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iPhone or Android device acting strange? Here's how to perform a restart on your smartphone

Brett Molina
USA TODAY
The line-up of the Apple iPhone 13 is displayed on their first day of sale, in New York, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.

Any time your smartphone goes awry, the quickest fix is typically turning it off, then back on again.

But there are times you may need to go a step further. Maybe apps keep shutting down every time you try to open one, or your smartphone is moving much slower than normal.

This is a good time to consider a "force restart" or "hard reset." It goes a step further than just powering down your phone, pushing a full reset of your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone to clear any potential headaches or glitches.

Keep in mind this isn't the type of reset that will erase everything on your smartphone. It basically fully powers off your phone and restarts it, so all your apps, contacts and other important information remains intact.

Here are the steps you take to force a restart on your device.

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How to restart your iPhone

The process to force restart an iPhone depends on the model. If you own an iPhone 8 or later, users will tap the volume up button, then volume down, then press and hold the side button on the right until you see the Apple logo pop up. This might take a few seconds, so don't panic if it doesn't happen immediately. This process also works on the second generation iPhone SE.

On the iPhone 7, hold down the volume down button and the side button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.

If you are still holding on to an iPhone 6 or first generation SE, hold down the home button and sleep/wake button until the Apple logo appears.

How to restart Samsung Galaxy phone

If you own a Galaxy smartphone, press and hold both the volume down and power button for 7 to 10 seconds to force the phone to reboot. If your device doesn't have a dedicated power button, hold down the side and volume down buttons for 7 to 10 seconds.

Samsung phones also have the bonus option of allowing you to reboot them in safe mode, which allows owners to disable most third-party apps and inspect why your phone isn't responding properly.

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Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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