How To Fix HTC One M9 Freezing, Unresponsive, Slow Performance Problems

Welcome to our focused troubleshooting series that aims to resolve the HTC One M9 freezing, unresponsive, slow performance problems. If you own an M9 and notice that it is working slowly or that it freezes a lot then you have come to the right place as we will be providing the necessary troubleshooting steps to fix the problem.

HTC One M9

In this installment of the series we will tackle four real world issues sent to us by our readers seeking our help. Hopefully we can be of service and provide the necessary solution to resolve each of these issues.

If you own an HTC One M9 or any other Android device for that matter then feel free to contact us using this form. We will be more than happy to assist you with any concern that you may have with your device. This is a free service we are offering with no strings attached. We however ask that when you do contact us try to be as detailed as possible so that an accurate assessment can be made and the correct solution can be given.

If you would like to browse the previous parts in this series then check out this link.

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M9 Lags When Typing Messages

Problem: Hello! My name is Samantha and I have lots of years of cellular experience under my belt but this I cannot fathom. My M9 keyboard is TERRIBLE!   It’s got a constant lag going on and takes forever to pop up as well as sometimes when I start typing it vibrates, but no letters for a few seconds. So if you can explain why, and how to fix it, that would be great. Thank-you!

Solution: This lag may be caused by corrupt temporary data on your phone’s messaging app. Try clearing the cache and data of this app then check if the issue still occurs.

  • From any Home screen, tap Apps.
  • Tap Settings.
  • Scroll to ‘PHONE,’ then tap Apps.
  • Scroll left to the ALL tab.
  • Tap the desired application.
  • Tap Clear Data.
  • Tap OK.
  • Tap Clear Cache.

If the problem still occurs then proceed with wiping the cache partition of your phone.

  • Press and hold the Power button
  • Tap Power off.
  • Press and hold the Volume Down key.
  • Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
  • Continue holding the Volume Down key.
  • Release the Volume Down key when the black screen with red and blue lines of text appears.
  • Press Volume Down two times to highlight reboot to bootloader.
  • Press the Power key to select reboot to bootloader.
  • When the white bootloader screen appears, press the Volume Down key two times to highlight BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • Press the Power key to select BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • When another black screen with red and blue text appears, press Volume Down three times to highlight wipe cache partition.
  • Press the Power key to select wipe cache partition.
  • Once complete, press the Power key again to select reboot system now.

M9 Lags When Using Apps

Problem: Hi, I have an HTC One M9 for TMOBILE Carrier. The phone is cool but the problem is LAG! Everything lags on this phone. The camera lags so much, there is NO WAY this camera is a 20mp! Whenever I get out of an app, go to multitask, and kill the app, it lags when app is swiped up and then lags again when its trying to get back to the main home screen of the phone. App startups lag like crazy and just the entire software on this phone lags, lags, and lags all day and all night. If you think I am over-exaggerating, I will gladly send you video proof of my htc m9 lagging its a*s off. Anyway, I am asking for help and suggestions on what I should do to fix this lag. Is there even a legit fix? Should I root? Should I just buy a Galaxy S6 and trash this m9? Thanks in advance!

Solution: Whenever faced with lag issues on a phone the first thing that you should do is to reboot the phone. This resets the phone software and usually helps in this scenario. When your phone is off take out the microSD card as well (if you have one installed). Sometimes a faulty card causes your phone to slow down and we want to check on this as well.

The next step to do if the issue still persists is to wipe the cache partition of the device. This clears out the temporary data that may be causing the issue.

  • Press and hold the Power button
  • Tap Power off.
  • Press and hold the Volume Down key.
  • Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
  • Continue holding the Volume Down key.
  • Release the Volume Down key when the black screen with red and blue lines of text appears.
  • Press Volume Down two times to highlight reboot to bootloader.
  • Press the Power key to select reboot to bootloader.
  • When the white bootloader screen appears, press the Volume Down key two times to highlight BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • Press the Power key to select BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • When another black screen with red and blue text appears, press Volume Down three times to highlight wipe cache partition.
  • Press the Power key to select wipe cache partition.
  • Once complete, press the Power key again to select reboot system now.

If you are still experiencing the same issue then it’s time to backup your phone data and do a factory reset.

  • Press and hold the Power button
  • Tap Power off.
  • Press and hold the Volume Down key.
  • Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
  • Continue holding the Volume Down key.
  • Release the Volume Down key when the black screen with red and blue lines of text appears.
  • Press the Volume Down key repeatedly until factory reset is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to perform the master reset.

M9 Games Keep Freezing

Problem: (running android 5.0.2) Three problems I keep encountering with this phone, since having bought it a month ago:

  1. Games keep freezing/crashing. Other types of apps so far have not had this issue. Game dev’s just ignore me or tell me to reboot which does not help.
  2. If I move apps to sd, and at any time have to reboot the phone, all apps on the sd are gone and have to be hunted down to replace back onto my homescreen, or have to be reinstalled. This happens every time, so I can’t move apps to sd.
  3. Downloaded songs disappear if moved to sd, cannot even be accessed with ES File Manager.

The sd card is a new, by Sandisk, unsure of storage size. SIM is also new. Don’t understand what is meant by your requirement of “behaviour of the phone”? Thanks.

Solution: I suggest trying a new microSD card on your phone then check if these issues still occur. The card you are using may be defective which causes your games to freeze and make data access difficult.

