How to fix Galaxy S9 “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” bug [troubleshooting guide]

Today’s troubleshooting article will tell you how to address “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” bug that has been observed on the Galaxy S9. This bug isn’t new and in fact, it’s been one of the perennial errors a lot of Android users have encountered during the past years. It’s not isolated to Samsung devices either so our solutions below may also be applied to other Android devices.

Create a backup

Before you troubleshoot, you must create a backup of your personal data such as photos, videos, documents, among others to avoid losing them. In order to create an image of your operating system as well as its file structure, we suggest that you use Smart Switch. This app will back almost everything up and should you wish so later on, will also allow you to restore your data easily.

Alternatively, you can make use of cloud services at your fingertips. There are several cloud services that you can utilize. You can use cloud services of Google, Samsung, Dropbox, Microsoft, etc.

Once you’ve secured your data, you can then proceed to fixing the issue.

Fix #1: Restart your S9

The “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” bug is a generic error that can be the result of a number of factors so there’s no definitive way to know where it comes from. At times, bugs can be fixed by refreshing the system thru restart. To restart your Galaxy S9, just press and hold the Power button, then select the Restart option.

Fix #2: Cache partition wipe

If restarting your S9 will not help, your next trick is to clear the cache partition. This partition keeps the system cache needed by Android in loading apps quickly and efficiently. Performance problems and sometimes app errors are fixed by clearing the cache partition so be sure to do it.

To clear your S9 cache partition:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the Android logo displays, release all three keys.
4. An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
5. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
6. Press Power key to select.
7. Press the Volume down key to highlight yes, them and press the Power key to select.
8. When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Fix #3: Force Stop Gallery app

While restarting your S9 can achieve the same purpose, force stopping an app directly can sometimes fix errors as well. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Find and tap Gallery app.
4. Tap FORCE STOP button.

Fix #4: Clear Gallery app cache

Should force closing Gallery app won’t help, the next troubleshooting step for you would be to clear the app’s cache. The cache in this case is a temporary storage used by an app to retain certain files and information to make it perform better. At times, information stored in the cache may get corrupted or outdated, resulting to app slow down, poor performance, or bug. To see if it’s an app cache issue, make sure that you clear the Gallery app cache. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Find and tap Gallery app.
4. Tap Storage.
5. Tap CLEAR CACHE button.

Fix #5: Clear Gallery app data

Clearing Gallery app’s data is more severe that clearing its cache because it will return it to its factory state. This means that all customizations and data associated with it will be wiped out. If you have unsaved photos and videos in the app, they’ll be deleted if you do this fix. However, it will most likely fix “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error too.

To wipe Gallery app data:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Find and tap Gallery app.
4. Tap Storage.
5. Tap CLEAR DATA button.

Fix #6: Reset app preferences

Ideally, “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error should already be fixed at this point but if the problem persists, you must try to return all your device’s app preferences and settings to their default state. Resetting app preferences will revert the default app configuration of your S9. For instance, apps and/or services that you may have disabled before will be re-enabled, blocked app notifications will be returned to normal, default actions for apps will also reset, among others. If the “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” bug is being caused by a service that you may have accidentally disabled, or by a problematic system app, this method should help.

To reset app preferences on your S9:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap More settings (three-dot icon).
4. Tap Reset app preferences.
5. Tap RESET.

Fix #7: Run in Safe Mode

Troubleshooting app issues almost always involve booting a device to safe mode. Your case is no different. If the problem continues up to this point, you must run your S9 to safe mode and see if “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error returns. If it doesn’t, that means one of your third party apps is to blame. In order to know if there’s a difference, be sure to observe your phone for at least 24 hours while it’s on safe mode.

To run your S9 to safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
3. When SAMSUNG appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
7. While in Safe mode, you can now uninstall apps that are causing a problem.

Fix #8: Factory reset

Should nothing change even when your S9 is in safe mode, the bug must have something to do with the operating system. To fix it, you need to wipe the device completely thru factory reset. Here’s how:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. 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).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
8. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

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