How to fix your Samsung Galaxy S9 that randomly freezes and lags (easy steps)

Random freezes and lags in premium smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S9 are often due to some firmware or applications related problems. While they may not be so serious, they’re very annoying because you won’t know when they will occur and how long they will hinder you from using your device. If this happens to your device, you should address it immediately because they could also be a sign of a hardware problem.

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy S9 that randomly freezes and lags. We will try to exhaust all possible solution until the problem is fixed. I am confident that you can get this thing sorted out provided that the firmware hasn’t been modified in any way. So, if you’re one of the owners of this device or any Android smartphone for that matter, continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.

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.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy S9 that randomly freezes and lags

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We will begin our troubleshooting by finding out if these issues are caused by third-party applications or not and then we’ll progress into doing some complicated procedures. Don’t worry, the solutions I suggest in this post are safe and effective. With that being said, here’s what I suggest you do…

First solution: Use the phone in Safe mode

You have to observe your phone closely to know how it performs when all third-party applications are temporarily disabled because if the problem doesn’t occur, then it’s clear that it is caused by some applications you downloaded from the Play Store. In such case, you need to find out which app causes the problem and uninstall it. To disabled all third-party apps at once, you have to run your phone in safe mode and this is how you do that:

  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.

Continue using your phone in this mode and if the problem is fixed or doesn’t occur anymore, find out which app is causing it and uninstall it.

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Apps.
  3. Tap the desired application in the default list.
  4. To display preinstalled apps, tap Menu > Show system apps.
  5. Tap UNINSTALL > OK.

Determining which app actually causes the problem could be a challenge so if you’re not sure which one is the culprit, try going after the apps you installed around the time the problem started to manifest. However, if the phone still freezes and lags even in safe mode, then try the next procedure.

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Second solution: Wipe cache partition

It’s very much possible that the cause of this problem is some corrupt system caches. These files get corrupted more often and when it happens, performance issues may occur and that could be the case with your phone. So, run your phone in recovery mode and wipe the cache partition so that system caches will be replaced with new ones.

  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.

Your phone will take a little time booting up after the cache partition is wiped off of its contents as it will rebuild or recreate those caches. Continue using your phone and closely observe it to know if the problem still occurs and if it still does, then you really have to reset it.

Third solution: Backup your important files and reset your phone

Any performance related problems that are caused by applications or issues with the firmware can be fixed by a reset. However, make sure that you make a backup of your important files and data especially ones that are saved in your phone’s internal storage because they will be deleted. After the backup, follow these steps to reset your Galaxy S9 and fix the random freezes and lags.

  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.

As long as the problem isn’t due to firmware modification of any sort, a reset will fix it. I hope that we’ve been able to help you one way or another. If you still have other concerns you want to share with us, contact us or leave a comment below.

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