The error message “Unfortunately, Settings has stopped” on your Samsung Galaxy S9 is basically a notification telling you that for some reason, the Settings app has crashed. Settings is a pre-installed app or service which handles almost all of the settings and configurations in your phone. In other words, it’s one of those very important apps that should be working properly without a hitch but with this error, it’s obvious that it has a problem.
More often than not, the error occurs after a series of freezes and lags because if it shows, it’s apparent that there’s a problem with the firmware. It may seem like another app-related problem but it’s actually more complicated than you think. That’s why you need to address this problem immediately or as soon as the error starts showing up and your phone freezes and lags. In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy S9 that’s plagued with this problem so continue reading as this article 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.
Fix the “Settings has stopped” error on Galaxy S9
More often than not, based on our experience, when the error “Settings has stopped” shows up, there is an app that keeps on crashing. In order to fix this problem, you have to find that app and if it’s a third-party, uninstall it. What we need to do here is determine whether it’s really an app that causes it and whether it’s a third-party or not. With that being said, here’s what you have to do first:
Run your phone in Safe mode
It is important you do this procedure first because it will give you an idea if the problem is caused by an app or not. By doing this, you’re temporarily disabling all third-party apps so if one of them is the culprit, the error should not show up while in safe mode. Here’s how you do it:
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen appearing on the screen.
- 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.
- When Safe mode appears in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume down key.
Assuming the error doesn’t pop up in this mode, the next thing you should do is find the app that’s causing the problem. It might be a bit of a challenge but try to go after the apps that you installed when this problem started. This is how you uninstall an app from your Galaxy S9:
- From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
- Tap Settings > Apps.
- Tap the desired application in the default list.
- To display preinstalled apps, tap Menu > Show system apps.
- Tap UNINSTALL > OK.
You may have to uninstall more than one app to be able to figure out which one is the culprit. Take your time uninstalling the apps you think are causing the problem and you may have to reboot your phone countless times to verify if the problem is fixed.
On the other hand, if the error “Settings has stopped” is still showing up in safe mode, then you will have to do the next solution.
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Backup all your files and data and then do the Master Reset
If the error is still showing up even in safe mode, it’s possible that the problem is caused by one of the pre-installed apps but then again, you can consider such issues as firmware problems because those apps are embedded in the firmware. In some cases you may have to troubleshoot pre-installed apps but in this case, you simply have to troubleshoot the firmware. I won’t suggest any more troubleshooting procedures except the Master Reset.
I believe it’s time that you brought the phone back to its default settings to fix this issue. You can’t access Settings because it would crash the moment you attempt to open it. So, you will have to reset the phone through Recovery mode. Do your best to backup important files you don’t want to lose. Then, take note of your Google account and password as you will be using that to setup your phone again after the reset. Once everything is set and ready, follow these steps:
- 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.
I hope that this post can help you one way or another. If you have other concerns you want to share with us, feel free to contact us or leave a comment below.
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