Samsung Galaxy J7 popping up the error “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” [Troubleshooting Guide]

  • Read and understand why a mid-range device like the #Samsung Galaxy #J7 may suffer from error messages like “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” which involves a built-in application. Also learn how to troubleshoot your phone so that you’d know what to do if this error ever happened to you.
    Samsung Galaxy J7 Photos has stopped

Google Photos is one of the apps mandated by Google to be on every Android device on the planet. It’s basically a photo sharing and storage service and while there are other apps that offer the same service, owners would tend to use it in managing multimedia files apart from the Gallery.

There are times when apps crash and affect the performance of some other apps. In this post, we’re tackling the error message “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” which basically talks about the Google Photos that crashed for some unknown reason. But the fact that it’s a pre-installed app, the problem is more likely related to the firmware and that’s what we need to find out to be able to fix this problem.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy J7 and are currently bugged by a similar issue, continue reading this post as it may be able to help you understand what the problem is all about. It may even give you an idea what you have to do in order to fix the problem.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J7 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

Troubleshooting Galaxy J7 that keeps showing “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” error

We want to help our readers fix the problem with their phones especially those who spent time contacting us and giving us detailed information about their issues. However, there are problems that we can’t solve online especially ones that have something to do with the hardware of the phone. That’s why, if the problem persists after doing our troubleshooting guides, we always refer them to a technician so that their phone will be taken care of.

Below are some of the procedures we suggest you follow to try to fix the problem or get rid of this error but please proceed at your own risk as there are times when things happen unexpectedly. Now, before we jump right into our troubleshooting, here’s one of the complaints we received from our readers that best describes this issue:

Problem: Hi guys! There is an error message in my phone that keeps popping up whenever I try to view the pictures I’ve taken using the camera. The error says “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” and as a result I cannot view some photos whenever I want due to this error. I’m not sure what triggers it but there are times when I can view my pictures without being greeted by this error. But even so, I want the problem to be fixed since I don’t know when the error may show up again. By the way, my phone is a Samsung Galaxy J7 which has been with me for a few months now. Help me please.

Now that we know how the problem occurs and affects the performance of your device, there are things you can do to try to get rid of the error.

Step 1: Reboot your phone in safe mode to know if third-party apps have something to do with the error

We don’t know for sure if one or some of the apps you downloaded from the Play Store or installed manually is causing the problem. That’s why I suggest you try booting your phone up in safe mode to temporarily disable all third-party.

The rationale behind this procedure is that, if the problem is caused by a third-party app, then the error should not pop up when in safe mode. That alone is a starting point. You can try uninstalling apps your recently installed until you can pinpoint which of them is causing the problem. This is how you bring your J7 to boot in safe mode:

  1. Power off your Galaxy J7. Press and hold the Power key, tap Power off and then touch POWER OFF to confirm.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  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. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

If the error still shows up in this mode, then it might be a problem with the app itself.

Step 2: Clear the cache and data of the Photos app to reset it

Let’s rule out the possibility that the problem is caused by the app itself. Perhaps the Photos app crashes by itself for some reason that’s why we need to clear its cache and data to reset it.

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Application manager.
  5. Tap Photos.
  6. Tap Storage.
  7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
  8. Tap Clear cache.

If the error still shows up after this, then go after the firmware.

Step 3: Delete the system caches as some of them may have been corrupted

System caches can easily get corrupted and when the firmware continues to use them, thing like this may happen. It’s imperative you that delete the system cache so that they’ll be replaced and provided the problem is as simple as this, then the procedure below is all you need to fix the issue:

  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 device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Press the Power key to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key to highlight ‘yes’ 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.

Step 4: Backup your files and data and reset your Galaxy J7

After doing all the steps above and the problem still continues or the error still shows up, it’s time you backup your data and personal files and then reset your device. Bring the phone back to its original configuration to know if that fixes the problem. If the error still shows up, however, then the firmware may need to be reinstalled but try this method first:

  1. Back up data on the internal memory. If you have signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft and will need your Google credentials to finish the Master reset.
  2. Turn off your Galaxy J7.
  3. Press and hold the Volume Up button and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  4. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  5. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  6. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  7. Press Power button to select.
  8. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  9. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  10. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  11. Press the Power key to restart the device.

For the error “Unfortunately, Photos has stopped” a mere factory reset will fix the problem for you but then again there’s no guarantee. So after this and the problem remained, it’s time to have the phone checked by a technician.

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