How to Restart Samsung Phone?

Press and hold the side button and the volume down button together for about 2 seconds, then tap Restart on the screen. On most modern Galaxy phones the side button alone brings up Bixby rather than the power menu, which is why the two-button combination is the reliable one.

The normal restart:

1. Hold Side button + Volume down for around 2 seconds.
2. Release when the power menu appears.
3. Tap Restart.
4. Tap Restart again to confirm.

Other ways to reach the power menu:

• Swipe down from the top of the screen twice to open the full Quick Settings panel, then tap the power icon in the top corner.
• Say "Hey Google, restart my phone" on some models.
• Ask Bixby to restart the phone.

Force restart for a frozen phone. If the screen is unresponsive, nothing is tappable, or the phone is stuck on the logo:

Press and hold Volume down + Side button for 7 to 10 seconds until the screen goes black and the Samsung logo appears. Then let go.

This is the equivalent of pulling the battery on an older phone. It's safe — it doesn't erase anything — but because it cuts power immediately, any unsaved work in an open app is lost.

If 10 seconds doesn't do it, keep holding for up to 20 seconds. If the phone is completely flat it may not respond at all until it's had 15–20 minutes on a charger.

Remapping the side button. If you'd rather the side button did what it used to, you can turn off the Bixby shortcut:

1. Settings → Advanced features → Side button (called "Side key" on some versions).
2. Under Press and hold, choose Power off menu instead of Wake Bixby.

After that, holding the side button alone brings up power options again. You can also set the double-press action here, which defaults to opening the camera.

Restart vs. power off vs. reset — three different things:

A restart is always safe. Only a factory reset deletes your data, and it takes several deliberate confirmations to reach.

Scheduled automatic restarts are a genuinely useful Samsung feature — a weekly reboot keeps things running smoothly:

Settings → Battery and device care → ⋮ (three dots) → Automation → Auto restart at set times. Pick a day and hour when you're asleep. The phone will only restart if it's charging, the screen is off, and it's not in use.

When restarting actually helps: apps crashing or freezing, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth refusing to connect, the phone running hot or slow, the touchscreen being erratic, or sound not working. It clears memory and closes background processes, and it resolves a surprising share of everyday faults. It's worth trying before anything more drastic.

If the phone keeps restarting on its own, that's a different problem — usually a failing app, a full storage drive, or a battery fault. Try booting into Safe Mode (hold Power, then press and hold Power off on screen until Safe Mode appears) to see whether a third-party app is the cause.

Older Galaxy models with a physical home button, and models with a removable battery, may use different combinations — on some older devices, Power + Home or simply holding Power alone will do it.