Bootloop like most of us know is that state when our Android device tries to boot but is unable to do so. Or sometimes it boots and then shuts down only to boot up again, and this cycle continues. It causes quite a panicking situation. You would surely be able to relate to it if it has ever happened to your device. All sorts of frightening thoughts come up in your mind like losing all your phone’s data, be it your important documents or those memorable pictures.
But don’t worry because a bootloop can be fixed.
What Causes it:
A bootloop could be due to a fault in the device, or it could be a result of rooting your device or flashing the wrong stock or custom ROM. It could occur when you unlock the bootloader, install any custom Kernel, mod, patch replace the stock recovery. Installing apps from a third-party that are not compatible with your device, could also cause your device to enter into a bootloop.
How to Avoid it:
Almost all the causes of a bootloop can be avoided, except in the case when your device gets stuck in it once you unlock the bootloader. So let’s try avoiding it since it is always better to be on the safe side.
Before you install a stock ROM, make sure that the ROM you are installing is the one meant for your device model as well as your region. And before installing a custom recovery, ensure that it is compatible with your device and model. Also, do a thorough research before you try out anything on your phone.
Fixing it:
Try out the simple things first. If your phone has a removable battery, take out the battery and put it back in after some time. For a non-removable battery, switch off your phone for some time. And then try to boot. If the problem still persists, do the following:
Recovery Mode:
Boot into recovery mode. You can do so by pressing a combination of hardware buttons. This is different for different phones.
- For Samsung phones, press and hold the Power, Volume Up and Home buttons.
- For Google or Nexus phones, press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons.
- For HTC phones, press the Power and Volume Down buttons together and browse to Recovery using Volume Up and Down buttons.
Once you are in recovery mode, use the Volume up and down buttons to navigate between the options and the power button to select one option. This could be different for different phones.
From the available options, select ‘wipe cache partition‘.
Then select the ‘reboot system now‘.
If your device still doesn’t boot up, boot into recovery mode once again and first select ‘Wipe Data/Factory Reset‘, then select ‘wipe cache partition‘. And then select ‘reboot system now‘.
This will wipe everything from your device and restore your device to factory settings. Your device will be able to boot up now.
For the Rooted Android Users:
If you have a rooted device, you would also have a custom recovery, probably the TWRP custom recovery. This will even allow you to backup your data.
In the main menu, choose ‘Backup‘. Then select all the data you want to save and swipe the button across the bottom of the screen that says ‘Swipe to Backup‘.
Now select ‘Wipe‘ from the menu and wipe your phone data, cache, and dalvik.
Next, select the ‘Reboot‘ button from the menu.
Your device should now reboot properly. You can come back to the TWRP menu and restore the data by selecting the ‘Restore‘ option from the menu.
