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Fix a Pixel phone that's restarting or crashing

Try the following steps if your phone has any of these problems:

  • Randomly reboots or restarts
  • Shuts down without restarting
  • Restarts constantly: Go to the Advanced troubleshooting section.
  • Unexpected reboots or restarts in a bag or inside a pocket

Troubleshoot your phone

Check for Android updates
  1. Open your phone's Settings app.
  2. At the bottom, select System and then Software update.
  3. When the update status appears on your screen, follow the steps.
Check storage & clear space
  1. Open your phone's Settings app.
  2. Tap Storage.
  3. See how much storage you have available. Your phone can have issues when less than 10% of storage is available. If you're running low on storage, learn how to free up space.

Troubleshoot apps on your phone

Check for app updates
  1. Open the Google Play Store app Google Play.
  2. At the top right, tap the profile icon.
  3. Tap Manage apps & devices.
  4. Under "Updates available," choose to update all apps or a specific app.
Close apps you're not using
  1. Open your phone's Settings app.
  2. Select Apps and then See all apps.
  3. Select the app and then Force stop and then OK.

Tip: To help identify which apps are causing problems, make a list of the apps you force stop.

Find out whether an app causes your problem

Restart in safe mode

Important: Safe mode temporarily turns off all downloaded apps.

Check if the problem goes away. If it does, an app is likely causing your problem. Go to the next step. If the problem doesn't go away, skip to Advanced troubleshooting.

Tip: Airplane mode is automatically turned on when you enter safe mode. We recommend turning airplane mode off in order to continue using features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, and making phone calls.

Restart your phone normally & check apps

  1. Restart your phone.
  2. One by one, remove recently downloaded apps. Learn how to delete apps.
  3. After each removal, restart your phone normally. See whether removing that app solved the problem.
  4. After you remove the app that caused the problem, you can add back the other apps that you removed. Learn how to reinstall apps.

Troubleshoot unexpected restarts in a bag & pocket

Check device temperature

Your phone might restart unexpectedly if it gets too hot. Check if your phone feels unusually warm.

Important: Available on Pixel 6a and later.

  1. On your Pixel phone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Battery and then Battery diagnostics and then Phone is very warm.
Check touch sensitivity

Open your phone's Settings app, then:

  1. Run Touch diagnostics test:
    • Tap Display & touch and then Touch diagnostics.

If this doesn't work:

  1. Check for a system update.
    • Tap System and then Software updates.
    • Install any updates.
  2. If the issue is with gesture navigation, try to adjust the device settings.
    • Tap System and then Navigation mode and then Gesture navigation.
    • To adjust the sensitivity, tap Settings .
  3. Check if Adaptive touch helps:
    • Open your phone's Settings app.
    • Tap Display & touch and then Touch sensitivity.
    • Turn Adaptive touch on or off.
Check battery drain
Unexpected restarts can sometimes be linked to battery performance issues or abnormal drain. Monitoring your battery usage can help identify if a specific app or activity is causing issues.
  1. Charge your phone to 100%.
  2. Close all open apps.
  3. Disconnect your phone from all power sources.
  4. Leave the phone idle as usual overnight.
  5. The next morning, check if your battery has drained more than 10%.

Learn more about how to understand your overnight battery test results.

Advanced troubleshooting

Remove cases & external batteries

If you’ve put a case, external battery pack, or other accessory on your phone, try taking it off while you troubleshoot.

Make sure that external accessories don’t cover your phone’s sensors or touch its buttons.

Consider resetting your phone to factory settings

Important: A factory data reset will remove all data from your phone. Resetting the phone removes any issues from settings changes or third party software you didn’t want. You can restore any data stored in your Google Account, but all apps and their associated data are uninstalled. Before you perform a factory data reset, back up your phone. Learn how to back up and restore data

Important: Before you use the Update and Software Repair tool, you must have a computer and a USB cord that can connect to your phone.

  1. Connect your phone to a computer with a USB cord.
  2. Go to https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

If a computer and a USB cord are not available, learn how to perform a factory data reset.

Tips:

  • If your phone doesn't respond or stays blank, you can use the your phone's buttons to trigger a factory data reset.
  • If an app that you downloaded caused the issue and you reinstall that app, the problem could come back.
Post your question to a Google forum
For possible solutions to other issues with your phone, you can post questions on the Google Pixel Help Community or the Pixel Tablet Help Community.

Still have issues with restarts or crashes?

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