M9 Sluggish Operation

Problem: HTC One m9, Android version = 5.0.2, HTC Sense version 7.0, Software number = 1.32.531.33. I had an m8, as well as its predecessor, and I am a big HTC fan, overall.  However, my current phone, the m9, is very sluggish at times, across multiple functions. First, I have the protective case with the built-in, flip-front screen cover, which “wakes up” the phone when opened.  Often when I flip the screen back, there is a full second delay before the screen wakes up.  Maybe I’m being nit picky here, but that seems substantial for a quad core phone, and it’s not something I am used to with the earlier versions of One phones. Second on my list of problems is while texting, upon pushing the “+” symbol, which initiates a new text and allows me to select a recipient, there is a 1 to 2 second delay before a list of possible recipient matches will populate.  That is pretty frustrating. These are the main two issues I am currently dealing with.  I have checked for available updates, and have not found any.  If you have any suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate the help! Thank you.

Solution: One of the main culprits behind the sluggish operation of your phone may be some form of corrupt temporary data. to check if this is the case you need to wipe the cache partition of your phone.

  • Press and hold the Power button
  • Tap Power off.
  • Press and hold the Volume Down key.
  • Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
  • Continue holding the Volume Down key.
  • Release the Volume Down key when the black screen with red and blue lines of text appears.
  • Press Volume Down two times to highlight reboot to bootloader.
  • Press the Power key to select reboot to bootloader.
  • When the white bootloader screen appears, press the Volume Down key two times to highlight BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • Press the Power key to select BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE.
  • When another black screen with red and blue text appears, press Volume Down three times to highlight wipe cache partition.
  • Press the Power key to select wipe cache partition.
  • Once complete, press the Power key again to select reboot system now.

If the problem persists your next step is to check if certain third party apps are causing this issue. To do this, start your phone in Safe Mode.

  • Press and hold the Power key.
  • On the screen, touch and hold Power off under Phone Options.
  • When the ‘Reboot to safe mode’ message appears, tap RESTART.
  • When the phone restarts it will be in safe mode.

If your phone does not lag in this mode then the problem may be caused by a third party app. Find out what app this is and uninstall it.

If however the lag still exists then you should backup your phone data and do a factory reset.

  • Press and hold the Power button
  • Tap Power off.
  • Press and hold the Volume Down key.
  • Press and release the Power key to turn the phone on.
  • Continue holding the Volume Down key.
  • Release the Volume Down key when the black screen with red and blue lines of text appears.
  • Press the Volume Down key repeatedly until factory reset is highlighted.
  • Press the Power key to perform the master reset.

Feel free to send us your questions, suggestions and problems you’ve encountered while using your Android phone. We support every Android device that is available in the market today. And don’t worry, we won’t charge you a single penny for your questions. Contact us using this form . We read every message we receive can’t guarantee a quick response. If we were able to help you, please help us spread the word by sharing our posts with your friends.

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9 thoughts on “How To Fix HTC One M9 Freezing, Unresponsive, Slow Performance Problems”

  1. Been having a strange problem with my htc one m9 now for some time and after many hours scrolling through troubleshooting sites I’m out of ideas and hoping someone can help.
    Basically this problem is only occasional and tend to find occurs when my phone has been in my pocket whilst walking or driving so maybe thinking its an overheating problem.
    But what happens is the screen is constantly unresponsive. However I wouldn’t use the word freeze as the drop down menu is flickering out of control.
    As I say this problem does not occur when I’m on my phone or it’s left on the side. Is there anyway of sorting this without doing a factory reset?
    Any advice most welcome, thanks.

  2. I just soft reset my phone and it freezes and wont reboot. Tried all the solutions out there even tutorials on YouTube but still same problem. I deleted all data from the reboot function (hard reset, when i hold power button and down volume button and then reboot but still it freezes again at htc one logo)
    What can i do more and how to solve this problem!!!
    ps: before i soft reset my phone it was lagging and i thought resetting it would solve the issue or something but now in even more serious problem!

  3. Hi,
    I am Anwar, I have HTC M9 plus. I updtaed my phones adriod version. The day i updated it, I was not able to unlock the screen. Then i tried to reboot it its also not rebooting?
    Please let me know how to unlock it?

  4. This really helped me! Went through a lot of articles because my camera responded in the slowest manner. Your instructions for wiping the cache partition was on point and I was able to follow the directions easily. Great post and thanks a lot! keep it up!

  5. I was going to ask T-mobile store for help. But it dawned on me that I recently left T-Mobile to join Lycamobile. Forget about getting any support from them. When I transferred from T-Mobile to them it took them a month to get it done. When I tried to call them I could never get through. That’s why my HTC One M9 is a piece of useless junk now.

  6. I cannot even unlock the phone with password. Cannot power off, or restart with pressing the power key and the volume key, or tap on any key to get any response. Your instruction requires using the keypad to do something. My phone is a scrap piece of junk now. It does not respond to anything. I am so disappointed. I only bought the phone 6 months ago. I am going to chuck it now.

  7. These instructions aren’t working for me. I am able to clear my messaging app’s cache memory. I am also able to boot my phone into recover mode and clear the cache. But nothing I try really works. I might say that it makes it temporarily a little better, but no it’s definitely not fixed. I tend to do a lot of group messaging with my family. Group messaging uses MMS instead of SMS, and the messaging app just can’t handle it. Especially when I am receiving a barrage of messages from 10 people all trying to send their funny quip first. If pictures are involved, it’s even worse. I tried google hangouts as a messaging app and it is no better. Whenever the phone begins receiving a message it just pauses these apps, disallowing all user input while the message is being received. This is not a memory issue, its a thread handling issue. I basically have to set my phone down until my family has a break in the conversation so that I can actually start typing a message. It’s frustrating and stupid. I’ve never had this issue on my Sony, Samsung, or Apple phones. HTC needs to fix it in a bad way.

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