Force restarting your phone | What the Tech?

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — Have you ever taken your malfunctioning smartphone to a technician who fixed it with just a few buttons? You can do that too.

It’s bound to happen that your phone just stops working. The trick is force restarting your phone to get it working again.

Here’s how it works:

On an iPhone, press and release the volume up button. Then, press and quickly release the volume down button. After that, press and hold the side button. Don’t let go until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

On iPhone 7 and earlier, press and hold the volume down and on/off buttons simultaneously. The phone should restart and work fine.

If the Apple logo stays frozen on the screen try the forced restart again. If the screen is still frozen, connect it to a computer and, using iTunes, update the phone to the latest iOS.

On Android devices, it depends on the phone. Try force restarting the phone by pressing and holding the power and volume down keys for more than 7 seconds.

For some Android devices, you’ll need to hold down the power button for about 30 seconds.

If that doesn’t work on Android phones, you can also remove the battery to reset it but it’s not for the faint of heart.

If things still don’t work, contact support or take the phone to your wireless carrier. It’s a good idea to restart your phone every now and then, whether you’re having problems with it or not. You might find the phone works a lot faster after a good restart, not just force restarting your phone.

Also, remember to back up your phone regularly. That way, if there’s a problem and you need to restore your phone to factory settings, you’ll still have all of your information and apps.

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