Why does Gallery keeps crashing on my Samsung Galaxy A5? Here's how you fix it…

When the Gallery app crashes, you might be seeing the error message “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” or the app closes by itself without any warning at all. We have addressed a lot of issues like this in the past so you can rest assured we know what to do about it. While it’s often a minor problem, we’ve encountered cases wherein the error is just a sign of a more serious firmware issue. Gallery is one of the core apps and if it crashes, there might be a problem with the firmware itself since apps like this are deeply integrated into the system.

So in this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy A5 that’s bugged with a crashing app. We will try to look into every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can determine what the problem is and what needs to be done to get rid of the error as well as fix the problem for good. If you’re one of the owners of this phone and are currently bugged by the same problem, then continue reading below as this post may help you.

But before we go to our proper troubleshooting, if you happen to find this page because you were looking for solutions to a different problem, then I suggest you visit our Galaxy A5 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed the most commonly reported issues with this phone and you may find what you’re looking for in there. Feel free to use the solutions and workarounds we provided. If they don’t work for you or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and then hit submit and we’ll do our best to help you.

Troubleshooting Galaxy A5 with its Gallery app that keeps crashing

So that we can understand better why Gallery crashes in the first place, we have to look into every possibility…

The camera might be causing the problem
It might be a temporary issue with the app or the firmware
The problem might be with the Gallery alone
Third-party apps might be triggering the error
Your phone may have a serious firmware problem

We will be basing our troubleshooting in these possibilities and here’s what I suggest you do about this problem…

Step 1: Force restart your phone for it might be a temporary issue

Gallery is one of the core apps, when it crashes, there’s a chance it’s caused by a firmware problem or it could be just a minor glitch in the app itself. To rule out this possibility, you don’t have to do something complicated. In fact, just the forced reboot will fix the glitches and this is how you do it:

Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key together for 10 seconds.

Your phone reboot normally but it’s memory has already been refreshed. Open the Gallery and if the error still shows up, then move on to the next step.

Step 2: Clear the cache and data of the Gallery and Camera apps

The Camera and Gallery work together when you’re taking pictures or even recording videos. One may cause the other to crash that’s why in this step, we will troubleshoot both. For now let’s assume this problem is limited to an app issue, so the most logical thing to do is reset both the camera and gallery:

From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
Tap Settings.
Tap Applications.
Tap Application manager.
Tap Gallery or Camera.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear cache.
Tap Clear data and then tap OK.

Don’t worry about your pictures and videos as none of them will be deleted when you do this.

Step 3: Reboot your phone in Safe mode and open Gallery

After resetting both the Camera and Gallery and the problem still persists, then it’s time to look at this problem at a different angle; may be one or some of the apps you installed is causing the problem. So in this step, start your phone up in Safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party apps. If one of the apps you installed is causing the problem, the error won’t show up in this 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’.

Step 4: Uninstall third-party apps that may be causing the problem

If the problem doesn’t show up in safe mode, then this is the next thing you should do: find and uninstall the app you think is causing the problem. After uninstalling an app, reboot your phone in normal mode and verify that the problem is fixed.

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.

You may have to uninstall more than one app to fix the problem and reboot your phone countless times.

Step 5: Reset all settings in your Galaxy A5

You only have to do this procedure if the Gallery app also crashes in Safe mode because it means the problem isn’t with the app but with the firmware. But we’ll assume that it’s not really a serious firmware problem and just due to some incorrect settings. With that in mind, the most logical thing to do is reset all settings of your phone, which brings it back to its factory default settings without deleting your personal files and data:

From a Home screen, touch and swipe up or down to display all apps.
From a Home screen, navigate: Settings > Backup and reset.
Tap Reset settings.
Tap Reset settings, to confirm.
If applicable, enter the PIN, password or pattern.
Tap Reset settings

After this and the problem still persists, then you will have to do the full master reset.

Step 6: Backup your files and reset your phone

Unlike the previous procedure, this kind of reset will delete every bit of third-party information in your phone including your apps, settings, files, and more. It will also bring the phone back to its factory default settings. So, make sure you make a backup of your important files and data and disable Factory Reset Protection so you won’t be locked out before you reset your device.

How to disable the Factory Reset Protection on your Galaxy A5

From the Home screen, tap the Apps tray.
Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts.
Tap Accounts.
Tap Google.
Tap on your Google ID email address if multiple accounts are setup. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
Tap 3 dot icon.
Tap Remove account.
Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to Factory Reset your Samsung Galaxy A5

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds, then ‘No command’ 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.

What we did here is rule out every possibility and I hope this troubleshooting guide can help you one way or the other.

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