Smartphones are technical marvels.
The computing power they pack is truly ridiculous, but of course all this innovation and complexity can lead to a few issues that leave you scratching your head.
A very annoying symptom occurs when your device decides to turn off inexplicably. So what could be the cause of this problem and how can you fix it?
Why does my phone keep restarting by itself?
There are many reasons why you might find your phone in some sort of boot loop or strange behavior where it constantly or intermittently restarts.
The worst case scenario is usually a hardware failure. This could be due to water damage or other substances affecting the behavior of the sensors, making the device think it needs to reboot. If you recently dropped your phone, there could also be damaged components, which in turn triggers the reboots. It could also be that your battery is faulty.
In case of hardware damage, the only recourse is to either take the phone to a repair shop or replace it. Phones are not easy to repair these days, so the second option might be more likely.
Keep in mind, though, that your device may be covered by your home insurance or a policy with your mobile carrier, so check these things before you spend any money. If you do need to replace your device, be sure to check out our rankings of the best budget phones , best mid-range phones , and best smartphones to see what we currently recommend.
In hot weather, the device may also overheat, but you will usually receive a message informing you that the shutdown precaution has been taken. You can read our guide on how to stop your phone from overheating for some helpful tips.
Software issues can also cause reboots, and fortunately, these can be a little easier to fix. We’ll look at these in the sections below, relating to the most popular smartphone categories.
How to Stop Android Phone from Turning Off by Itself
Android is a very broad operating system, but the following steps should cover most needs. If the instructions don’t match exactly, you can Google the methodology for your particular model.
Check your storage
Phones can start to misbehave when they drop below 10% of available internal memory. Go to the Settings section of your phone and look for the Storage option. There you will see the amount of space currently available on your device.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
If this number is below 10% or even close to it, we recommend deleting some of the larger files that you don’t use. Our guides on how to free up storage space on Android and how to clear cache on Android are a good place to start.
Update your system software
Sometimes, errors creep into the operating system that can cause strange behavior. Updating to the latest version of your device’s system software is always a good idea if you’re experiencing performance issues. You can usually find this option by going to System > Software Updates > System Update > Check for Updates.
Here your device will tell you if an update is available.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Follow the steps in our Android update tutorial to update your phone to the latest version and hopefully fix the problem.
Update your apps
Apart from the operating system, apps can also be the cause of issues. That’s why it’s a good idea to update them to their respective latest versions, if you’re experiencing any problems. To do this, you usually need to go to the Google Play Store, tap on your profile icon in the top right corner, and then select Manage apps and devices.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
You should then see an option to Update apps. Select this option and Android will take care of the rest. For more instructions, you can check out our guide on how to update Android apps.
If you are still having problems, you can also remove the latest applications you installed (one by one) to see if any of them introduced the problem into your system.
Return to factory settings
If all else fails, it may be time to take more drastic measures. A factory reset will return your device to the way it was when it was new (factory, hence the name). But it also means that it will delete all the locally stored files you downloaded and remove all your apps (you can of course restore them later). So before taking this step, we highly recommend that you back up your Android phone to avoid losing any data.
Once this is done, you can go to Settings > System > Reset options > Erase all data (factory reset).
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Once this is done, your phone will purge all non-system apps and your phone’s data will be completely refreshed. If you still have issues after this, it seems that a hardware failure is the most likely problem.
How to Stop iPhone from Turning Off by Itself
It’s a similar case on Apple’s side, with various software approaches that can help troubleshoot a misbehaving iPhone.
Check your storage
As with Android phones, iPhones need some free memory to function properly. Generally, it’s best to have around 10% of your device’s capacity.
To check this, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and you will see the current status of your storage.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
If it’s too full, follow some of the steps in our tutorial on how to save space on your iPhone, to see if that helps with reboots.
Update to the latest version of iOS
Sometimes it can be a small bug in the operating system that causes strange issues. These are usually identified by software engineers and fixed in later updates. That’s why it’s always a good idea to run the latest version of iOS available for your iPhone.
To check this, go to Settings > General > Software Update
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
You will immediately see if your iPhone is running on the latest version of iOS or if an update is available. If so, update your iPhone and see if that fixes the restarting issue.
Update apps on your iPhone
If updating iOS doesn’t fix the problem, you can also try updating apps individually, as one of them may have developed an issue that is fixed by a later version. To do this, open the App Store, tap your profile picture in the top right corner, scroll down, and you should find a list of apps that have updates available.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Update them and see if the reboot issue goes away. If the problem persists, we recommend systematically removing the most recently added apps to your phone. Do this one by one and see if you can find a culprit that could be causing the reboots.
Reset your iPhone to factory settings
The last option is to factory reset your iPhone, which erases all non-system data and apps from the device. For this reason, you will need to back up your iPhone before you begin.
With your data safely backed up, open Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone then select the option Erase all content and settings.
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
Martyn Casserly / Dominick Tomaszewski
You can now select which parts you want to delete, although we recommend erasing the whole thing and starting over with a blank page.
That’s it. We hope these tips will get your device working again. If not, you can always check out our best iPhone guide for a replacement, as now you have the perfect excuse to upgrade to a new phone.
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