How to fix Whatsapp app that keeps crashing on Samsung Galaxy A5 (easy steps)

by Harjie Hisona Updated   

Even though how sophisticated your device is, there is still no guarantee that all apps you installed would run smoothly. More often than not, app crashes are somehow caused by some minor glitches in the system or the firmware itself has an issue that affects the normal operation of some applications. In addition, if you have tons of apps and services running in the background that would also another reason that the issue, like what we will tackle here, is happening.

In this post, I will tackle the issue that many of the our readers that own the Samsung Galaxy A5 have been complaining about–app crashes. For this particular article though, the subject of our troubleshooting will be Whatsapp. We have readers who reported to be getting the error “Unfortunately, Whatsapp has stopped,” while there are also those who said that the app crashes immediately after launching it. Regardless of the symptoms you’re getting, this article may be able to help you so read on!

Now, before anything else, if you have other issues with your phone, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already provided solutions to hundreds of problems reported by our readers. Odds are that we may have already provided a solution to the problem you currently have so try to find issues that are similar with yours on that page and feel free to use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Troubleshooting Whatsapp app that keeps on crashing in Galaxy A5


The purpose of these troubleshooting procedures is to determine all factors why Whatsapp keeps on crashing without apparent reason. It is in knowing what the real problem is that would help us formulate a solution to fix it. You may only have to do one or two of the procedures below to successfully fix the issue. Try to see what works for you…

First Solution: Reboot your phone

If you haven’t done it, then you should try rebooting your phone first especially if it’s the first time you encountered this problem. It might be just a minor problem with the firmware or even a glitch which could be fixed by a normal reboot. Take time to restart your device and after which, open Whatsapp to know if it still crashes or not. If it still does, I suggest you try doing the forced restart procedure…

  • Press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds and wait until it reboots.

Your phone is hardwired to perform a simulate battery pull which will refresh its memory as well as reload all system apps, services and cored functions. If the problem, however, still continues after this, then move on to the next procedure.

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Second Solution: Delete the Cache and Data of your Whatsapp app

Doing this method will bring the app back to its original settings or configuration. Meaning, you will be resetting Whatsapp and all its cache and data will be deleted and replaced with new ones. But the downside is your password and other configurations saved in the app will be erased but I think you don’t have much of an option here…

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Apps.
  3. Swipe a few times to view the contents of ALL tab.
  4. Find and tap Whatsapp.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
  7. Tap Clear cache.

After this, open Whatsapp to know if the problem remained or got fixed. If it remained, then try the next procedure.

Third Solution: Check if there’s an update available for Whatsapp

Compatibility is another factor we need to consider when troubleshooting an application. It could be that the application is no longer compatible with the firmware of your phone and needs to be updated. Try to follow the steps below to try and update the app…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Play Store.
  3. Tap the Menu key and then tap My Apps. To keep your apps automatically updated, tap the Menu key, tap Settings, and then tap Auto-update apps to select the check box.
  4. Tap Whatsapp and then tap Update. If the Update button isn’t enabled, then there’s no available update.

Regardless whether you’ve successfully updated the app or not, if it still crashes after this, then you have to move on to the next solution.

Fourth Solution: Try uninstalling and reinstalling Whatsapp

Doing this step will make sure that you have the latest version of Whatsapp app installed on your phone plus you’re ruling out the possibility that the problem is caused by some corrupt or missing data files. Don’t worry, you’re only removing the app from your phone and your account won’t be affected by this.

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Apps.
  3. Tap Whatsapp.
  4. Tap Uninstall.
  5. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

Now, here’s how you download and install Whatsapp…

  1. From a Home screen, touch and swipe up or down to display all apps.
  2. Tap Play Store.
  3. Type ‘whatsapp’ in the search box.
  4. Select Whatsapp then tap Install.
  5. To continue, review the required app permissions then tap Accept.

After doing this and the app is still crashing, there is a chance that the firmware has a problem and that may be causing it. You have no other choice but to reset your phone.

Fifth solution: Master reset

A reset is actually more than enough to fix app-related issues so this problem may disappear after the reset. However, you may lose some of your important files and data if you immediately reset your phone without backing them up. So, it’s your call when you want to do the reset especially if Whatsapp isn’t really that important to you.

After the backup and prior to doing the reset, be sure to disable the Factory Reset Protection (FRP) to avoid your device from locking out after the reset. Here’s how you do that…

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts.
  3. Tap Accounts.
  4. Tap Google.
  5. 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.
  6. Tap 3 dot icon.
  7. Tap Remove account.
  8. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

If you’re ready, here’s how you reset your phone…

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. 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).
  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.

I hope that this troubleshooting guide have been able to help you somehow. If you have other issues with your device you want to share with us, feel free to contact us or leave a comment below.

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