How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge that’s stuck in bootloop or recovery booting [Troubleshooting Guide]

When your #Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (#S7Edge) is stuck in bootloop or enters the recovery mode every time you reboot it, it might be a sign of a minor app and firmware problem or a hardware issue. But you should also know that it might also be a sign of a more serious problem and you may need a tech’s help to get it figured out.

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Bootloop happens a lot especially during firmware updates and when it does, the user usually doesn’t have any idea what’s going on as it occurs when you least expect it. Before you actually employ help from a technician, it is imperative you do some troubleshooting procedures to see if you can fix it on your own because the fact is that this problem can be fixed without help from anybody provided the issue is minor.

The purpose of this troubleshooting post is to know whether the problem is minor and if it can be fixed by you. I will walk you through in troubleshooting your device and while we want to fix the problem, we always want to use the safest of methods.

Now, before anything else, if  you have other concerns with your device, make sure you visit our troubleshooting page for the S7 Edge as we already answered hundreds of questions from users. Odds are that there are already solutions to your problems and all you got to do is find them. You may also contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire and please make sure you provide us with important details about the problem. The more information you provide the easier it would be for us to give you more accurate solutions.

Troubleshooting Galaxy S7 Edge that’s stuck in bootloop

We don’t want to cause more trouble to your device so we don’t suggest procedures that can potentially cause problems when executed incorrectly by average users. If you own a device as powerful as the S7 Edge, I am certain you already have a clue as to how much you know and how capable you are in fixing issues. You may not follow the procedures I cited here but for average users, please follow them correctly.

Step 1: Connect the phone to the computer or charger

This is hitting two birds with one stone; you would know immediately how the device reacts the moment it detects current is flowing through its circuits and whether or not it boots up normally once there’s a more stable power source.

Normally, the S7 Edge will display the charging icon on the screen and lights up the LED indicator at the top of the screen when it charges. That is if the hardware has no issue whatsoever. So, if this is what’s happening with your phone when you connect it to your computer or charger, then everything might just be fine with it. Allow it to charge for 10 minutes and then attempt to turn it on and see if boots up successfully.

This is an important step because there are times when you need to bump up the battery of your device so it could continue giving out power, although this is more effective in cases wherein the phone refuses to turn on. But in this case, we are simply trying to find out if the potential firmware issue can be fixed by this simple procedure.

Firmware issues may also result to bootloops in fact, during updates there is always a possibility that the device boots up longer than usual or won’t boot up normally at all. Bumping the battery may fix the problem, too or connecting the phone to the computer may bridge the device to yet another device that wants to “access” it, thus getting it out of being frozen. Things like these happen all the time and I’ve encountered some of them personally and what we’re trying to do here is exhausting all possible situations.

The tell-tale signs that the phone is fine is when it charges normally when connected to a charger or computer and that the charging icons or signs are showing. If the computer detects and recognizes it normally, that is also another sign your device is doing good.

Step 2: Try booting the device in safe mode

Aside from the fact that we all know about the safe mode, it is actually the diagnostic state for the device. Meaning, only pre-installed apps and default services are running during bootup, so if the problem (being stuck in bootloop or recovery state) is caused by a third-party app, the phone may probably bootup in safe mode successfully. So, here’s how you boot your device in safe mode…

  1. Press and hold the Power key.
  2. As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
  3. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
  4. You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.

If your phone boots up in safe mode, then it’s clear that some third-parties are causing the problem. The next task would be to find the culprit and either disable or uninstall them. That’s the good thing about them because they are dispensable; you can get rid of them without fearing for some adverse effects on your phone except, of course, for some data loses.

I understand some people may think booting in safe mode is futile because it is not a fix in the first place. You restart your phone in this state to isolate the problem so it’s safe to say that you’re still in discovery state and don’t even think that finding the culprit is easy because it’s not. You need to go through each of the app and then do some trials and errors before you can discover which one is causing…that is if you’re lucky. If you find it very difficult to determine which app is causing the problem, one easy solution is to do the reset. However, you will have to go through all the hassles of backing up your data.

Step 3: Delete the system cache or wipe the cache partition

You do this if you haven’t done the reset already. Deleting the system cache will force your device to create new ones and those new sets of files may just work properly with the system. The thing is system caches can easily get corrupted during updates and frequently turning on and off of the phone may also lead to the same problem. So, after doing the first two steps and the problem persists, then this is the next thing you should do:

  1. Turn off the phone.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  8. Wait until your phone is finished wiping the cache partition. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

Step 4: It’s time you did the master reset

The master reset is necessary if the wiping of the cache partition didn’t yield any results. As I said in the second step, a reset might be necessary if you can’t find the app that’s causing the problem. However, if the problem still occurs in safe mode, that’s another sign that you really need to do this because apparently it’s a firmware issue. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key. NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds. NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

The reason why this procedure always comes last is because of the hassle you may encounter backing up your data and files. Samsung, of course, has a suite you can use to make things a bit easier–Smart Switch.

I hope things will work out fine after this.

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