Two of the most common signs that your Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has a serious firmware issue is when it starts to crash and freeze. But the thing about these issues is that they may be very easy to fix or, at least, there’s a chance you can fix them on your own. We know a couple of things that may make your phone run smoothly as before since it’s not the first time our readers contacted us about this problem.
In this post, I will tackle this problem once again but this time the subject of our troubleshooting will be the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. We will consider every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can determine the reason why your phone crashes or freezes for a while. This troubleshooting guide will of course be focused on making your phone work perfectly again so if you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently bugged by a similar concern, read on as you may find this post helpful.
Before we proceed, if you are looking for a solution to a different problem, then drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues reported by our readers. Browse through the page to find issues that are similar with yours and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If you still need our help after that, then contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.
Troubleshooting Galaxy Note 8 that keeps freezing and crashing
We’ve seen a lot of cases, wherein third-party apps cause conflicts in the system and as a result, the phone will keep on freezing every a few seconds or so and there are times when it totally crashes and becomes unresponsive. Freezing issue might seem like a minor problem but it could be a sign of a more serious issue in the system that’s why it’s imperative we begin our troubleshooting ruling out the possibility that it’s just an app-related issue. With all that being said, here are the things you need to do about this…
Force Restart your Galaxy Note 8
This is to rule out the possibility that these issues are due to some inconsistencies in the system. By doing the forced restart procedure, the phone will simulate battery disconnect which will refresh its memories and start it up normally.
All you need to do is press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key together for 10 seconds. Your phone will then reboot normally and once it becomes active, continue your observation to know if the crashes and freezes still remain. And if they do, move on to the next procedure.
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Observe your Note 8 in Safe mode
As I mentioned earlier, there’s always a possibility that these issues are caused by an app or two that’s why in this section I want you to observe your phone in Safe mode. In this environment, all third-party apps will be temporarily disabled so if one of them is causing the problem, the crashes and freezes will not occur. This is how you start your Note 8 in safe mode…
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
- 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 your phone can successfully start in this mode, the next thing you should do is find the app that’s causing the issue and then uninstall it. You may have to uninstall more than one app and reboot your phone countless times to fix this issue.
- From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
- Tap Settings > Apps.
- Tap the desired application in the default list or tap 3 dots icon > Show system apps to display preinstalled apps.
- Tap the desired application.
- Tap Uninstall.
- Tap Uninstall again to confirm.
On the other hand, if the phone crashes or freezes even in safe mode or even you finished uninstalling suspected apps, then move on to the next method.
Delete all system caches so they’ll be replaced
After the safe mode method and the problem still persists, then it’s time to look at this problem from another angle as it’s possible that it’s a firmware issue. First, we’ll go after the system caches; some of them may have been corrupted and caused this problem so we’ll try to delete all of them so that they will be replaced with new ones…
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the green 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 to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Continue your observation to know if your phone’s performance improved and that both the crashes and freezes are gone. If nothing changed, then the next method might help.
Reset all settings in your phone
This is basically just like a factory reset only that none of your files and data will be deleted, only the settings. It’s very effective in fixing problems that have something to do with incorrect settings in your device. It’s safe, easy to do and effective and I urge you to follow these steps to see if this procedure can make a difference…
- From a Home screen, swipe up or down from the center of the display to access the apps screen.
- Navigate: Settings Settings icon > Backup and reset.
- From the Reset section, tap Reset settings.
- Review the info then tap RESET SETTINGS.
- If presented, enter the current PIN, password, or pattern.
- To confirm, review the info then tap RESET SETTINGS.
If the freezes and crashes continue after doing this, then you have no other choice but to reset your phone.
Backup your files and do the master reset
At this point, you should perform the master reset on your device as it can surely fix the problem. The reason why it comes at the end of this troubleshooting guide is because of the hassle you may have to go through in backing up your personal files and data and considering your device crashes and freezes, that would make the process a bit complicated. Nonetheless, do your best to make a backup of files you don’t want to lose. After which, make sure to take note of your Google ID and password as you will be needing those to setup your phone after the reset. Once everything is set and ready, follow these steps to reset your phone:
- 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.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
- When the green 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 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 that this troubleshooting guide can help you fix a problem or two with your phone. If you need further assistance, feel free to contact us any time.
Articles you may also like to read:
- What to do if your Samsung Galaxy Note 8 gets stuck on Verizon screen [Troubleshooting Guide]
- What to do with your Samsung Galaxy Note8 that keeps restarting / rebooting [Troubleshooting Guide]
- How to fix Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Black Screen of Death [Troubleshooting Guide]
- Fix Galaxy Note8 that gets stuck on the Samsung logo [Troubleshooting Guide]
I’ve got a $940 brand new phone and I have to act like an IT guy to determine which app it is that’s causing a problem? My phone has been freezing since it was new and I’ve tried various fixes but it only freezes when the phone is not in use. I am mightily pissed off because I cannot get a new phone because I bought mine through samsung.com. I have to send it in and be without a phone for 2 weeks until hopefully they could determine what the problem is. They may have to take my phone apart, and install some new hardware like a motherboard. I spent $940 on a refurbished phone.