Is your Android phone lagging or refusing to open apps? Before you dive into advanced troubleshooting, learn how to reboot Android phone the right way. It has been seen that a simple restart clears the memory, kills misbehaving background apps and resolves temporary glitches in one go. So let's go ahead and find out all the ways to restart your Android phone.
How to Reboot Android Phone Using Buttons
On most Android phones, long-pressing the power button no longer opens the power menu. It now opens Gemini by default, which is why you need to press two buttons to restart your device. The Power + Volume Up shortcut is the standard on most phones including Pixel, OnePlus, Vivo, etc.
- To reboot Android phone, press and hold the Power + Volume Up buttons together for a couple of seconds.
- If you are using One UI, press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons to reboot a Samsung phone.
- When the power menu appears, tap on Restart. Your Android phone will reboot right away.
Note that pressing Power + Volume down buttons takes a screenshot on Samsung and other Android devices.
Restart Your Android Phone from Quick Settings
If the physical buttons on your phone are not functioning, don't worry. Android includes a power icon right inside the Quick Settings panel and it can reboot nearly all Android phones. Here is how to use it.
- First off, swipe down from the top of the screen twice to open the Quick Settings panel.
- Now, tap on the Power icon, available in the top-right corner next to the Settings gear icon.
- Finally, tap on Restart in the power menu and confirm the action. That's it.
Note that a few brands, including OnePlus and Motorola, don't offer the power icon in Quick Settings panel. On such phones, you can enable the Power off tile under the Quick Settings setting. Finally, to switch off OnePlus phones, there is a different mechanism so follow our linked guide.
Force Restart an Android Phone When the Screen is Frozen
If your Android phone is completely unresponsive, none of the methods will work. In that case, you need to force restart your phone. It won't delete any of your data. Follow the steps below.
- Press and hold the Power button for around 30 seconds. Google says it can take up to 60 seconds on some Android models, so keep the button pressed.
- Now, keep holding the button even after the screen goes black.
- Release the button once the boot logo appears and your phone will restart on its own.
On Samsung and OnePlus phones, press and hold the Power + Volume down buttons together for about 10-20 seconds instead. And if your phone boots up with all third-party apps missing after the reboot, do not panic. It has simply entered into Safe Mode and you can quickly turn off Safe Mode on Android with another restart.
How to Change the Power Button Behaviour on Android
As mentioned above, long-pressing the power button now wakes up Gemini on most Android phones. If you find this annoying, you can reassign it to open the power menu directly.
- Open the Settings app on your Android phone and go to System > Gestures.
- On a Samsung phone, head to Settings > Advanced features > Side button.
- Now, tap on Press and hold power button.
- Here, select Power menu instead of Digital assistant.
- Finally, long-press the power button and the power menu will appear right away.
And those are all the ways to reboot your Android phone. For quick restarts, the button combo and Quick Settings methods are the fastest way to reboot an Android phone. Interestingly, Google has now brought Advanced Protection Mode on Android 16 that automatically restarts your phone if it stays locked for three days. As an aside, if you own an iPhone, follow our guide and learn how to restart an iPhone in different ways.
