Being one of the largest telecommunications companies in the U.S., Sprint has a superb technical support group that can address any problem with Galaxy S5. We are not trying to compete with it, rather, we are simply providing complimentary support to our readers who contacted us about their problems.
If you are a Sprint Galaxy S5 owner and currently have issues with the device, feel free to contact us via [email protected]. We are willing to help you with your problems but please, provide all necessary details so that we can accurately assess your concerns. You may also browse our Galaxy S5 Troubleshooting page as we listed all problems we already addressed. Try the troubleshooting procedures and solutions we provided and if they didn’t work, contact us immediately. We also have our Facebook wall and Google+ page and we use to help our readers. You may post your concerns there, too.
Click on a link below to jump to a specific problem:
- Poor Performance
- Won’t Boot After App Installation
- Apps Greyed Out, Photos Disappeared
- WiFi Switch Is Greyed Out
- Uses More RAM
- Prevent Excessive Data Usage
- Can’t Read New MicroSD Card
- How To Stop Available Networks Notifications
- Won’t Turn On But Vibrates
- Freezes, Settings Crashed
Sprint Galaxy S5 Poor Performance
Problem: Hi Droid Guy team, I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 under Sprint. It is 7 months old already and while it has working properly since I got it, its current performance is far from good. It is now very slow in loading apps and most of the games I play stutter at some point. Being an extensive user for several months, I can say that there is a very noticeable difference in its performance. The problem is, I don’t know where to look and how to get my phone back in good shape again. I need your guidance on this. I tried calling Sprint’s tech support but I’ve been on queue for more than 15 minutes and haven’t been able to talk to a live representative. Any advice would surely be appreciated. Thanks in advance. — Katie
Troubleshooting: Hi Katie. While Galaxy S5 is one of the most powerful smartphones in the market today, its performance will deteriorate over time. That is the reason why users are advised to uninstall apps that aren’t used or clear cache and data of apps that often crash.
More often, third-party apps are the cause why the performance of the phone drops. The more apps installed in it, the slower it becomes. So, the first thing you have to do is find apps you don’t use anymore and uninstall them. Then, try to close apps running in the background especially heavy ones. Hitting the Recent key (left of the Home key) will pull up a screen with a list of recently used apps. You may close all these apps and go to the Task Manager. From there, you can close apps that run in the background to free up some space in the RAM.
In case the internal storage of your phone is running low, you need to transfer large files to the microSD card. You may also move your downloaded apps to the external storage. Remember that during the boot up, the phone will read the internal storage and if there is a lot of files stored in it, it will take time to read and cache all of them.
After doing all these things and the phone is still slow, perhaps it’s time you reset it and give it a fresh start. But before doing so, make sure you made a backup of data you don’t want to lose, then follow these steps:
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
- When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
- When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
- Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Won’t Boot After App Installation
Problem: Hi, my name is Cassidy, an S5 owner. I called Sprint twice regarding my problem already but both reps weren’t able to help me as they wanted me to follow their troubleshooting when I can’t do a thing on my phone. I know that contacting you is a long shot, but here I am hoping you could help me.
The problem is I recently installed a couple of apps. After that, the phone rebooted by itself so I thought that may be it was a part of the installation process. However, when the phone reached the logo, it was stuck there. I left the phone for ten minutes thinking that it may just continue booting but it didn’t.
I tried removing the battery, leave the phone without it for 5 minutes and tried again…the problem’s still the same. At this point, I’m stumped and I really don’t know what to do to fix the problem. Of course, I can’t do a thing with my phone as it won’t continue booting up. But I am confident that those apps caused this problem. How can I get rid of them? Thanks.
Troubleshooting: Hi Cassidy. You can boot your Galaxy S5 in safe mode so you can troubleshoot the problem. When in safe mode, all third-party apps will be temporarily disabled. Since you’re positive that the cause of the problem are the most recent apps you installed, then booting in safe mode will fix the problem for you. Once you reached safe mode, you can then uninstall those problematic apps.
