Samsung Galaxy J2 – Device Keeps Restarting – What to Do

Occasional restarts and restart loops are not unheard of in both old and new Samsung smartphones. And, although the Android 5.0 Lollipop is a fairly stable OS, your Galaxy J2 may experience issues at some point.

Keep reading to learn about the most common issues and how you can attempt to fix the problem on your own.

What’s Causing the Problem?

1. Incompatible or Corrupt Data

A firmware change can lead to occasional restarts or restarting loops. This happens when old data caches are incompatible with the new firmware. This type of inconsistency confuses the OS which may trigger unwanted system resets.

2. Buggy Third Party App

An incompatible, corrupt, or buggy application may also trigger a phone reset. It may not even matter if you’re using the app or if it runs in the background at the time of the reset.

3. Hardware Issues

Hardware issues are too many to list and very hard to diagnose. If software fixes don’t work, then your best course of action is taking your Galaxy J2 into a service center for a complete hardware diagnosis.

Running the Phone is Safe Mode

Running the phone in Safe Mode prevents the system from running any non-essential app or service. This may give you a good idea as to what is causing the restart loop. Here is how you enter Safe Mode on the Galaxy J2:

1. Restart or power up the phone
2. Hold the Volume Up key when the Samsung logo appears
3. Wait for the general maintenance menu to appear
4. Select Safe Mode from the list
5. Press the Power button to access Safe Mode

If you can use your phone without it restarting when it’s in Safe Mode, the cause may be the firmware version or a buggy app.

Deleting Non-Essential Apps

If you’re experiencing restarts only when running particular apps, you may want to consider uninstalling them.

1. Tap the Apps icon on the Home Screen
2. Locate and tap the Settings icon
3. Tap the Applications icon
4. Open the Application manager
5. Locate and select the desired App
6. Tap on it and then tap on the Uninstall option

If the problem goes away, you can try to reinstall the apps and see if they work better the second time around.

Deleting Cached Data

Deleting cached data frees up memory too, not just storage space. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Tap on the Apps icon on the Home Screen
2. Locate and tap the Smart Manager icon
3. Locate and tap on Storage
4. Tap DELETE

This removes cached data from apps and websites, including cached data from older applications that you no longer have. This should fix some restart issues.

Removing the Battery

Using the battery pull trick is something you can still use on the Galaxy J2 as opposed to the newer Samsung smartphones. Newer models only simulate this through their soft reset function.

To pull the battery out, simply remove the back cover, remove battery safety locks, and then remove the battery. Wait a few minutes before putting it back in and powering up the phone.

This should help solve minor software glitches, some of which may be causing your phone to restart.

A Final Word

As a last resort, you could also try performing a factory reset from the general maintenance menu, the same one used to access Safe Mode. However, keep in mind that this deletes all non-essential apps, resets all configurations to default, and wipes out all personal data from the phone.

It’s also not a guaranteed method for preventing a restart loop, especially if the problem comes from a piece of hardware.