How to fix your Samsung Galaxy J7 that started running slow [Troubleshooting Guide]
When the phone like the Samsung Galaxy J7 starts running slow after months of use, it doesn’t necessary mean there’s a problem. Perhaps it’s just running low on storage space or some apps may have crashed and affected the performance. Of course, there are also cases wherein the phone slowed down due to an issue with the firmware or a serious problem with the hardware. The point is, we won’t know for sure what’s causing the problem unless we did something to your device.
So, in this post, I will tackle an issue involving the Samsung Galaxy J7, which, according to some of our readers, started to run very slow and it would take forever to open apps. We will try to look into the problem and eliminate one possibility after another until we can pinpoint what the real problem is.
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.
Step-by-step guide to troubleshooting Galaxy J7 that’s running slow
While we don’t suggest procedures that can potentially damage your phone further, things might still happen while you’re troubleshooting so proceed at your own risk. Now, before we jump to the steps, here’s one problem sent by one of our readers that best describes this issue:
Problem: My phone is a Galaxy J7. I know there’s something wrong with it because it takes so long to open the texting app whereas before, it would only take a second or two and I can immediately read the text messages. Now, my phone keeps lagging and when it’s working, it’s very slow. Not really sure what caused this that’s why I’m asking for your help because maybe you have an idea how to bring my phone back to its optimum performance.
Troubleshooting: After months of use, we can expect a device to run a bit slower than its original performance especially if you’re already installed a lot of apps and stored many large documents but it should never be as slow as how our reader described the performance of his phone above. So, for this kind of problem, this is what I suggest you do:
Step 1: Reboot in safe mode try to see if there’s a difference in performance
Such procedure will temporarily disable all third-party apps and this will tell you if there’s a difference in performance when the phone is running with all those installed apps running in the background than when they’re disabled. If your device is running perfectly well in safe mode, then your third-party apps have something to do with the problem. You may have to find the culprits and uninstall them one-by-one until you’re satisfied with how the phone perform. Here’s how you boot your phone in safe mode:
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
- When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
- Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
- Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
- Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
- Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.
Assuming the phone performs well in safe mode, then find the apps that cause the problem, clear their caches and data and if that won’t work, uninstall them one-by-one.
How to clear app cache and data on Galaxy J7
- From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Applications.
- Tap Application manager.
- Tap the desired application in the default list or tap MORE > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
- Tap Storage.
- Tap Clear cache.
- Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
How to uninstall apps from your Galaxy J7
- From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Applications.
- Tap Application manager.
- Tap the desired application
- Tap Uninstall.
- Tap Uninstall again to confirm.
Step 2: Delete all system caches as some of them are corrupt
Your phone creates temporary files when it uses an app or services so that the next time you use them, they will quicker and smoother. These files are called ‘caches’ and they are prone to corruption. When it happens, a lot of performance related issues may occur including this one. So, you have to delete them so that they’ll be replaced with new ones. Here’s how you do it:
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
- 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).
- Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
- Press the Power key to select.
- Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ and press the Power key to select.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
If the phone still runs very slowly after doing this, then do the next step.
Step 3: Backup your files and then do the Master Reset
This problem is basically just a minor one and I’m pretty sure it can be resolved by a reset. But before you do that, be sure to make a backup of your important files as they will be deleted. After the backup, disable the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) or the anti-theft feature so you won’t be locked out of your phone after the reset.
How to disable FRP or anti-theft on Galaxy J7
To turn off the device anti-theft, you will have to sign out of your Google ID on the device and elect to not sign in with a Google ID into any Google services. Once you sign in with a Google ID to any service and setup a PIN, password or fingerprint lock, you are automatically turning on anti-theft. To sign out of your Google ID, follow these steps:
- From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Accounts.
- Tap Google.
- Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
- Tap More.
- Tap Remove account.
- Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.
How to do the Master Reset on your Galaxy J7
A master reset restores the original factory settings and may delete your personal data on the internal storage, such as downloads, ringtones, images, apps, contacts, and Visual Voicemail. It does not delete data stored on the SIM card or SD card.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
- 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).
- Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
I hope this troubleshooting guide helps.
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