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How to Reset a Frozen Galaxy Note 5

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This quick guide will explain how to reset a frozen Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Now that Samsung’s two new smartphones are available around the globe, and on the shelves of all five major US carriers, buyers will be getting their hands on it. Due to a completely new all aluminum and glass design, users can’t simply pull out the battery if the Note 5 freezes, is unresponsive, or just acting funny.

On April 13th Samsung announced the new Galaxy Note 5, and just like the Galaxy S6 from April it has a new glass and aluminum design. This makes it look and feel like a premium phone, but there’s no longer a micro-SD slot to expand storage, and you can’t remove the battery. Users do get a beautiful 5.7-inch Quad-Hd display, a stunning 16 megapixel camera, and lots of other new features like Fast Wireless Charging.

Read: 10 Exciting Galaxy Note 5 Accessories

This doesn’t happen often, but in the past if your Samsung Galaxy or Note device froze or was acting up you could just pull out the battery and reboot it. A trick that solves almost all most minor problems users and family members often ask me about. Now that you can’t remove the battery on the Galaxy Note 5, here’s the new steps to do a reset if it’s frozen or unresponsive.

Here are the most exciting Galaxy Note 5 cases.

The Galaxy Note 5 has a powerful 8-core processor and 4GB of RAM, along with the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop software. This means that it’s incredible fast, and runs very smooth. However, in the unlikely event that your Note 5 freezes or starts acting up, owners may want to do a hard reset or reboot, to get it working all good again.

When first setting up a Note 5 the device has a lot of small useful tips and trick popups, but many users just ignore and click through them so they can quickly use features, download apps, and get on Facebook or Snapchat. One of those tips tells owners how to completely reboot the phone if it’s frozen, and it reads: “If your device is unresponsive, press and hold the Power key and the Volume down key simultaneously for more than 7 seconds to restart it.”

Read: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Fast Wireless Charging Hands-on Video

Typically if the Note 5 or Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is acting funny just long press the power button, hit reset, and it will reboot and work again. However, if it’s completely frozen you’ll need to reboot it, but won’t be able to remove the battery. Samsung added a new button combo (like on the Galaxy S6 or iPhone) to quickly reboot a frozen Galaxy Note 5.

Instructions

Just like the Galaxy S6, the iPhone and many other phones where the battery can’t be accessed, holding a series of buttons will reboot a frozen device.

All Galaxy Note 5 or S6 Edge Plus owners need to do is press down and hold the power button, and the volume down key at the same time, and hold them both down simultaneously for 7-10 seconds.

Galaxy-S6-bootmode

If the Note 5 was frozen most likely you’ll feel a vibrate and it will restart just like usual, or it may reboot into a maintenance reboot mode as shown above on the Galaxy S6. If so, just use the volume up/down keys to navigate and tap power to select an option. Be careful to only reboot your phone, and don’t accidentally do a factory data reset, as that will erase everything on the Galaxy Note 5.

That’s all there is to it. If your Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, or the new Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is completely frozen, just follow the steps above and in less than a minute it will be rebooted and working like it should be. Enjoy, and drop us a comment below with any other questions.

48 Comments

48 Comments

  1. Jeff Lim

    08/24/2015 at 12:52 am

    This is a problem with Samsung Galaxy Note 5 that designed with sealed battery. Its battery is not only small at 3000mah and rechargeable battery may worn off of degrade overtime. Sammy is trying to become
    iphone like which is not practical at all as iPhone is more stable and no lag as what they are facing with loaded bloatwares.

    Sad to say that most customers who are having older versions of note are dissapointed. Its not worthy to upgrade to Samsung Note 5 with highly expensive phablet. LG4 Pro may be an ideal choice, which is rumored to be out by this year end. So be patient an on hold for the best device of year 2015 !

  2. jonathan

    08/25/2015 at 5:56 pm

    I have the note 5 its the best phone on the market, its beyond stable, no touch wiz issue , it has 4 gb of ram and is the fastest phone on the market. The reason there is no sd card is the internal memory is way faster then memory cards. If you owned one you would know. The battery lasted me 8 hours on very heavy use. The processory is a smaller nm which means it also uses less power, the screen also uses less power. I wish people would ready before they make dumb comments.

  3. Denise Jennings

    08/31/2015 at 7:06 pm

    This method WILL NOT WORK if your phone is locked. I had set up fingerprint recognition with a back up password, to unlock my phone. Yesterday it wouldn’t recognize my fingerprint and wouldn’t recognize my back up password , which were the last 4 digits of my SSN , so I know I was imputing correctly. I did attempt the reset you suggest but it won’t work if your phone is locked. This is where Android Device Manager comes into play. I was able to access ADM on my iPad Air and change my device password remotely, which then allowed me to unlock my phone. I highly recommend you do an article on the benefits of ADM. Before I researched on the net to figure this out I called ATT. The rep had no clue how to help me and said I’d have to bring the phone in. I would think they would at least know about ADM!!!!

