so we need to try to boot it in safe mode to see if it can. As I said earlier, it’s possible that one or some of the apps is causing the problem so we have to isolate it to know if it’s a third-party or a built-in one.

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’.

Step 4: Uninstall suspected apps

Assuming your J5 successfully booted up in safe mode, it means that third-party apps have something to do with it. You need to find those apps and then clear their caches and data. If that won’t work then you have to uninstall them one by one until the phone can successfully boot up in normal mode.

How to clear app cache and data on Galaxy J5

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

How to uninstall an app from your Galaxy J5

1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Applications.
4. Tap Application manager.
5. Tap the desired application
6. Tap Uninstall.
7. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

If finding the culprits and uninstalling them seems a lot of work, then you can try backing up your file and data while in safe mode and then just reset your phone:

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. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Backup and reset.
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 Factory data reset.
8. Tap Reset device.
9. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
10. Tap Continue.
11. Tap Delete all.

If the phone failed to boot in safe mode, then you have no other choice but to move on to the next step.

Step 5: Attempt to boot in recovery mode

Booting in recovery mode should be the last thing you have to do before you send the phone in for repair in necessary. If successful, you can do a couple of things that might just fix the problem. The first one is to wipe the cache partition which replaces all system caches and the second procedure is a reset, which brings your phone back to its original configuration. Here’s how you boot your phone 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.

And this is how you boot your phone in recovery mode and do the master reset…

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 data / factory reset.’
6. Press Power button to select.
7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

I hope this helps.

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