Safe Mode
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key.
- When ‘Samsung Galaxy S5’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
- Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
- Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
- Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
- Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Uninstall Apps
- From any Home screen, tap Apps.
- Tap Settings.
- Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
- Swipe right to the DOWNLOADED screen.
- Tap the desired application
- Tap Uninstall.
- Tap Uninstall again to confirm.
I hope this helps.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Apps Greyed Out, Photos Disappeared
Problem: Hi guys. I am hoping you can help me with my problem. My phone is a Galaxy S5, which gets service from Sprint. The problem is many of my apps have their icons greyed out. One example is Real Racing. Yesterday, I was able to play with it but today, the icon is greyed out and if I tapped on it, nothing happens. Another thing I noticed is that many of the pictures disappeared, although some left thumbnails in the Gallery. When I tap on a thumbnail to view the picture, what is displayed is a pixelated picture that can’t be recognized.
Prior to these issues, there were times when the phone hangs or lags and became very slow. It was also heating up and draining it’s battery faster than usual. I am worried because it could be a hardware issue but I hope I’m wrong. Can you guys help me with it, please. Regards, Leonard.
Troubleshooting: Hey Leonard. Before these problems started, the phone was already telling you something was wrong. Based on your description, I am certain the problem is the microSD card.
The phone will usually hang, freeze or lag if the microSD card is unexpectedly un-mounted. The phone will try to detect and read from it and it failed, it will try even harder using up more RAM and putting the CPU in hyper-driver. Consequently, it will heat up and the battery will be depleted quicker. Now, if the microSD card couldn’t be detected or read, apps that were moved or saved in it will not run. Their icons, however, will still show up in the app drawer but greyed out. It is because those apps still have files saved in the phone’s internal storage while majority of their data are in the microSD card, that’s why they won’t run if tapped.
Pictures that were originally saved in the microSD card will not be visible in the Gallery, while those that were initially saved in the phone’s internal memory but moved to the SD card will still have thumbnails showing in the gallery but since the source image isn’t accessible, only thumbnails will be viewed. That is the reason why you couldn’t recognize them when viewed–you were actually viewing the thumbnail that was overly enlarged.
The microSD card may have been corrupted or damaged but try to physically un-mount it and insert it into a card reader, then to your laptop or computer. If the computer can’t read from it, you will be prompted to reformat it. However, if the machine can read from it, try to mount it back to your phone and see if the device can detect it. If not, then backup everything that’s in it and format the card using FAT32 format. If the problem persisted after doing this, it’s time you bought a new one.
Sprint Galaxy S5 WiFi Switch Is Greyed Out
Problem: At first, my phone became really slow. Then, I rebooted it and everything was back to normal. I have an unlimited data plan so I often use it especially when I’m at work. At home, though, I connect to our WiFi network. Yesterday, I was able to connect with WiFi and I’m not sure if I turned it off when I left home. But the problem is, there’s no way for me to turn it on now because it’s greyed out. It can neither be turned on or off and there’s no indicator of the WiFi at the status bar so it must be off. This is the second time I experience this problem, the phone fixed the first all by itself after an hour or two. But this time, more than 24 hours have passed and the problem is still ongoing. I already rebooted the phone countless times to no avail. Honestly, I’m not really that knowledgeable when it comes to technology so if you guys know how to fix this problem. I would greatly appreciate it. By the way, my phone is Samsung Galaxy S5, I’m with Sprint. And oh, I already called tech support, they just wanted me to reset the phone, which I’m hesitant to do because I have a lot of data in it. Do you know how to fix this without resetting the phone? Thanks, Brent.
Troubleshooting: Hi Brent. It may just be a glitch in the system. This is a pretty common issue with Galaxy devices and most of the time it can be fixed without the intervention of the owner but in your case wherein the problem persisted for more than 24 hours already, it’s time to do something. I know just how to fix this. Follow these steps:
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
- When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
- When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
- Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
- Press the Power key to select.
