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How to Reset a Frozen Galaxy S6

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Now that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is more than a few years old it’s starting to show signs of aging. If your Galaxy S6 is frozen, unresponsive or acting funny you can’t just pull out the battery like older models. It is no longer removable. However, this quick guide will show you how to reboot or reset a frozen Galaxy S6.

Read: 5 Quick Chargers for the Galaxy S6 & Galaxy S6 Edge

This doesn’t happen often, but if you’re experiencing problems and your phone freezes you won’t know what to do. Luckily you can hold a few buttons in a specific combination to quickly reset the phone and get it working again in under a minute. Here’s how.

The first time you use the phone, you’ll receive a few notifications once you have the device all set up, and then a little “Help, Advice, & Tips” pops up that you’ll have to tap OK to remove. This tip tells you how to completely reboot your phone if it’s frozen. 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.”

Instructions

As a reminder, this will not erase any data or content on your phone.

  1. Press and hold down the Power key and volume down key at the same time
  2. Hold both buttons down for 7-10 seconds, or until the phone vibrates and restarts
  3. If the phone turns off let go then press power again for 1-2 seconds to restart the phone

Galaxy-S6-bootmode

Just as it mentioned above, all you need to do is press and hold the power button on the middle right side of your Galaxy S6 and the volume down key. Simultaneously hold down for seven seconds. If your device was frozen it will likely just reboot as you expected, and you’ll be back to using your device in seconds like nothing ever happened. However, it may also reboot into a maintenance boot mode as shown above.

From here you can reboot your device normally, or do a factory data reset (which will erase everything) so be careful. Booting into safe mode will disable 3rd party apps in case one of those was causing the issues. Other options include powering the phone off or boot into debug mode for developers. Skip all of that and just reboot your phone.

You can control this menu with the volume up/down keys, and to select an option hit the dedicated home button or power. Be careful not to do a factory reset, and just reboot your device. That’s all there is to it.

74 Comments

74 Comments

  1. larry

    04/21/2015 at 9:28 am

    Good for Samsung that’s what they get for copying apple great job samcrap

    • Cory Gunther

      04/21/2015 at 9:45 am

      Not really.. All android phones without a removable battery offer something similar…. sigh

      • larry

        04/21/2015 at 2:07 pm

        I agree 👍 with ya but Samsung pay and no sd cards finger scannerand non removable battery , Samsung copied apple I’m a HTC LG or nexus guy anyways I can’t stand sony Samsung or apple apple n Samsung are like a war waiting to happen and funny thing they both make parts for each other 😂 but I respect your opinion there Cory it’s all preferences on phones and always will

        • beth

          06/09/2015 at 10:21 am

          No different than iPHone copying androids because now iPhones are big as well. …

        • Zzz

          06/23/2015 at 12:24 pm

          do you even know that the Samsung Galaxy s5 had fingerprint sensor. That, Google Pay already existed before Apple pay. The SD card is a design decision lol. Iphones are getting bigger and got tons of features from android. Your points aren’t even valid lol.

    • Abraham

      03/17/2016 at 7:00 am

      You should probably get some knowledge about phones before you make claims about them haha. I’ve had Google Wallet for like 4 years, and they give EVERYONE who tried it a free $10 to use. Apple would never be so kind to their customers, instead they up the price on their products that took some child labor force 5 minutes to make. Android had finger scanners long before the iphone 5 or 5s or whatever came out. And the majority of new features to the iphone since Steve Jobs passed has been taken from Android, its a fact not a question. The pull down notifications bar, the recently opened apps tab that allows you swipe your unwanted apps away, the size, everything.

      People used to make fun of the Samsung Note for being so big, but its so big because you need to be able to use the pen and all of the design features that phone can do, isheep used to say how dumb and unnecessary the size was, now they buy the new iphone which is even bigger than the Note but not for functionality and practicality like the Note, just to be big and copy the Note. So funny how blind isheep follow, they don’t even realize they have been following Android for over a year now haha and the more Android features they receive the better they like their phones. Too bad they are too blind to just switch to the phones that are leading the way in technological innovation and they instead wait for that innovation to come to their lagging-behind phones a year later. Do some reading please thanks

  2. merinda

    05/07/2015 at 2:49 pm

    Pushing you’re volume ànd off on button doesn’t work! Have only had my phone a week and it’s frozen.

