What to do with Google Pixel 2 that started to keep freezing and lagging (easy steps)
Freezes and lags may occur every now and then even to premium phones like the Google Pixel 2. It’s because these problems are a result for a firmware issue which affects the overall performance of the device. They may be annoying and may prevent you from doing your usual activity with your phone but they can easily be fixed provided that your device doesn’t have any signs of physical and liquid damage or its firmware hasn’t been modified in any way.
In this post, I will walk you through in troubleshooting your Google Pixel 2 that started to freeze and lag. We will look into each possibility while taking into consideration the safety of your important files and data. The best thing to do is to rule out each possibility until we can determine what the problem with your phone is and how to deal with it. So, if you’re one of the owners of this device and are currently bugged by a similar issue, then continue reading as this article may be able to help you one way or another.
But before anything else, if you have another issue with your phone, drop by our troubleshooting page as we have already addressed hundreds of issues reported by the owners. Odds are that there are already existing solutions on our website or at least, there are similar problems we already fixed. So, try to find ones that are similar or related to your problem. If you need further assistance, however, feel free to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.
How to troubleshoot Google Pixel 2 that keeps on freezing and lagging
Freezes and lags are just two of the most common performance issues any smartphone owner may be able to encounter. They happen a lot especially if you’re using intensive apps and games or your phone is running out of storage space. Don’t worry though because more often than not, these issues can be fixed without bringing the phone to the shop and with all that being said, here’s what you should do about it:
First solution: Run your phone in safe mode
Doing this will temporarily disable all third party applications you installed on your device. Why is it important? You need to to know if one of those apps is causing the problem. If your device no longer has issues while in safe mode, then that confirms our suspicion. The next thing you should do is find out which of your apps causes the problem and uninstall it. Follow these steps to run your phone in safe mode:
- With the device powered on, press and hold the Power button (located on the right-edge) until the Power off prompt appears then release.
- Touch and hold Power off until the “Reboot to safe mode” prompt appears then release.
- Tap OK to confirm.
- The restart process may take up to 45 seconds to complete.
- Upon restart, “Safe mode” appears in the lower-left of the unlock/home screen.
Then, this is how you uninstall an application from your device:
- From a Home screen, tap the Arrow icon to display all apps.
- Navigate: Settings > Apps & notifications .
- Tap See all ‘xx’ apps.
- Tap an app that you think causes the problem.
- Tap Uninstall.
- Tap OK to confirm.
If the freezes and lags continue even if your phone is in safe mode, then the problem could be with the firmware. Move on to the next solution.
Second solution: Delete the system cache
You won’t just delete the cache, you’re actually replacing it but it’s done by the firmware automatically. All you need to do is initiate the deletion of the cache and everything will be taken care of by the system. It is important that you try this because when the caches get corrupted, performance issues may occur. Here’s how you do it:
- Turn off your Google Pixel 2.
- Once off, press the power and volume down button together for some time.
- This will turn the device on and you need to hold both the buttons till the Google Pixel 2 logo disappears.
- After this, simply wait for the time till your device boots into the recovery mode.
- Next, you can choose the language of your choice.
- Next is to tap on the “Wipe Data and Cache” option.
- After this, simply tap on the “Wipe Cache” option.
- You will be asked to confirm the same, click yes to proceed.
- After this, you need to wait till your Google Pixel 2 clear the entire cache partition.
- After this, tap on the reboot. This will restart your device.
- Once restarted, you are done.
Continue using your phone to know if the problem continues after this and if it does, then you have no other choice but to do the next procedure.
Third solution: Perform the Master Reset on your phone
This is your last resort. If after doing this the problem continues to bug you, then you always have the option to bring the phone to the service center. But assuming that this problem started on its own without apparent reason or cause, then a reset would be able to fix it. However, before you do that, make sure to make a backup of your important files and data as they may be deleted. Follow these steps to do the Master Reset:
- Ensure the device is powered off.
- Press and hold the Power+Volume Down buttons until bootloader mode (image of an Android with Start above it) appears, then release.
- Select Recovery mode.
- Use the Volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the Power button to select.
- The device will flash the Google start screen momentarily and then restarts in Recovery mode.
- If presented with an image of a broken Android with “No Command” shown on the screen, press and hold the Power button. Press the Volume Up button once then release the Power button.
- From the Android Recovery screen, select Wipe data/factory reset.
- Select Yes and then allow several minutes for the factory data reset process to complete.
- Select Reboot system now.
- Allow several minutes for the factory data reset and reboot processes to complete.
I hope that this troubleshooting guide have helped you. If you have other issues with your phone that you want to share with us, feel free to contact us anytime or leave a comment below.
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