Samsung Galaxy Note 5 keeps lagging after an update [Troubleshooting Guide]

• Read and understand why a powerful smartphone like the #Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (#Note5) running the latest firmware may lag after an update and learn how to troubleshoot your phone if this happens to you.

Major carriers and service providers around the world that offer the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 must already be getting ready for the roll out of the Android 7 Nougat update. Some may have already rolled out minor updates that will patch some issues or fix known problems and while these updates are often installed seamlessly, some of our readers reported having to encounter a problem or two shortly after downloading and installing updates for their respective units.

Among the most common problems after firmware updates are lagging, freezing, frequently reboots and random shutdowns. And in this post, I will be tackling the first I’ve mentioned–constant lagging. The Galaxy Note 5 is a very powerful phone so if you noticed that it started to lag, there must be something wrong with its processes. We will have to look into it to know what the problem is all about as well as learn how to troubleshoot it in a bid to fix the issue.

Before we go to our troubleshooting, if you happen to find this post while trying to find a solution to a different problem, then try to visit our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed hundreds of problems with the Note 5. Look for issues that are similar with what you currently have and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, fill up our Android problems questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Troubleshooting Galaxy Note 5 that keeps lagging

Lagging is often a very simple issue but there are cases wherein it’s triggered by a serious firmware problem or a complex issue that has something to do with some of the hardware components. But please remember that we are trying to troubleshoot your phone so there’s no guarantee that we can fix the problem especially if it’s hardware-related. Before we jump right into the steps, here’s one of the messages we received from our readers:

Problem: My phone is a Note 5 and it has been with me for several months now. My first few months of use have been a good experience but I noticed over time that the phone slowed down but I didn’t do anything as I could still continue using it until one day it started to lag real bad that it took a few seconds before I could regain control over it. And now, it’s lagging every now and then, which is very annoying. Can you help me how to get rid of these lags? Thanks.

Now, to begin our troubleshooting, this is what you have to do:

Step 1: Find out if your downloaded apps have something to do with the lags

Sometimes when one or some of your third-party apps (applications you downloaded and installed on your phone) crashes, it may cause some conflicts in the system and if it happens, performance issues such is lagging and freezing may occur. It is therefore imperative that you rule this possibility out first before moving on to the next steps. To do this, you have to reboot your Note 5 in safe mode and observe if the lags remained:

1. Turn off the phone completely.
2. Press and hold the Power key.
3. Once ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key and immediately press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. The phone will restart but keep the Vol Down button pressed.
5. Once the phone has finished restarting, ‘Safe mode’ will be display in the lower-left corner of the screen.
6. You may now release the Volume Down button.

After following the steps above, try to observe your device to know if it still lags or not. If the problem got fixed, then you need to find the third-party app that’s causing the problem. Once found, try to clear its cache and data first and if that won’t work, uninstall it.

1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
2. Find and tap Settings.
3. Under the ‘APPLICATIONS’ section, find and touch Application manager.
4. Swipe to the left or to the right to display the appropriate screen but to display all apps, choose the ‘ALL’ screen.
5. Find and tap suspected app.
6. Touch Clear cache to delete its cached files.
7. Touch Clear data and then OK to delete downloaded messages, login information, settings, etc.

To uninstall an app, follow the same steps but tap Uninstall instead.

Step 2: Wipe the cache partition to replace system caches

The problem occurred shortly after an update so there’s a chance the problem is due to some corrupt system caches that got corrupted during the update. In which case, those files need to be replaced but since you don’t have access to individual caches, you have to wipe off the contents of the directory where all caches are saved and this is how you do it:

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
3. Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
4. Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
5. The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
6. Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘wipe cache partition’ and press the Power key to select it.
7. When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
8. The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.

Don’t worry, none of your data or files will be deleted. After this, observe closely if the phone still lags or not because if so, then you have no other choice but to bring the phone back to its default settings.

Step 3: Perform Master Reset on your Note 5

You are now at a point wherein you have to rule out the possibility that the problem is due to some messed up configuration or a serious firmware issue. It’s time you backed up your files and data and then do the Master Reset to bring the phone back to its default factory settings or a configuration that may work. The recently installed firmware, however, remains.

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 5 completely.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Home buttons first, and then press and hold the Power key.
3. Keep the three buttons pressed and when ‘Samsung Galaxy Note5’ shows, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
4. Once the Android logo shows, release both the Volume Up and Home buttons.
5. The notice ‘Installing system update’ will show on the screen for 30 to 60 seconds before the Android system recovery screen is shown with its options.
6. Use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ and press the Power key to select it.
7. When the process is complete, use the Volume Down key to highlight the option ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.
8. The reboot may take a little longer to complete but don’t worry and wait for the device to become active.

I hope that this troubleshooting guide somehow helped you fix the problem and get rid of thelags. Remember, another firmware update will come in a next few weeks and you may still encounter this issue by then.

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