But enough morbid talk. While bootloops are frustrating and may well result in you having to wipe all the data from your device, they almost certainly don’t mean your device is dead, so relax! Here’s our guide on how to fix the dreaded bootloop on Android devices.
First, the Obvious Stuff
It goes without saying that you should try the simple solutions before attempting anything more drastic. In this case if you’re stuck in a bootloop, remove the battery from the back of your device, then wait a few minutes before putting it back in and turning on your phone. Some users have also reported that getting a new battery for their phone got rid of the bootloop issue, suggesting that, in some cases at least, a bootloop can be related to a battery-related bug. Didn’t work? Okay, then we’ll need to look at factory-resetting your device, then using a Recovery tool.
Getting into Android Recovery Mode
Whatever you do, you’ll need to do it from your Android recovery screen. Getting to this depends on what kind of phone you have. After making sure your phone is off, press and hold the following buttons to access recovery:
Google Pixel/Nexus: Press and hold the Power and Volume Down keys simultaneously. Samsung: Press and hold the Power, Volume Up and Home buttons simultaneously. HTC: First, go to “Settings -> Battery” and uncheck the Fastboot box. Then, with your phone off, press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons simultaneously LG: Press and hold the Power and Volume Down keys simultaneously, and when the LG logo appears, let go of the Power key and press it again while still holding Volume Down (complicated, I know).
Once you’re in Recovery Mode, you can use the volume buttons to go up and down in the list and the power button to make a selection.
Fix Android Bootloop Using Stock Recovery
So once you’ve used one of the above methods to get into your Android Recovery. From here use the volume keys to navigate down to “Wipe data/factory reset.” When prompted, tap “Yes.”
After that, use the volume keys to select “wipe cache partition” and proceed to do that. Your Android device is now wiped. Reboot it and it should load to whatever ROM or OS you’re using without the dreaded bootloop.
Fixing Bootloop with the Custom Recovery
If you’ve rooted your Android device, there’s a good chance you’re using a custom recovery tool like TWRP or Clockworkmod which will make the exact steps of wiping your phone a little different. The good thing is that you’ll also get the option to back up your Android data before you wipe it. In TWRP Recovery, for example, first go to “Backup” from the main menu, select all the data you want to save, then swipe across the bottom of the screen to back it up.
Next, to wipe the existing data from your phone, select “Wipe” from the TWRP main menu, then swipe right at the bottom of the screen to wipe your phone data, cache and dalvik. (There are also more elaborate “Advanced Wipes” that you can do, but these can lead to complications and require you to fully reinstall your OS, which you probably want to avoid). If you want to restore the data you backed up, go back into TWRP Recovery and select “Restore”.
If you’re using Clockworkmod, then from the main recovery screen, select “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” and go ahead with the procedure.
Next, go to the “Advanced” menu and select “wipe dalvik cache,” then reboot your device.
If that doesn’t work, head to “Mounts and Storage” in Clockworkmod, tap the “format /data” and “format /cache” options, then reboot again.
Conclusion
It’s not the prettiest process, but tough times call for tough measures, and an Android bootloop is definitely a sticky situation to find yourself in. You may lose some data if you haven’t taken the right backup precautions here, but at least your phone’s working again. Just think of it as a fresh start!