  4. Kelly

    09/20/2015 at 9:02 am

    THANK YOU! I was having an anxiety attack because I couldn’t figure out how to reboot my Note 5 after it froze. I love this phone, it does everything I need and makes taking notes easy with the S PEN. For those of you who say it’s copying apple, you’re completely wrong. I have an IPhone for work that I absolutely hate using. ANTI-APPLE!

  5. AC Eck

    10/08/2015 at 5:28 am

    Thanks much – as I too was stressing out when my phone froze, as I had always just popped out the battery… this is a concern as it was when I decided to go with this phone…. and the no memory card slot… so far like it inspite of these two items.

  6. Marcus L. Berry

    10/14/2015 at 5:30 pm

    Worked perfectly. THANKS!!!

  7. E.B. Daniel

    10/21/2015 at 5:29 am

    Saved me from getting pissed. Thanks for the help.

  8. Alicia Guzman

    10/25/2015 at 6:13 pm

    Yay, it worked, thanks!

  9. Wes Beack

    10/26/2015 at 3:20 pm

    It did not work for me. The Galaxy S5 Note and Powered by Android screen lights up for a couple of seconds then turns off, vibrates for about a half a second then repeats. I tried every option in the maintenence boot mode with no luck. Does anybody have any other tricks?

    • jaws

      03/22/2016 at 5:37 pm

      How did you solve this issue
      Im having the same problem

  10. L

    11/01/2015 at 5:38 am

    Thank you so much. My friend has the Note 5 and he was having a panic attack..lol..Its really true we don’t read all those extra tips

  11. oluvia

    11/10/2015 at 7:58 pm

    This did absolutely nothing for me…I’m fustrated…just got this phone yesterday. Totally disappounted

  12. pheonix

    11/11/2015 at 6:16 pm

    This worked for me thank you so much because I was about to pitch it on the floor because I had just came from the tmobile store due to my phone having problems dropping the bluetooth I have …do you have any solutions for that….

  13. Marie Dees

    11/12/2015 at 3:58 am

    Thanks! Solved this mornings phone problem.

  14. Walter

    11/26/2015 at 9:26 pm

    Worked perfectly for me as well. And despite this one issue, it is the best phone I have ever had. IPhone doesn’t even come close to this. My wife has the 6plus and is very jealous of my note 5 regularly

  15. Susan

    11/28/2015 at 9:58 am

    This is why I won’t be continuing on with Samsung. My Note 4 locks up a lot, especially after updates and the ONLY thing that fixes it, is taking out the battery. Without that ability, I’m not taking a chance on one without a removable battery.

  16. Michelle

    12/08/2015 at 4:03 pm

    I was also stressing when my Note 5 froze, did what you said to do and within a few seconds it was up and working again. Thank you so much!

  17. Siva Simpson

    12/28/2015 at 12:39 pm

    Just FYI. I’m not a android person. I’m all Apple but my husband is. If the soft restart does not work. Do the hard reset (which erase everything but your phone will be up and working)
    Power off
    Press power, toggle button, and the up volume button for 10 secs and you should be back up and going.
    Hope this help

  18. Julia

    01/01/2016 at 8:48 pm

    Thank you so much for this, I dod exactly what you said and my phone unfroze. !!

  19. isra

    01/11/2016 at 5:45 pm

    I have a galaxy note 5 and in the screen shows “downloading do not turn of target” this happen after I restart my phone …what can I do??

  20. mohamed

    01/26/2016 at 1:17 pm

    thank you very much

  21. Becky

    01/31/2016 at 9:48 am

    I just got the Samsung galaxy note 5 last week and it has frozen several times. It’s frozen again today and holding the power button as well as the volume down button and nothing happens. What should I do samsung galaxy note 5 users?

  22. raymond hillard

    02/10/2016 at 3:18 pm

    im currently deployed on a ship and put my phone on airplane mode as usual. the 2nd day gone my phone turned off on its own. i turned it back on and it remained frozen on the sprint screen. i tried this reset method and the same crap keeps happening. i have no music, pictures of my family or anything to help get me through my long days out to sea. If anyone knows how to fix this issue please email me.

  23. Happyluis

    02/21/2016 at 9:52 am

    My Note 5 froze after charging when it turned off because of no charge on the battery, it frozed on the Galaxy Note 5 Android screen and the blue pilot light…I followed all your instructions and it kept loading from this screen mode to the Samsung animated screen back and forth but didn’t do anything else…I will let you know what is going on…I’m taking the phone to the carrier….I’M SPECULATING THAT PROBABLY THE PROBLEM IS HARDWARE

  24. Zen M

    02/26/2016 at 5:17 pm

    Got mine less than 90 days ago so I can still return for a NEW phone and not a refurb pos but geez, that means setting it all up again. Hate that. I tried the power and vol down and Nothing. Zero Nada. Zip. SO bummed. Off I go after work to get this taken care of.

