Phone keeps restarting for no reason? There usually is one

🧰 Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ Easy (Simple, with a few catches)

⏱ Time involved: 10–30 minutes for basic troubleshooting

⚠️ Risk level: Low—until troubleshooting gets to a factory reset, which can erase your data

💡 Pro insight: Safe Mode is one of our favorite tests for random restarts. If the rebooting stops there, an app just made itself a pretty strong suspect.

⚙️ Phone still stuck in a restart loop? Bring it to a uBreakiFix® by Asurion store and let us figure out whether you're dealing with software, the battery, or something deeper.

Your phone restarts once and you shrug it off. Then it happens again. And again. At some point, "weird glitch" starts feeling like a pretty unsatisfying diagnosis.

We troubleshoot phones with random restart and boot loop problems regularly, and there's usually something behind them. A buggy app, overheating, a software problem, low storage, or a failing battery can all cause a phone to reboot unexpectedly.

The way your phone restarts can give us clues. Let's narrow down what's triggering it before you wipe the phone—or start blaming the hardware.

Why your phone keeps restarting randomly

Random phone restarts tend to come back to a few common causes:

• Software glitches. A system problem or bad update can interfere with normal operation.
• A problematic app. Corrupt or incompatible apps can trigger crashes and reboots.
• Overheating. A shutdown or restart can be the phone protecting its components from excessive heat.
• A failing battery. Battery problems are a common cause of repeated shutdowns and boot loops.
• Full storage. A phone that's run out of working room can start behaving unpredictably.

Before changing anything major, pay attention to the pattern. Does it happen when you open one particular app? While gaming or editing video? Only when the phone gets hot? Does the battery percentage behave strangely beforehand? Those details can save you a lot of unnecessary troubleshooting.

Check whether an app is causing the restarts

If your phone started randomly restarting after installing or updating an app, start there.

Remove any recently installed apps you suspect and see whether the problem stops. If there's no obvious culprit, Safe Mode can be a much better test than uninstalling half your phone and hoping for the best.

Safe Mode starts an Android phone with downloaded apps temporarily disabled, which makes it useful for figuring out whether one of them is behind the reboots.

How to start an Android phone in Safe Mode

The exact steps vary by manufacturer and model, but on many Android phones you can:

1. Open the Power menu.
2. Touch and hold Power off.
3. Tap Safe mode when the option appears.
4. Let the phone restart, then use it normally for a while and watch for another reboot.

Then pay attention to what happens:

• If the restarts stop: That's a strong clue that a downloaded app is responsible. Restart normally, then start with recently installed or updated apps and remove them one at a time.
• If the phone still restarts: A third-party app becomes less likely, so it's time to look at heat, the battery, or the operating system.

What about an iPhone?

iPhone® doesn't offer the same user-accessible Safe Mode for troubleshooting third-party apps. If the restarting started after installing or updating a particular app, remove that app and see whether the problem continues. From there, move on to the other troubleshooting steps below.

What to do if your phone is restarting because it's overheating

If the restarts tend to happen while your phone is hot, treat the heat as a clue. Start by giving the phone less work to do:

• Remove the case. It may help the phone release heat more easily.
• Get it out of direct sunlight. A hot phone doesn't need the sun contributing.
• Close open apps. Especially demanding games, video editors, or anything else making the phone work hard.
• Turn on Airplane Mode temporarily. Reducing wireless activity can help while the phone cools down.

Then leave the phone somewhere cool and shaded and give it time to return to a normal temperature.

One thing we'd absolutely skip: the freezer.

Yes, people try it. Rapidly cooling a hot phone can create condensation inside the device, and adding moisture to electronics is a pretty effective way to trade one problem for another.

If your phone repeatedly overheats and restarts during ordinary use—not just during demanding games or other intensive tasks—we'd have it checked rather than keep trying to cool it down.

Could your battery be causing a phone boot loop?

Yes. Battery problems are one of the more common causes of boot loops and repeated shutdowns.

A degraded or failing battery may struggle to deliver consistent power. That can leave the phone shutting down, attempting to restart, and sometimes repeating the process.

The important thing is to look at the restart problem alongside other battery symptoms. If your phone also struggles to hold a charge, shuts down unexpectedly, or has other obvious power problems, the battery moves higher on the suspect list. And that's where DIY gets much less appealing.

Replacing a phone battery usually means opening a tightly assembled device and working around delicate components. If troubleshooting is pointing toward the battery itself, let a smartphone repair expert check it out.

When a factory reset is actually worth trying

A factory data reset can resolve software problems—but it shouldn't be step one.

We'd consider one after you've already:

1. Checked whether a specific app triggers the problem.
2. Removed suspicious recent apps.
3. Tested the phone in Safe Mode.
4. Ruled out an obvious overheating pattern.

If the phone is still randomly restarting, a factory reset can help determine whether the operating system or another software issue is responsible. Just be sure to back up anything important before you reset. A factory reset erases your data. For help, follow these steps for factory resetting your iPhone or Android.

There's also an important diagnostic step afterward: test the phone before restoring all of your apps and content.

If it still restarts on a freshly reset device before you've restored everything, that's a strong sign the problem may be hardware-related rather than something in your previous software setup.

When random restarts point to a hardware problem

If you've ruled out problematic apps, addressed overheating, and the phone still restarts after a clean factory reset, you've done a lot of useful troubleshooting already. At that point, the problem is more likely to involve hardware.

A failing battery is one possibility, but figuring out the exact cause requires testing the device rather than continuing to reset it and hope for a different result.

Bring your phone to your nearest uBreakiFix® by Asurion store and let us take it from there. We can diagnose what's triggering the restarts and determine whether you're dealing with the battery or another internal issue—without making you erase your phone for the third time just to prove it wasn't the software.

FAQ

Why is my phone stuck in a restart loop?

A phone boot loop can be caused by software problems or hardware issues such as a failing battery. If Safe Mode and other software troubleshooting don't help, the phone may need professional diagnosis.

Can an app make my phone keep restarting?

Yes. A corrupt or incompatible app can trigger repeated restarts. If your phone works normally in Safe Mode, a downloaded app is a strong suspect.

Can overheating cause a phone to restart?

Yes. A phone may shut down or restart when it gets too hot as a way of protecting internal components. Let it cool naturally—don't put it in a refrigerator or freezer.

Will a factory reset fix a phone that keeps restarting?

It can fix software-related restart problems, but we'd try less disruptive troubleshooting first. If the phone still restarts after a factory reset and before restoring your content, hardware becomes a more likely cause.

Can a bad battery cause a phone to keep restarting?

Yes. A failing battery may not deliver stable power, which can contribute to unexpected shutdowns or boot loops. If battery symptoms appear alongside repeated restarts, have the battery checked.

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