How to fix Nova Launcher that keeps crashing on Samsung Galaxy S9 (easy steps)

The Nova Launcher is probably the most popular launcher for smartphone owners and for very obvious reason. If you’re a Galaxy device owner, you would immediately see the difference between Samsung’s Touchwiz and Nova Launcher. I personally use it on all my Android devices so I know it’s capabilities and other things that really matter.

Now, there seems to be some Galaxy S9 owners who’ve been complaining about the error “Unfortunately, Nova Launcher has stopped.” Apparently, it means that the launcher crashes every time the error is shown on the screen. And it’s a launcher so you may feel some lags or even freezes leading to the error.

But you know what, as long as the problem is caused or due to a third-party app, you can always fix it. And I’m telling you now, you can get rid of this error message or problem by uninstalling the app but then again, the purpose of this post is not to give you half the fix but a solution that would allow you to continue using the app. So, if you’re one of the owners of this great phone and are currently bugged by a similar issue, continue reading as this post may help you one way or another.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our Galaxy S9 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

How to fix the “Unfortunately, Nova Launcher has stopped” error on Galaxy S9

If this problem is only in the app, then it’s pretty easy to fix. Just follow the steps below to get this problem sorted out. However, if it’s just a result of a firmware problem, then you may have to do a little bit more but don’t worry, you can still make your phone run smoothly after this.

First solution: Reboot your phone

You only have to do this procedure if it’s the first time that you encountered the error message. It’s because the problem might be due to a very minor glitch in either the firmware or the app itself. A reboot is more than enough to address those issues so hit that power key and reboot your phone.

If the launcher still crashes after the reboot, try doing the forced restart. Press and hold the volume down button and power key at the same time for 10 seconds. This will simulate battery disconnect and refresh your phone’s memory, close all apps running in the background and reloads all core functions and services. Should the problem continue after this, then move on to the next solution.

RELEVANT POSTS:

Second solution: Reset Nova Launcher

By reset I mean to clear the app’s cache and data which will bring it back to its default settings as well as delete all the caches created by the system for it and all the data and files the app accumulated or created.

From a Home screen, touch and swipe up or down to display all apps.
From a Home screen, navigate: Settings > Apps.
Tap App Manager.
Locate then tap Nova Launcher.
Tap Storage.
Tap CLEAR CACHE.
Tap Cached data.
Tap CLEAR.

Take note that all the settings you did to Nova Launchers will be deleted so you may have to set it the way you want it after this. That is if the problem is fixed. If it still continues to bug you after this procedure, then you will have to do the next procedure.

Third solution: Uninstall and reinstall Nova Launcher

There are times when compatibility issues may occur between the firmware and an app. That’s what we need to rule out in this section but instead of updating the app, I want you to uninstall Nova Launcher so that all its associations to other apps and the system will be removed. Here’s how you do that:

From a Home screen, touch and swipe up or down to display all apps.
From a Home screen, navigate: Settings > Apps.
Tap App Manager.
Locate then tap Nova Launcher.
Tap UNINSTALL.
Review the notification then tap OK to confirm.
Reboot your phone to refresh it’s memory and other connections.

Now to make sure you have the latest version of the app running on your phone, you have to down the app from the Play Store and install it.

From a Home screen, touch and swipe up or down to display all apps.
Tap Play Store.
Type ‘nova launcher’ in the search box.
Select Nova Launcher then tap Install.
To continue, review the required app permissions then tap Accept.

These solutions are actually very effective in dealing with app-related issues so by now, your phone and the app should already be working properly. However, if the problem continues to cause troubleshoot to your phone, then it’s probably a firmware issue that’s causing it. The next two solutions are for the firmware.

Fourth solution: Wipe cache partition

This will delete all the system caches created by the system. It’s important that you do this procedure because when a corrupt cache is still being used by the firmware, performance issues may occur which also include the crashing of some random apps. To be thorough in our troubleshooting, I recommend you do this. Don’t worry, none of your files and data will be deleted if you do this:

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

Your phone will take a little time rebooting this time because it will rebuild the caches that were deleted. Once the device boots up completely, open any app or settings and then tap the Home key so that Nova Launcher will be used. If the error still shows up, then you have no other choice but to reset your phone. But before you do that, I suggest you uninstall Nova Launcher again so that it won’t give you the error over and over.

Fifth solution: Perform the Master reset

A reset will fix all firmware and app related issues. However, before you actually do that, make sure you make a backup of your important files and data as they will be deleted during the process and you may not be able to retrieve them after.

To be safe, I suggest you disable the Factory Reset Protection so that you won’t be locked out of your phone after the reset especially if you’re not familiar with your google account and password.

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
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).
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.

After the reset, install Nova Launcher first before you restore your files, data and other apps. I hope that our solution works for you. If you have other concerns you want to share with us, feel free to contact us anytime or leave a comment below.

Connect with us

We are always open to your problems, questions and suggestions, so feel free to contact us by filling up this form. This is a free service we offer and we won’t charge you a penny for it. But please note that we receive hundreds of emails every day and it’s impossible for us to respond to every single one of them. But rest assured we read every message we receive. For those whom we’ve helped, please spread the word by sharing our posts to your friends or by simply liking our Facebook and Google+ page or follow us on Twitter.

Posts you may also like to check out: