How To Fix TouchWiz Freezes / Lags on Samsung Galaxy Note 2

While the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is a powerful smartphone, many owners aren’t happy about its performance especially the ones who have experienced lags and freezes. But the thing is, those annoyances come out not because of the phone’s hardware but because of TouchWiz UI, Samsung’s proprietary application that runs on top of Android operating system.

TouchWiz makes Samsung’s flagship phones look better and way cooler than others. The problem is, the app would become so heavy after months of usage resulting to lags and freezes.

There are no known TouchWiz bugs as of this writing so we cannot expect Samsung to release updates for its custom user interface anytime soon. There are, however, ways on how to fix the issues caused by TW as well as workarounds to remedy its effects.

Clear TW Cache & Data

First of all, since the problem is with the TouchWiz UI, you have to set your focus on it. Among the fixes provided by owners who have experienced the problem is the clearing of TouchWiz cache and data.

You need to clear the cache before clearing its data, then check if there’s an improvement on TouchWiz’s performance. I would even recommend rebooting your phone after doing this procedure. The next procedure, while more effective than the first, could have adverse effects. The most common of it is that your data will be lost including your home screens and settings.

1. From the Home screen, tap the menu key.
2. Tap Settings, then Application Manager.
3. Swipe twice to the left to choose All tab.
4. Scroll down to find TouchWiz and tap on it.
5. Tap Clear Cache.
6. Reboot phone. If the problem persists, tap Clear Data.

Wipe Cache Partition

Again, TouchWiz accumulates a lot of data over time and some of those data are stored in a separate partition. You also have to delete them via the recovery mode. For this, you have to follow a different procedure:

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Press and hold these buttons: Volume Up, Home and Power keys.
3. Now tap on Wipe Cache Partition.
4. Reboot system.

Don’t worry because Android will automatically cache new sets of data upon boot up, this time, they’re fresh and not corrupted. The procedure, however, is sort of “general” in nature because it does not only delete TouchWiz’s data but also the ones used by other applications.

Many claimed to have resolved said problem using this method, so it’s worth a try.

Factory Reset

This is, by far, the most effective way to eliminate lags and freezes in your phone. However, doing this procedure will requires patience not because it is difficult to do but because you will need to backup all of your important data to prevent them from getting deleted indiscriminately.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Menu key.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Touch Backup & Reset.
4. Choose Factory Data Reset.
5. Tap Reset Device, then Delete All.
6. Reboot your phone.

Tell us your problems

The solutions we provided here are based on reports and testimonies from owners who have encountered these problems. I also ask my XDA developer friends regarding some of the problems. Now if you have other problems or questions with your smartphone that you want answered, don’t hesitate to send us email at [email protected].

We don’t guarantee a reply to all emails because we receive hundreds of them daily, but rest assured your email messages will be read by me. But I urge you to provide as much details as possible so I could easily find references and compare your problems with reports from other owners. If your problem is as common as others, there could already be solutions that exist and I would surely point you to them. Screenshots often help so attach one if you can.