Samsung Galaxy S8 keeps showing up “Unfortunately, Phone has stopped” error [Troubleshooting Guide]

The error message “Unfortunately, Phone has stopped” on your Samsung Galaxy S8 basically tells you about the built-in phone app that crashes. Whatever the reason or cause is, we have to find out to be able to fix the problem. This error may occur in different situations and based on our experience, it may be triggered when you receive a call, dial a number, or even view a contact. It may also occur randomly even with you not doing anything.

Compared to other app issue, this one is more serious not to mention very annoying especially if you are using your phone for calls more often than you send texts. But just because it mentions the app Phone doesn’t mean it’s really the problem. Remember that the phone app uses various apps like Contacts and Dialer. That’s why it imperative that we try to consider every possibility and rule out each one of them until we can pinpoint what the issue really is.

In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting  your phone that has the error “Phone has stopped.” I will be suggesting the basic troubleshooting procedures you can use to try and fix this problem. So, if you own this phone and are currently bugged by a similar issue, then continue reading below so you would know what to do.

But before anything else, if you’re currently experiencing different issues with your phone, then I suggest you visit our Samsung Galaxy S8 troubleshooting page for we’ve already started providing support to our readers who own this device. We understand your phone is still brand new and it should work perfectly without a hitch but not even Samsung can guarantee there won’t be any problems. What we do here is provide help to our readers the best we can so if we haven’t published posts about your concern, feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

Step-by-step guide to troubleshooting Galaxy S8 with “Phone has stopped” error

The purpose of this troubleshooting guide is for us to know if this problem can be fixed without any help from a technician. It has to be addressed immediately since it affects the capability of the phone to make and receive phone calls. But before we jump to our troubleshooting steps, here’s one of the messages we received that best describes this problem…

Problem: Hello droid guys. I hope you can help me with my problem because there’s this error message that keeps bugging me whenever I try to make a call. The error says “Unfortunately, Phone has stopped” and it shows up every single time I dial a number. It also shows up when I receive a call and answers it. I’m not quite sure what happened to it so I can’t provide you with more information about this problem. Is there something I can do about it?

Troubleshooting: Now, to begin our troubleshooting, here are the things you should do…

Step 1: Quit and restart the application

The very first thing you can try on is to restart the application. If you are using the stock Phone app on Samsung Galaxy S8, quit the Phone app and then restart the usual way. Random issues can happen to any applications resulting to pertinent errors to show up. These are called minor software glitches in mobile devices. Often times, these glitches are resolved by doing a simple restart on the erratic application.

  • To do so, simply close the Phone app then open it again.

Alternatively, you can force stop the erratic Phone app. Here’s how to force an app to stop on your Samsung Galaxy S8:

 

  1. Touch and swipe up or down from the Home screen. Doing so will display all apps.
  2. Tap the Phone/Dialer app.
  3. Select the option to Force Stop.
  4. If necessary, tap Force Stop again to confirm action.

Or you can also navigate to Settings > Apps > App Manager. Once you get to the App Manager screen, locate the Phone/Dialer app from the dropdown list. Tap Force Stop to continue. Finally, confirm action by tapping on Force Stop again.

Wait for the app to complete close then try to open it again to see what happens.

If the error persists, try any of the next applicable steps.

Step 2: Reboot (soft reset) your Samsung Galaxy S8

This is the simplest yet most effective solution when it comes to minor software/apps problems in mobile devices. Otherwise known as soft reset, a reboot clears the phone’s memory from any possible errors and glitches that might have triggered an error to occur on the Phone or dialer app.

The process is similar to restarting a computer. No data will be affected in the process unless the battery is running very low.

Here’s how a soft reset is done on Samsung Galaxy S8:

 

  1. Press and hold the Power button. You can see this button on the right edge of the phone.
  2. Tap the option to Restart.
  3. Tap Restart again to confirm action.
  4. Wait for the phone to reboot completely.
  5. If the phone is unresponsive or the display is frozen after getting the Phone app error, just press the Power button for about 10 seconds or until it power cycles or reboots.

 

After doing a soft reset, try to open the Phone app again and see if the error is already gone.

If the error persists after doing the first reboot, follow it up with another reboot. If necessary, go for a third reboot if the error still shows up after the second reboot on your phone.

Step 3: Boot into Safe Mode

Booting into safe mode will help you determine whether or not the problem is triggered by other third party applications installed on your phone. All third-party apps will be disabled temporarily in safe mode. This means only stock or built-in apps are running. That being said, it will be easier for you to determine if a third-party app is at fault.

