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BOOTLOOPAndroid errors

Android boot loop — the phone restarts before reaching the home screen

The device starts the boot animation, then reboots again and again without ever finishing.

Severity: mediumAndroid 11+PixelSamsung GalaxyXiaomi

Technical meaning

A boot loop means Android reaches the early boot phase and then aborts, so the device restarts indefinitely — usually because a system component, app or data partition cannot load.

Symptoms

  • The manufacturer logo or boot animation repeats every 30–90 seconds.
  • The phone gets warm and the battery drains quickly while looping.
  • Recovery mode and fastboot still respond, so the hardware itself works.

Most likely causes

  1. 1An app with device-admin or overlay rights crashes the system right after startup.
  2. 2A corrupted system update or a damaged cache/dalvik partition.
  3. 3A failing battery or a stuck power button that physically forces restarts.

How to fix it

  1. 1Force a restart: hold POWER + VOLUME DOWN for 10–15 seconds until the device vibrates and reboots.
  2. 2Boot into safe mode (hold POWER, then long-press “Power off”) — if the loop stops, the cause is a third-party app.
  3. 3In safe mode, uninstall the apps you installed or updated just before the loop started.
  4. 4Still looping? Enter recovery (POWER + VOLUME UP) and choose “wipe cache partition” — this does not delete your data.
  5. 5Check the power button first: if it sticks or the battery swells, the “restart” is mechanical, not software.
  6. 6As a last step, back up what recovery can reach and run a factory reset, then reflash the official firmware if it persists.
Reset / command
# Force restart
Hold POWER + VOLUME DOWN for 10-15 s

# Safe mode (uninstall the culprit app)
Hold POWER, then long-press "Power off" -> OK

# Recovery: wipe cache partition
POWER + VOLUME UP -> "wipe cache partition"

# With a computer (USB debugging enabled)
adb reboot recovery
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.example.app
fastboot reboot

Frequently asked questions

Will a factory reset delete my photos?
Yes, everything stored on the device is erased — try safe mode and the cache wipe first, they keep your data.
Can I get files off a looping phone?
Often yes: if USB debugging was on, adb may still work; otherwise a recovery that supports “mount system” or an SD card can save the data.

Copies: 15,280 · Views: 36,510 · Updated: Sep 18, 2026

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