    • it worked

      05/26/2015 at 9:06 pm

      It worked for me great tip

    • Brenda

      06/19/2015 at 10:59 am

      I am in the same boat. I was able to successfully follow the tip above and select normal reboot without losing anything, including my apps. Whew!

    • Galino Lopez

      12/20/2015 at 8:38 am

      My phone is froze up too and it’s only one month old

  3. craze

    05/17/2015 at 11:04 am

    Thanks for the tip… I would’ve liked the article a lot more if you had just come out and said “push the volume down and the of button” instead of taking seven paragraphs of text to explain it.

    • Secular Spider-Man (@AnarchyArachnid)

      07/26/2015 at 10:06 am

      how can they answer a question without first going over the history of design decisions that led up to the problem?

      • Abraham

        03/17/2016 at 7:06 am

        lmao right? I think they should’ve touched on the biography of the founder of the company as well. How am i supposed to restart my phone with a clear conscious without knowing what the founder’s favorite food was growing up!

  4. Concerned citizen

    05/30/2015 at 11:46 am

    This was way too long. And I don’t normally comment on articles, but this one irritated me that much.

  5. barb martin

    06/10/2015 at 7:26 pm

    How Di change the language on my s6,,,,, bought in Australia arrive in thailand & language changed,,,,,,,,

  6. Darthi U.

    06/11/2015 at 12:22 am

    great! I did this about 20 times until my thumb and index finger are numb. It did not work this time. I’ve had my phone for a couple of months and I’ve had to do this procedure at least 4 times. Each time it worked, but not this time. What now? Please don’t tell me I need to go back to the store.

  7. Lidel S

    06/12/2015 at 3:30 pm

    Ok. I’ve had this problem for a while now and i’ve searched everywhere to help me. I’ve only had my samsung galaxy s6 for 2 weeks and now it’s completely unresponsive to my touch. I’ve rebooted and everything but it’s still frozen. Screen turns on and everything i can even double click the home button and open the camera. But no matter what i do that screen won’t register my touch. I can’t even put my pin in. Please help

  8. Patty T.

    06/17/2015 at 8:52 pm

    Thanks so much. Your instructions worked great and I’m, once again, up and running. Couldn’t have done it without you.

  9. Alicia Oliver

    06/18/2015 at 11:43 am

    Thank you, thank you thank you!!! I went to the bathroom and came back and my phone was totally unresponsive, black screen, wouldn’t turn on, no red light when charger plugged it, did this and now its working!!! Thank you so much

  10. Paulette

    06/19/2015 at 2:50 pm

    this is how I reboot my kindle fire when it freezes. Hoping to buy the S6 when I can renew my contract, have the S4 now.

  11. I hate you.

    06/22/2015 at 7:32 pm

    This entire article could be rewritten to:
    “How to Reset a Frozen Galaxy S6
    04/20/2015 By Cory Gunther
    Press and hold the power button and the volume down button.”
    And I hate you for wasting my time writing out every possible reason you might need to reset the phone, and telling me how to reset other phones, before telling me the one piece of information I actually needed (what the article is named for) at the very end.

  12. belsarius

    06/25/2015 at 5:15 am

    Thank you for posting this information I am eternally grateful, but one would think that Samsung would have included that little piece of information in the manual somewhere. I still have the original box and all the manuals that came with my S6 Edge and nowhere could I find this. I had go on line and use Bing to find it. Thank you once again for the article.

  13. Gan KS

    06/25/2015 at 10:12 am

    It seems a cery common problem for S6 – freezing and not being responsive.
    I have had it for 2 weeks and having the same problem. Samsung service centre is not very helpful, either. Sigh!

    • PRASAD K

      08/23/2015 at 11:54 pm

      sir, how did you solve this problem , i wish to know it as i am facing the same issue till yesterday night.pls help.

  14. Erica

    06/27/2015 at 7:40 am

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

  15. Christy

    07/04/2015 at 6:04 am

    Thanks! My phone is working again. Great Tip!

  16. Gabriela Shkodrova

    07/05/2015 at 11:45 am

    Thank you sooooooo so much!!!!! You just saved my life!

