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How to unfreeze a frozen Google Pixel 2 (easy fix)

ByHarold Hisona

There are times when your phone freezes for a few seconds and goes back to its normal operation. Such and issue may be normal to some phones especially if you’re using intensive apps or games. There is a freezing issue wherein it leaves your phone unresponsive and that seems to be the case with some of our readers who own Google Pixel 2 units who reported their devices no longer responds no matter what they do. Some are stuck on certain screen or app they were using when the phone stopped responding while others only see black on the display.

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Google Pixel 2 that’s frozen and no longer responds. And since it’s not the first time I encountered this issue, I will share with you the solution I’ve been using in addressing similar problems in the past. I understand if some owners may think that it’s a hardware problem but continue reading below to know more about this issue and how to deal with it. I think this article may shed some light to your questions.

Before we move on to our troubleshooting, if you are looking for a solution to a different issue, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed some of the most common problems reported by our readers. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If you still need our help after that, then feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

How to make your unresponsive Google Pixel 2 respond again

While this issue may give you an impression that there’s a serious problem with the hardware since your phone no longer respond no matter what you do, in reality, it’s a pretty minor issue. That is if there are no clear signs of hardware and/or liquid damage because if it so happened that your phone got dropped on a hard surface prior to the problem, then troubleshooting it by yourself would be useless. So, assuming the problem started without apparent reason, here’s what you should do to fix it:

First solution: Forced restart or soft reset

If you’re familiar with the battery pull method we do to phones with removable batteries, well this is the equivalent of that. Your Pixel 2 doesn’t have a user-removable battery so you can’t pull it out. However, it’s hardwired to simulate battery disconnect if the right combination of keys is performed. In this case, you have to do this:

  • Press both the volume down and the power keys at the same time and hold them down for 8 to 10 seconds.

Majority of the problems we’ve encountered before responded to this method. It’s simple but very effective in dealing with firmware crashes, which might be the case with your phone. However, if it doesn’t respond to it, then try this instead:

  1. Press the volume down button and hold it.
  2. Now press and hold the power key while holding down the volume down button.
  3. Keep both keys held down together for 8 seconds or more.

This is actually the same as the first procedure only that we’re making sure the power key is pressed and held after the volume down button because doing it otherwise won’t give you similar result.

If your Pixel 2 is still not responding after this, then the next procedure might help you.

Second solution: Charge your phone and do the Forced Restart

Another possibility we have to consider is a drained battery. Of course you can immediately rule this out if your phone is frozen on a screen that still shows a picture. For instance, if you were texting when the phone crashed and the screen is frozen on the screen that shows your text. But then again, if that’s the case then the first solution should have already fixed the problem. So, if your device is stuck on a black screen and won’t respond, then there’s a possibility that the battery got drained plus the fact that the system may have crashed just before the battery runs empty. To rule this out, all you have to do is this…

  1. Plug the charger to a working wall outlet and make sure you’re using the original wired charger.
  2. Using the original power / data cable, connect your device to its charger.
  3. Regardless whether the charging signs are showing or not, allow the phone to be connected to its charger for 10 minutes.
  4. After which, press and hold the Volume Down button and don’t release it.
  5. Then, press and hold the Power key while holding down the Volume Down button.
  6. Keep both keys held down together for 10 seconds or more to simulate battery disconnect.

If the issue occurred due to a drained battery and firmware crash, your Pixel 2 should already be booting up by now. But if it still not responding, then it’s time to bring it back to the shop so that a technician can check it for you.

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