How to Restart A Samsung Phone: 4 Different Ways

We know from experience how irritating a frozen phone can be. One moment, you’re happily playing a game of Candy Crush, and the next, your phone comes grinding to a halt. Thankfully, it’s not too tricky to restart a device, and while it might be a cliche, turning it off and on again is a lifesaver. 

What may be surprising is how many reset methods there are. Here at Ghostek, we’ve spent plenty of time tinkering with different phones, and it turns out that certain brands have different ways to force a restart. 

Today, we’re going to focus on the varying ways to reset a Samsung Galaxy. Join us! 

Why You Should Regularly Restart Samsung Phones

Before we take the deep dive, there’s more than one reason to reset a Samsung Galaxy. We would recommend resetting it at least once every single day (at least half our team do it first thing in the morning). It’ll help the device run more smoothly, and there are a few benefits worth mentioning. 

• Battery health: leaving your phone switched on for a prolonged period results in a build-up of background processes. A reset will refresh the entire system, close all unnecessary processes, and reduce pressure on the power. 

• Privacy: similarly, your phone can accumulate malware and other malicious background processes. The NSA suggests restarting your phone as a way to protect your privacy. 

• System updates: like all modern phones, Samsung’s Galaxy range never rests. The various models are constantly downloading updates for different apps and processes, not to mention full-scale system upgrades for the phone itself. Regularly restart your phone, and it’ll ensure they’re applied properly. 

You’re unlikely to notice any of these in the short term. In fact, we’d bet a week’s worth of grocery shopping that if asked, most people could restart a phone and not see any improvements. However, it is very good for the long-term health of your Samsung Galaxy, and it’s well worth working it into your daily routine. 

It significantly reduces the chance of scammers finding you for one thing. We get enough phone calls from “Microsoft” as it is.  

How to Restart a Samsung Phone (or Tablet)

That covers the ‘why,’ now let’s look at the ‘how.’ We’ll start with the basic method for switching a Samsung Galaxy on and off again. This also works on tablets.

• Swipe down from the top of the screen to bring up the ‘Quick Settings’ screen

• Press the power button in the top right corner

• Four options should appear: ‘Power Off,’ ‘Emergency Call,’ ‘Medical Info,’ and ‘Restart.’ Push the last one. 

• Your Samsung Galaxy will restart. 

This is the easiest way to do it, but there are a few alternative methods that work just as well.

Use the Buttons

If you can’t access Quick Settings for any reason, you can always use the buttons instead. Press the Power button on the side and hold it for a few seconds. Tap the Restart icon and presto, your phone is back on the path to happiness. 

This method works most of the time, but supposing there’s a fault with the screen and you can’t tap the icon? There’s a workaround. By pressing and holding the Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time, you can trigger a force restart. The display will go black, and a moment later, the Samsung logo will appear. Your phone just reset and should be usable again. 

We imagine you won’t need to use this method very often, but it’s worth having it in your back pocket in case your Galaxy decides that actually, no, you didn’t tap it with your fingertip. You imagined it. 

Restarting a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone With Voice Control

The methods outlined above work perfectly well, but let’s be honest: part of the appeal of modern mobile phones is pretending you’re living in a science fiction story. If you want to restart your Samsung Galaxy while feeling semi-futuristic, voice control is a good option. 

The Samsung Galaxy series uses Bixby as an automated AI assistant. Providing voice wake-up is enabled, you can:

• Say “hi, Bixby” to activate it.

• Say “restart my phone.” 

• Say “yes,” when the confirm prompt appears.

It is quick and efficient, and works even if your voice has been altered. One of our staff tested Bixby voice controls less than an hour after having a tooth removed, and it recognized the commands even though the local anaesthetic hadn’t worn off. We might have also spent an afternoon in the Ghostek office putting on silly accents and seeing if the devices still responded, but nobody needs to know about that. 

One final thing about voice controls: we know that some of you prefer Google Assistant to Bixby. While you can download and use Google Assistant on Samsung Galaxy smartphones, it won’t be able to restart your phone. The app doesn’t have the required level of permission. 

Automatic Restarts

Restarting your phone wipes any temporary memory or cached data and thus, frees up space. It closes any frozen apps and helps with connectivity, too. It’s a neat trick for solving problems, but did you know you can also set up automatic restarts? This is a good way to keep your Samsung Galaxy performing at its best, and it’s surprising how few people know about it. 

It’s easy to set up:

• Go to Settings and tap Device Care

• Navigate to Auto Optimization and select Auto Restart

• Tap either Restart when Needed or Restart on Schedule 

The first of those options means your phone will restart whenever it detects an issue, whereas the second allows you to set a specific time of day for it to restart. It won’t disrupt your daily usage and can extend your phone’s lifespan. 

4 Ways to Restart a Samsung Galaxy

One of the big selling points for Samsung’s Galaxy series is how user-friendly their phones are. It’s quite simple to restart your phone either through voice controls, pressing the buttons, or using Quick Settings, and organizing automatic restarts is equally straightforward. Frankly, we were a little surprised at how many options there were - this article turned out to be a good five hundred words longer than expected! 

If you’d like more advice on using a smartphone, you can always follow Ghostek. Check back regularly for updates from across the tech world. We can also help you personalize your Samsung Galaxy: we’ve got some high-quality cases and accessories available.