  17. Cynthia

    07/12/2015 at 7:54 am

    Thank you for posting this. This is the second time in a month this has happened. Last time left called and after 30 minutes on the phone got a human to explain this process. However when it happened this time I had forgotten the previous instructions. Took a chance someone had posted the information online. And here you are. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  18. karan desai

    07/12/2015 at 7:04 pm

    Thanx bro for the help it did work for me iam galaxy s6 edge owner

  19. Jim Mattison

    07/13/2015 at 5:54 am

    Likewise, worked for me on my 3 month old Galaxy 6. Big relief

  20. Ronald Geiken

    07/13/2015 at 3:57 pm

    I have had to do that twice with my S6 Edge. Had a Note 2, and never had that kind of a problem. Hope there is some kind of software fix that they can implement to keep this from happening. From all these posts, it sounds like there is some kind of a problem and other than a reset, nothing from Samsung. Just hope that I never get to the point where it won’t restart. It is nice to find that information available on line. Since it has happened to me twice, I should be able to take care of it quickly next time if that fix works for the next lock up.

  21. miljana

    07/25/2015 at 8:55 am

    Thanks a lot, you saved my day!

  22. Nilesh Devasthale

    07/26/2015 at 6:57 pm

    It worked for me. Thank you.

  23. fahad

    08/04/2015 at 12:15 am

    Thank you very very much.. u saved my phone.. i was thinking of opening the cover of S6

    Thanks again.. best luck in your life

  24. René

    08/06/2015 at 6:25 pm

    Best Greetings from Germany! Works perfectly. Thanks a lot!

  25. Richard

    08/10/2015 at 5:28 pm

    When I boot into recovery, some random Android robot appear, he then dies and I get into recovery and in the button it says: “Dm-verity verification failed” Please can anyobe help me

    • J Jan

      09/06/2016 at 11:49 am

      Yes, mine is demanding a password. I don’t remember it. Also, it says I can use my fingerprint next time, now I must enter a password.. Also, it says the phone is on airplane mode. I didn’t put it there!
      What do I do now????????????

  26. Dijesh

    08/21/2015 at 1:53 pm

    THANKS MAN YOU MADE MY DAY

  27. Armour Koekemoer

    08/29/2015 at 9:38 am

    My Samsung S6’screen is pitch black. Keeping the power button in has no effect. My messages still comes through but screens stay black. What to do?

  28. Michael Maher

    09/01/2015 at 11:51 am

    yes i have same problem when i have call get black screen and all button doesn’t work even i try all Link buttons down volume and power buttons at the same time more than 30 sec ant after 1 hour or more just press power button for 2 sec it will restart do it 2 times ago

  29. arlina

    09/16/2015 at 9:01 am

    I held down the power button and the volume after my phone froze but then the screen went black and it wont turn on it wont charge or anything. I tried holding down the buttons again but it wont work.
    Please Help

  30. Bob

    09/29/2015 at 2:44 pm

    Thanks – woke up – phone unresponsive except for blue led flashing. Starting to panic as had a busy day ahead.
    Performed the power and vol down for 7 seconds – phone rebooted and all is good again….Thanks for your tip..

  31. yduale

    10/06/2015 at 11:49 pm

    This tip actually helped me, I was a bit frustrated but thanks guys. That’s why the internet rules :)

  32. Tom

    10/18/2015 at 5:55 pm

    Thank you i was literally having a heart attack

  33. crystal

    10/19/2015 at 8:53 am

    my phone doesnt want to come on but i can still hear that im receiving messages

  34. Mary

    11/22/2015 at 12:56 am

    Screen is totally black, but blue LED light comes on. Was told to try pressing the volume and power key simultaneously, holding down for about 20 seconds till phone comes back on. Haven’t tried that yet but I hope it works. Have only had the Samsung Galaxy for about two months.

  35. Ron

    01/04/2016 at 6:30 am

    Having a similar issue but this solution does not work to successfully reboot. I get the maintenance boot options but neither reboot nor safe boot work, the phone just hangs again.

  36. Bob

    01/13/2016 at 12:15 pm

    I have had my s6 for about a week and i have had to do that like ten times and i tried to do it this morning and it did not work my phone has been frozen with the green notification light on all day

  37. abdimalik

    01/15/2016 at 7:11 am

    thanks for your helping

  38. Angie

    01/19/2016 at 7:48 pm

    It worked great, however, I can’t believe after only a couple weeks I had to do this. I left my Iphone to try this phone (to see what all the hype was about). I feel let down. I guess I need to do more research on how to keep the Galaxy up and running more efficiently. But what a scare!

