What to do if your Note8 keeps showing “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error

One of the most common problems in Android devices is the “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error. Today’s troubleshooting article address this issue particularly happening on the #GalaxyNote8. Many Note8 users have contacted us about this error since Samsung released this device last year so hopefully, this post will help.

How to fix Note8 “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error

Whether you’re experiencing problems or not, it’s highly recommended that you restart your device regularly. Since you are apparently having an issue right now, you can also try to soft reset your device in order to simulate a battery pull. This trick is often used when a device has frozen or become unresponsive. It’s basically just another way to restart your device. Here’s how to do it:

Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons until the device powers off (approx. 10 seconds). Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. Utilize the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (on the left edge; below the volume buttons) to select. Allow up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Solution #1: Clear cache and data of Gallery, Camera, Media Storage

If restarting your device won’t fix the issue, the first troubleshooting step that you want to do is to clear the cache and data of three apps:

Gallery
Camera
Media Storage

Any of these apps may be the source of the bug so you want to clear their cache first. If wiping the cache won’t fix the problem, then you want to make sure that you also clear their data.

Because wiping the data of these apps will result to data loss, make sure that you back your photos, videos, and documents before proceeding. Once you’re ready, follow the steps below on how to clear their cache and data.

Open Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
Select Show system apps.
Find the app you’re having an issue with.
Tap Storage app.
Tap Clear Cache button.
Restart your device and observe how playing a video works on any or all of these apps.

If the problem returns after clearing the cache, your next move would be to clear its data.

To clear a messaging app’s data, repeat steps 1-4 and tap Clear Data button.

Solution #2: Reset app preferences

Sometimes, an app may appear to suddenly stop working properly or at all because their associated app or service had been turned off or removed from the system. In order to ensure that this is not the case in your device, make sure that you reset its apps back to their defaults.

Resetting app preferences will reset preferences for:

disabled apps
disable app notifications
default apps for actions
background data restrictions for apps
app permission restrictions.

To reset app preferences on your Note8:

Tap Settings app.
Tap Apps.
Tap More settings at the upper-right hand side (three-dot icon).
Tap Reset app preferences.
Tap RESET to confirm.

Solution #3: Ensure internal storage or SD has enough storage space

Some users were able to successfully fix the “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” bug by simply freeing up space on their internal storage device, SD card or both. Make sure that you delete unnecessary apps and data to maintain acceptable level of available space. Ideally, you should leave at least 1GB of free space to minimize storage-related issues.

Solution #4: Unmount SD card

Other users also fixed the issue by unmounting SD card on their device. We can’t see any logical explanation for this but since there are anecdotal accounts for it, we feel it important to include this remedy here. We are not sure if this can permanently fix the bug but it’s worth trying, if only for the sake of troubleshooting.

To unmount an SD card:

Tap Settings app.
Tap Device maintenance.
Tap Storage.
Tap SD card at the bottom.
Tap More settings at the upper-right hand side (three-dot icon).
Tap Storage settings.
Tap the Unmount option for the SD card.

Solution #5: Uninstall apps

“Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error may be the result of a bad app interfering with the Gallery app or its associated apps. To check that, you want to boot your Note8 to safe mode and observe it.

To boot your phone to safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” 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.
Let your Note8 run in this mode for at least 24 hours.

Safe mode blocks third party apps and services so when your Note8 is in this mode and the

error won’t appear, that’s a clear indication that you have an app issue. To fix the issue, you must uninstall apps until the issue is gone.

Solution #6: Clear cache partition

In some cases, clearing the cache partition can effectively fix “Unfortunately, Gallery has stopped” error. Your Note8 uses a system cache that’s kept in the cache partition to load apps quickly. Sometimes, this system cache gets corrupted after an update or app installation. To check if you have a cache problem, make sure that you clear the cache partition. Here’s how:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
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).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.
After your Note8 restarts, check for the issue again.

Solution #7: Factory reset

Finally, if all the suggestions above won’t help in fixing the issue at all, you should wipe the device and restore its settings to their defaults. Be sure to back your personal data first before doing this step.

From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.Tap Settings > Cloud and accounts.
Tap Accounts.
Tap Google.
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.
Tap 3 dot icon.
Tap Remove account.
Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

Once you’re ready to reset your phone, follow these steps to bring your phone back to default settings…

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
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).
Press the Volume down key several times 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.