My Samsung Galaxy S8 starts normally and reaches the lock screen, but then it shuts off for a moment and begins booting again. It keeps repeating this cycle, so I can't use the phone. I've already tried letting the battery drain completely several times, but that hasn't helped. I'm not very experienced with phone troubleshooting and can't afford to replace it right now. Is there anything I can try to fix it?
3 Answers
Try starting the S8 in Safe Mode. Turn it off, then power it on and hold the Volume Down button when the Samsung logo appears. If it stays on in Safe Mode, a recently installed app may be causing the restarts, so remove suspicious or recently added apps. If it still bootloops, the problem is probably not a normal third-party app.
Since draining the battery hasn’t changed anything, this could be a failing battery, charging component, or other hardware issue rather than a simple software glitch. Check whether the phone is swollen, unusually hot, or physically damaged; if so, stop using it and don’t keep charging it. If Safe Mode and clearing the cache don’t work, a repair shop may be able to diagnose it more cheaply than replacing the phone. A factory reset is another software option, but it erases the phone’s data and may not fix hardware failure.
You can also try clearing the system cache from the recovery menu, which normally doesn’t erase your personal files. Power the phone off, then hold Volume Up, Bixby, and Power until the recovery screen appears. Use the volume buttons to select “Wipe cache partition,” confirm with the Power button, and then choose “Reboot system now.” Be careful not to select a factory reset unless you’ve backed up anything important.
If the phone won’t stay off long enough to enter recovery, connect it to a charger first and try the button combination while it’s plugged in.