  39. George

    02/04/2016 at 10:25 am

    how Do I turn off my Galaxy phone if my touch screen won’t let me press the Power Off button?

  40. Mandy

    02/04/2016 at 1:34 pm

    When my Galaxy 6 froze I was able to see the screen with a tint but when I would touch it, it wouldn’t do anything and I wasn’t able to answer my phone or even shut it off.. I didn’t know how to resolve it because there isn’t a way of taking battery out, but I tried this tip and bam, everything went right back to normal and I didn’t have to reset it… Thank you, you saved my job….lol

  41. John Doe

    02/11/2016 at 1:17 pm

    This is the worst writing style ever: 6 paragraphs of introduction until you write “press power button and volume down for 7 sec”. You must be paid by word count apparently.

  42. nelma Rocha

    03/30/2016 at 4:26 am

    I’ve had this problem for a while now and i’ve searched everywhere to help me. I’ve only had my samsung galaxy for 3 months and now it’s completely unresponsive to my touch. I’ can not rebooted as is not responding to any touch. Is still frozen. Screen turns on and everything i can even double click the home button and open the camera. But no matter what i do that screen won’t register my touch. I can’t even put my pin in. Please help

  43. Andrea M.

    04/01/2016 at 1:38 pm

    Grazie del consiglio: è stato risolutivo e mi ha fatto risparmiare molto tempo.
    Grazie!!!!
    Thank for your advice.. It was absolte resolutive !
    Andrea

  44. nj

    05/09/2016 at 6:52 pm

    When I do a factory reset on the maintenance menu, the phone displays Galaxy S6 for a few seconds and then displays a robot screen with “Erasing…” that never goes away. I waited over 24 hours before trying again. Same response. Any ideas?

  45. Sara Bosh

    06/03/2016 at 3:25 am

    Thank you so much!!!! I thought I was going to have to get a new phone today because mine was totally unresponsive, but this fixed it!

  46. Jared Kail

    07/14/2016 at 7:02 am

    Thanks for this. Excellent post. Saved my bacon this morning.

  47. theigensinn

    09/10/2016 at 12:53 am

    Thanks for this article. My Galaxy S6 Edge works again.:)

  48. dylan solon

    10/12/2016 at 1:23 am

    THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the reboot tip on a frozen galaxy S6

  49. Johnson

    10/21/2016 at 6:13 am

    my samsung gs6appear the green screen and has ” arrow point to downloading ” and freezing not go anywhere. Can someone has any idea how to help me

  50. Emily Herreman

    11/17/2016 at 7:49 pm

    Okay so I’ve had my phone for 8 months and is been acting up for 2 months so far…I did do this but it froze and completely shut down again. I can’t get anything to turn on or work and I need my phone for my homework…what should I do?

  51. jarecki

    12/25/2016 at 12:19 pm

    swietna rada z tym resetem przy braku ladowania.jarek

  52. Victoria Lee

    01/07/2017 at 7:58 am

    Thank you your tip save me from taking my S6 to the shop!

  53. Andres

    01/19/2017 at 11:19 am

    Thank you!

  54. Laura

    03/28/2017 at 5:51 pm

    this just saved the day! thank you!

  55. Tony Bennett

    03/31/2017 at 12:46 am

    Did’nt know that, thanks for the info. Worked like a charm.

  56. Ray

    04/24/2017 at 3:16 pm

    Works great, thank you.

  57. Sara

    05/05/2017 at 4:23 pm

    My samsung did this the night before a major performance (I’m in a band) that was 5 hours away. Your post saved my life, so needless to say, THANK YOU!!!!

  58. Mr.KosteT

    06/09/2017 at 2:08 am

    Thank you very match!!!!!!! You help me!

  59. Alexandra

    06/16/2017 at 8:18 am

    You saved me ! thx.

  60. Allen

    07/14/2017 at 11:41 am

    Alleluia! Thanks!

  61. Christopher

    08/08/2017 at 3:24 pm

    Once I am in the Maintenance Boot Mode I can use the volume keys to scroll up and down. It only gives me the first 4 options. If I select options 1, 3,or 4 using the home button the screen just goes dark and does nothing. If I select option 2 for Factory Reset the phone freezes until I press the power and volume down buttons then clears and goes back to the Maint mode. Any ideas?

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