- When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Yes, wiping the cache partition will fix the greyed out WiFi switch. Works all the time.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Uses More RAM
Problem: I have a Galaxy S5 and I have Sprint as my service provider. The phone works fine but there are times when some apps will crash or will be forced close as the phone runs out of RAM. My brother has the same phone and when I checked the RAM status it was around 800MB while mine is around 1.64GB. That is the case even when all apps are closed. Because of this, there are apps that don’t refresh in the background like Hangouts making me miss important notifications. So, my question is pretty simple, how can I lower my phone’s RAM usage? — David
Troubleshooting: The RAM exists to be used but then, of course, there are disadvantages if your phone is already using almost all of its RAM during boot up or normal use. More often, third-party apps use the RAM more than anything else. The more apps you have in your phone, the higher the RAM usage. Here’s what I suggest you do…
Take note of the current RAM usage of your phone. Reboot your S5 and immediately after it becomes active, check the memory usage and compare it with the first record. If there’s a huge gap between the two, then its means there are third-party apps that use twice as much RAM as the others. However, if after the reboot the memory usage is the same or close to the current usage, then the phone is already hogging on RAM during boot up.
Now, boot your phone in safe mode to know how much memory the phone uses if all third-party apps are disabled.
- Turn the device off.
- Press and hold the Power key.
- When ‘Samsung Galaxy S5’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
- Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
- Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
- Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
- Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Normally, the phone will have low memory usage when in safe mode and you can attain this by performing full hard reset. But as you install apps, the figure will rise so, it’s up to you how you manage it. Apps that need mobile data and refresh more often, usually use more RAM than others. Processor and graphic intensive games will take up more memory, so after you used the apps, force close them.
Prevent Excessive Data Usage
Problem: I’m with Sprint and I have a Galaxy S5. Last month, I paid too much for data and I don’t want it to happen again. We have WiFi at home and I use mobile data when I’m traveling to receive MMS and emails when there’s no WiFi available. Actually, this is my first Android phone; I’ve been stuck with BlackBerry for more than 5 years. Needless to say, I’m still adjusting and learning the phone’s features. I don’t know if it has a feature that will allow me to limit and monitor my data usage. I’ve been looking for such feature for a few days now but I haven’t found it. It would be very helpful for me if you can show me how to monitor my data usage. Thanks, Vivian.
Tutorial: Hi Vivian! Welcome to the wagon! About your question, well, yes you can actually monitor and manage your data usage. Just follow the simple tutorial I outlined for you and you’ll be fine:
- From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
- Launch Settings and touch Data usage. From this screen, you can tell immediately how much data you’ve already used up for a specific period of time.
- To limit data usage, touch and drag the red anchor on the right side of the graph. Data is measured in megabytes (MB).
- If you want to disable mobile data when the limit is reached, tick the checkbox next to Limit mobile data usage.
- You can also set a warning so that you’ll be notified if data usage reached certain amount. Just touch and drag the orange anchor to desired amount of data.
- Tick the checkbox next to Alert me about data usage to be notified.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Can’t Read New MicroSD Card
Problem: I bought a new microSD card to be used in my Galaxy S5. It’s a 32GB SD card and it’s working fine when I insert it to a reader and to my laptop. In fact, it already has hundreds of music tracks in it. However, when I mounted it to my phone, the music tracks won’t appear in the Music app and I can’t find it using the file manager app. Of course, I made sure it was properly mounted but the phone just can’t find it. I am also sure it’s compatible because I bought the same model that my sister used in her phone (S4). I called Sprint and the rep told me to have the card replaced because it might not be compatible with my phone. I’m not sure what to do with it. Help me please. What should I do to rectify this? — Carlos
Troubleshooting: Almost all after market microSD cards are compatible with any smartphones in the market today, so I refuse to believe what Sprint’s rep told you about it. The problem is that it has a format that’s not readable by your phone and it’s easy to fix that. Just follow these simple steps and everything will work fine, although all the music tracks that you already saved in the card will be deleted.