Here’s how to boot your Samsung Galaxy S8 into Safe Mode:

 

  1. Power off your phone completely.
  2. Press and hold the Power key after the model name screen prompts.
  3. When you see the Samsung screen, release the Power key then immediately press and hold the Volume Down key.
  4. Keep holding the Volume Down key until the phone completes the restart process.
  5. You will now if your phone is already in Safe Mode if you see the Safe Mode label shown at the bottom left corner of the screen.
  6. When you see Safe Mode, release the Volume Down key.

 

Now try to open the Phone or Dialer app in Safe Mode and see if you will be prompted with the same error. If the error does not occur while in Safe Mode, it denotes that a third-party app is the culprit. Try to think of which from the apps you’ve recently installed is inflicting conflict.

Uninstall the app you suspect is causing a conflict or software problem that resulted to this error while using the Phone application.

 

  • To remove or uninstall an app in Safe Mode, select the desired app by going to Settings-> Apps->select the suspect app->tap Uninstall twice to confirm action.

 

To exit Safe Mode and go back to normal mode, simple restart your phone by pressing the Power button until it reboots.

Step 4: Clear apps cache and data

Another possible reason as to why you are getting an “Unfortunately, Phone has stopped” error is on corrupted files and contents causing the application to suddenly become inoperable. Clearing cache and data from the Phone/dialer app can help get it fixed. Caches are temporary files accumulated in the Phone application. These files might contain corrupt contents or bugs that might have affected the app’s normal function. Clearing caches from the Phone app will erase all cached contents in the app including erratic files. This method is also recommended to optimize applications or if one of your apps doesn’t work as intended.

 

  1. Tap Settings.
  2. Scroll to and tap Apps.
  3. Select Phone or Dialer from the given apps.
  4. Tap Storage.
  5. Tap the option to Clear Cache. Doing so will clear the selected app’s cache.

 

After clearing the app’s cache, try to open the Phone app again to see if there are any changes. If the error persists, then try to Clear Data on the Phone/dialer app instead.

Note: All personal data stored within the Phone app will be deleted in the process.

 

  • To proceed with clearing data on the Phone app, go to Settings-> Apps->Storage-> select Phone or Dialer app from the list-> tap Clear Data.

 

Step 5: Wipe Cache Partition

Wipe cache partition is another type of reset used to clear different parts of your phone storage. Unlike a master reset, the process of wiping cache partition does not remove personal data stored on your device.

This method is often used to deal with software-related issues including those that are isolated to an application as manifested by the Phone app error prompt you are dealing with.

Here’s how wipe cache partition is done on your Samsung Galaxy S8:

  1. Turn off your phone.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up and the Bixby (Home) key simultaneously, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. Release all keys when the Android logo appears. After doing so, you will be prompted with the “Installing system update” message for about 30-60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options display on the screen).
  4. Highlight the option to “wipe cache partition” by pressing the Volume Down key several times.
  5. Press the Power key to select the option.
  6. Press the Volume down key to highlight “Yes” and then press the Power key to select it. Your phone will now initiate wipe cache partition process.
  7. Wait until the wipe cache partition is complete. Once the process is finished, the “Reboot system now” option will be highlighted.
  8. Press the Power key to restart your phone.

After the reboot, try to open the Phone/dialer app again to see if the error has already been fixed.

Other Options to Consider

Factory reset / hard reset

If the error persists after performing all the suggested solutions in this post, then your last option would be a factory reset. Performing a factory reset however will wipe or erase all data and information stored in your device including Google account, System and app data, app settings, downloaded apps, and media files. After the factory reset, your device will be restored to its factory default settings afterwards. That being said, a factory reset is optional and should be considered the last resort in troubleshooting device issues that are software-related. If you decide go with it, then make sure you disable the Factory Reset Protection so you won’t be locked out of your phone after the reset. This is how you disable it:

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open 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.

And this is how you do the Master reset:

  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.

Or, you can just reset your phone through Settings menu…

  1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
  2. Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts.
  3. Tap Backup and restore.
  4. If desired, tap Back up my data to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  5. If desired, tap Restore to move the slider to ON or OFF.
  6. Tap the back button to the Settings menu and tap General Management > Reset > Factory data reset.
  7. Tap Reset.
  8. If you have screen lock turned on, enter your credentials.
  9. Tap Continue.
  10. Tap Delete all.

Contact Samsung Support

If a factory reset or hard reset is not your option, contact your device carrier or Samsung Support to escalate the problem and at the same time, request further assistance and recommendations. Apparently, the problem is already beyond the end-user’s capacity to deal with. A more advanced troubleshooting is already necessary to get the problem fixed permanently.

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