  25. jimuel

    05/07/2016 at 1:33 am

    What should i do if i factory reset my phone and it hangs so i try to remove my battery after that my phone not working my phone not booting anymore

  26. Dianna

    05/21/2016 at 11:13 pm

    It’s good to know about using the volume down button but this stupid phone is still frozen. It’s frozen on the LTE Plus screen and the screen light and little blue light at the top WILL NOT GO OFF! And I can’t get into the phone at all. This started a few hours ago. I was using an app and I just lost control of the phone. The screen background changed to a factory background then restarted and stayed stuck on the LTE plus screen for a while. Then it did get to the home screen where I usually swipe and place my thumb on the sensor to use it. I put my finger on it and then it went back to the lte plus screen and then back to the home screen. I tried to swim again but it wouldn’t let me. Then it went back to the LTE Plus screen. I had to leet it stay like that until the battery ran out. Then when it was charged enough I turned it back on and the same thing happened. Now the screen won’t go off and I can’t get past it. Restarting has not helped!

    • Ashley

      08/20/2016 at 12:37 pm

      Did you get this fixed?? Mine is having the same problem

  27. Stephanie

    06/03/2016 at 6:59 pm

    Worked perfectly for me!!! Thank you!!!!!

  28. Debbie

    06/06/2016 at 5:38 am

    My phone is frozen because of a google password change. Google told me to wait 72 hours and then I could get into my phone. Wrong! I spent most of the day on the phone with Samsung and google both a total of 2 1/2 hours trying to take care of this when it first started and now 80 hours later nothing has happened and I am still frozen on the screen. I keep getting a message the original password and account must be entered. If I remembered them I would enter them. So now what do I do?

  29. Jess Wilson

    06/15/2016 at 5:27 am

    My screen is not popping up at all. Is there another way to reset with out having to see the screen?

  30. Maine Princess Matty

    06/22/2016 at 10:20 am

    Thank you Thank you Thank you! I thought I was going to have to run to the cellphone shop to get it repaired as it shut totally down and wouldn’t come back on!

  31. Doug

    07/07/2016 at 1:15 pm

    Thank you very much. I tried everything to no avail, but after reading through these very easy steps my phone was fixed in a matter of seconds.

  32. The Castle Family

    08/05/2016 at 3:34 pm

    Worked great! Thanks!

  33. Lisa

    08/06/2016 at 6:18 am

    Thank you for this tip! We were on our other phone with a TM rep for almost an hour …had me press the up volume not the down volume.
    Phone is now on and charging…backup all your contacts and photos!!

  34. Ashley

    08/20/2016 at 12:31 pm

    I followed these steps and it is still frozen. Nothing will happen. I have tried these steps multiple times and it just gets stuck on the same screen and the phone won’t load.

  35. Lindita

    10/24/2016 at 9:26 pm

    This is the first time I ever post or leave a comment, but how could I not. It worked perfectly, thank you so much!!! You rock!!

  36. Tauheed

    11/08/2016 at 10:27 pm

    awusm..worked for me…!!! I am using Note 5

  37. Shayshay

    11/17/2016 at 4:50 pm

    Did what it says and my fone is still frozen any other suggestions

  38. Callen

    12/24/2016 at 3:51 am

    My Note 5 locked, too. I gave up on restarting it, not knowing the power-volume button command. However, after leaving the phone off the charger all night, the battery was dead the next morning. I simply plugged in the charger and it would do a restart just fine. I think letting the battery go completely dead is the same as removing the battery. Worked for me anyway.

  39. Alllie

    12/26/2016 at 2:26 pm

    hello. it is nice to hear that we arent all fubared scince we blew passed the quick word about what to do in theese cases. I however had done this and nothing so then i tried the home button (with my thumb) and i did manage to get a quick acreen about an ios issue asking me if i wanted to load one in or restart my phone and thats what i did (restart)then i got the large battery icon telling me that my battery wa criticaly low. Back to where it left off yesterday, not taking a charge when plugged in. Should i try it on a plugless charger? if i had one handy i would have already tried it. but i might know someone but not going to run out and buy just to find out.
    Will i be able to get a repair from a cell phone repair store??

  40. Finn

    12/31/2016 at 12:09 pm

    Hi I just tried this as my phone had frozen, but after I held the buttons down together the phone just shut off. Now when I try to turn it back on it won’t work, I have tried putting it on the charger even though it was fully charged, but still haven’t been able to get the phone to work.

  41. Rod

    02/02/2017 at 9:54 am

    Thank you! I was in panic mode! Didn’t think about the volume button, I was stuck in black screen of death and it would not even charge. Phone got smoking hot and drained battery.
    Your technique worked after I plugged it in. Thank you!

    RH

  42. c.butale

    03/16/2017 at 6:51 am

    hi my phone the sceen is not responding can i use the same method

  43. Li Xuan

    03/22/2017 at 3:46 am

    My samsung galaxy note 5 is stuck after trying this it is work.

  44. scott

    05/07/2017 at 5:11 pm

    Thanks a million! I thought it was the battery and what a nightmare to change the battery! You saved me a ton of wasted time.!

  45. Shirley

    05/28/2017 at 4:12 pm

    I got it to the reboot screen, did a factory reset..It says erasing for a little bit then freezes in that screen. Note 5

  46. Roger

    07/17/2019 at 7:46 pm

    Thanks, but it took closer to 30 seconds of holding the power and volume keys.

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