How to fix Samsung Galaxy J7 that keeps freezing or lagging [Troubleshooting Guide]

Over time when you’ve accumulated a lot of data in your phone, it will start to slow down and then starts to freeze or lag. Such is the case of some of our readers who own the Samsung Galaxy J7, a mid-range device with pretty decent specs.

There are times when this kind of problem is caused by one of the apps you downloaded. More often, the app crashes and creates conflict in the system, which would result to this kind of problem. It might be easy to fix but determining what the real problem is is the challenge. That is why we need to troubleshoot the device to be able to find out the cause and find a way to fix the issue.

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy J7 that freezes and/or lags from time to time. We will try to rule out possibilities until we can tell what the cause is, what the problem is all about and what needs to be done to fix it. So, if you own this phone, continue reading below to know what to do.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

Troubleshooting Galaxy J7 that keeps freezing / lagging

The purpose of this troubleshooting guide is for us to know what the real problem is so we can do something about it. While we want to help out our readers, there are issues that we, too, cannot fix especially that we cannot conduct tests on the device. But don’t let that stop you from doing something that might fix the problem. Now, before we proceed, here’s one of the problems sent by our readers just so you know how this problem occurs…

“Hello droid guy. I’ve been following your blog since I got myself a Galaxy S3 in 2013. Now, I’m using the Galaxy J7. It’s been with me since 2016 and I’m quite satisfied by its performance until recently when it started to freeze up on me. There are also times when it becomes really, really slow. I just want my phone to be working perfectly again, so if you can help me out with this, that would be great. Thanks in advance.”

Now that we know how this problem occurs, it’s time we do our troubleshooting and this is what I suggest you do:

Step 1: Reboot your phone in safe mode to know if it still freezes

Starting the phone up in safe mode will temporarily disable all third-party apps and if one of them is causing the problem, then it should lag or freeze in that state. In which case, all you have to do is find the app that’s causing the problem to fix it.

1. Power off your Galaxy J7. Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off and then touch POWER OFF to confirm.
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’.

Finding the culprit is easy to do but if you have a lot of apps, it becomes really challenging. So, begin your search with apps that you installed close to the time the problem started. Once found, you may try clearing its cache and data first but if that doesn’t work, then you have to uninstall it. Please take note that clearing the cache and data may delete your settings for that app as well as the data you’ve accumulated.

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

You may have to uninstall more than one app to find the problem so be patient.

Step 2: Wipe cache partition so caches will be replaced

System caches that are corrupt or obsolete can also cause this kind of problem or any other performance issues. It’s recommended you delete them from time to time so they will be replaced with new ones but since you really don’t have access to individual caches, you just have to delete all of them at once and you can do that by booting your device up in recovery mode:

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.

Once the phone becomes active and ready, try to observe it if the freezes and lags are still there and if so, then you have no other choice but to reset your device.

Step 3: Perform the Master Reset on your Galaxy J7

Freezes and lags might be just some minor problems but they can also just be signs for a more serious issue. So, if the first two steps failed to fix the problem, then you need to reset your phone to bring it back to its factory default settings. However, you may lose all your files and data including your picture, videos and contacts if you didn’t make a backup.

Prior to the reset, make sure you disable the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) or the anti-theft feature of your device so you won’t be locked out of it after the reset. Here’s how…

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

After this, it’s time to reset your device and we suggest you reset through the recovery mode as it formats both the cache and data partitions. This is how you do it:

1. Turn off your Galaxy J7.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up button 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.

Alternatively, you can also try to reset your phone through the Settings menu…

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Backup and reset.
4. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
5. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
6. Tap Factory data reset.
7. Tap Reset device.
8. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your PIN or password.
9. Tap Continue.
10. Tap Delete all.

If the problem still persists after this, try to check if it suffered liquid or physical damage but even if it didn’t, you still have to let the tech check it for you.

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