- Plug your microSD card to a card reader.
- Insert your card reader to your laptop and wait until it can detect it.
- Right-click on the SD card icon.
- Choose Format.
- Set File type to FAT32.
I hope this helps.
How To Stop Available Networks Notifications on Sprint Galaxy S5
Problem: Hi team. I’ve been following your troubleshooting series for Galaxy S5 since I upgraded in December. I am not sure if you already addressed this issue but it’s very annoying when the phone repeatedly notifies you that there are available networks in range. There are even times when it automatically connects to one of the networks it could detect. How do I prevent the phone from doing this? I think the phone was set to do this by default because I haven’t changed a setting yet. Can you help me with, please? — Joey
Related Question: Hi droid guy. I know you guys are very busy but I will contact you anyway. My concern is more of an annoyance than a problem. The phone will often detect available WiFi networks and will notify me. I don’t want these kinds of notifications popping up out of the blue, so how can I stop them? Thanks.
Troubleshooting: There’s one WiFi setting you need to disable to prevent the phone from scanning available networks. Just follow these steps to get rid of those unwanted WiFi-related notifications:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen with one finger.
- Tap the Settings icon on the upper-right corner.
- Tap the WiFi icon.
- Tap the Menu icon on the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Choose Advanced from the drop down.
- Uncheck the box next to “Always allow scanning”.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Won’t Turn On But Vibrates
Problem: Hello droid guy. Thanks for giving us users free support. We really need help especially those who have little knowledge with technology. I am 62 years old and a woman at that but I know how to use my new Galaxy S5. This is the third Android phone in my possession and I have already learned the basics. As of late, however, my phone randomly turns off. I tried finding something that will tell of its pattern but there’s nothing…every reboot was random.
When it turns off, it wouldn’t respond if I press the Power key to turn it on. My son told me to remove the battery for a minute so I spent almost an hour taking the back cover off, then I pulled the battery out. When I replaced the battery, the phone immediately turned on but turned off after a few seconds. There’s a vibration every now and then and I’m worried about it. Is my phone hardware defective? If not, can you show me a way to fix this problem? I think I can follow simple step-by-step guides. Thank you. — Helen
Troubleshooting: Hi Helen. I am sorry you’re experiencing this problem. Based on you description, it seems like the Power key of your phone is stuck. That’s why it can’t boot up completely, turns off and vibrates. It’s a hardware issue and we can only do so much about it. There’s one thing I want you to try, though: press the Power key many times just to see if you can get the Power key from being stuck. If not, then you really have to send it in for repair as there is also a possibility that the Power button was damaged. If this was the case, then the technician can replace the switch and the phone should be working fine after that.
Sprint Galaxy S5 Freezes, Settings Crashed
Problem: Hi guys. I’m not sure how this problem started but my Galaxy S5 just froze one day and then error messages started to pop up. When it freezes, there’s nothing I can do but remove the battery and restart the phone. At random times, an error message “Unfortunately, Settings has stopped” will pop up and the phone will freeze again. I was told by Sprint representative to reset the phone. He asked me to press the Power, Volume Up and Home keys together but nothing happened. I don’t care about the data in my phone, I just want to fix it. Can you help me out how to reset my phone? Thanks in advance. — Jimmy
Troubleshooting: It looks like there’s a glitch in the firmware causing the Settings service to crash. Since you decided to just reset the phone, then I won’t keep you long. Just follow the steps below to perform full hard reset. Once done successfully, your phone should be working like its first boot.
- Turn off the device.
- Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
- When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
- When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
- Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
- Press Power button to select.
- Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
- Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
- When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
- Press the Power key to restart the device.
Good luck!
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