Reboot/Reset a Moto G7 Mobile

JohnB47

My phone has been behaving oddly over the last month or so - slow to react, freezing etc. so I'm thinking I need to take some action. I have a few apps on there and tons of photos on an SD card but I don't have any banking apps or anything too fancy. I've gone through my apps and used 'force stop' on all those that aren't crucial but the phone still freezes often. I've found that putting it into standby and immediately waking it up again clears the freeze quickly, or I just wait for around 20 to 30 seconds for it to unfreeze itself.

I've seen videos describing how to do a factory reset but I'm wondering if there is any 'softer' option that might clear out some crud but leave my apps in place. If that option exists I would try that first. Failing that, I'll make sure I have all my images saved (I do that regularly anyway) and completely reset it.

Any advice welcome.

Neil_Jones

Your photos should be on your online account if you set the backup options:

https://photos.google.com/login

If you need things backing up that can be restored through an app (such as WhatsApp) do those backups first.

Whatsapp for example is documented here:

https://faq.whatsapp.com/209942271778103/?helpref=hc_fnav&cms_platform=android

other apps will have their own methods.

This might be a good idea to get rid of all your apps (you can install what you do use from the Play Store).

Vitor

Hold the Power Button and Volume Down Button simultaneously.

Keep holding both buttons for 10–20 seconds.

Release the buttons when the phone restarts and displays the Motorola logo.

flaneurs_lobster

If you try the above suggestions you might still find the phone slow and stuttery. I've got a G7 still in daily use albeit as a radio player, but at 5 years old with a mid-range spec it might simply be struggling with the requirements of modern apps. 

I know that you've no banking apps in use but even so you might be vulnerable to other badness since there haven't been security updates for that phone for some years. 

Make sure all those photos are backed up. A factory reset might be just the job but if you connect to your Google account afterwards it will try and reinstall all the apps that were there before (but I think you can say no to this).

JohnB47

Thanks everyone. It looks like it will have to be a factory reset. I did look at my Google account, as suggested and I see that I have used very little of the 15Gb free storage and there are some photos there but only from April 2020 to December 2021. I didn't think I had chosen to backup photos at any time - obviously I did for a period then turned it off.

Vitor - I've seen those instructions on a video but the steps you suggest are just the start of a process - it brings up a menu and you can choose where to go from there. The phone doesn't restart, as far as I've seen anyway.

Not sure if I need to backup any WhatsApp stuff. I'll have a think.

glennevis

Before doing the nuclear option of a factory reset try Safe Mode first. When you boot in Safe Mode it only runs the manufacturer installed apps.

If the fault does not occur in Safe Mode you then know it's due to a rogue app and can uninstall apps until you maybe find the culprit.

Instructions are simple, explained in this Motorola support doc:

https://en-gb.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/182486/~/safe-mode

Just reboot normally to exit Safe Mode.

JohnB47

glennevis said:

Before doing the nuclear option of a factory reset try Safe Mode first. When you boot in Safe Mode it only runs the manufacturer installed apps.

If the fault does not occur in Safe Mode you then know it's due to a rogue app and can uninstall apps until you maybe find the culprit.

Instructions are simple, explained in this Motorola support doc:

https://en-gb.support.motorola.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/182486/~/safe-mode

Just reboot normally to exit Safe Mode.

Ahh thank you. That's the sort of answer I was hoping for. I'll try that and will come back with progress.

GDB2222

I was told that it's a good idea to restart the phone every week.

With only 4GB of RAM, is it possible your phone is simply running out of RAM, so it slows right down whilst sorting that out? 

J_B

GDB2222 said:

I was told that it's a good idea to restart the phone every week.

Personally, I reboot mine every morning whilst waiting for the kettle to boil

JohnB47

GDB2222 said:

I was told that it's a good idea to restart the phone every week.

With only 4GB of RAM, is it possible your phone is simply running out of RAM, so it slows right down whilst sorting that out? 

Yes, possible. I do restart the phone regularly, usually every one to three days. Full off and on.

EDIT: Ignore the following - I found a video showing that pressing the power button, then long press on 'Power Off' option allows access to Safe Mode. I'll report progress.

Actually I've now tried following the instructions on the link that glennvis supplied. I can't get it to work - the phone just starts as normal. However if I hold the vol. down and power buttons I get a menu but without an option for Safe Mode. One option is Recovery Mode - is that the same as Safe mode?