No one likes a phone that’s starting to lag, glitch, or slow down, especially when it’s a fancy high-end Samsung Galaxy. No matter which phone you have, the way we use these devices all day, every day, can eventually slow things down. Fortunately, there’s one easily overlooked setting that’ll keep your Galaxy feeling fast and new.

It might sound a bit silly, but when was the last time you restarted your Samsung Galaxy phone? Was it during the latest software update? Or maybe you never do, except on rare occasions when it runs out of battery and completely dies. If so, that’s not enough.

Rebooting your phone is one of the easiest ways to keep it running fast and smooth, and you can even schedule your Galaxy phone to reboot automatically once a week.

Galaxy phones tend to feel slow over time

Here’s why weekly reboots help

Have you ever called tech support for a problem, or Googled how to fix something on your phone, TV, or Wi-Fi, and the first suggestion or question is, “Have you tried rebooting it?” That’s one of the most common questions because it’s the easiest and fastest way to actually make a real difference or fix the problem.

Yes, a weekly restart can make all the difference between a phone that’s running a bit slow, with a battery that’s draining too fast, and a phone that’s running like it did when it was new.

Our phones process endless information, browse the web, open dozens of apps, run things in the background, scroll social media for hours at a time, etc. That ends up filling your phone’s storage, RAM, and cache with residual files, junk, and locking up CPU resources. Not to mention all the processes and apps running in the background.

Eventually, you might experience hiccups, lag, or even device freezing. Sure, Android is pretty good at handling all of that, but a quick reboot clears most of it. This results in improved battery life, faster performance, and reduces the chance of lag or glitches.

And that’s not the only reason. Weekly reboots can improve performance and battery life, but it can also help keep your phone more secure. Many security experts and manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola recommend frequent reboots. Plus, most of the time after a reboot, your phone will check for updates, helping to ensure it’s on the latest software release. That’s pretty important.

In 2024, the NSA told the public to reboot phones weekly to clear all those temporary files and cache, since that’s often where malicious code can hide. Basically, it’s just good, well-rounded advice.

How to schedule your Samsung Galaxy to restart

You can set it to happen automatically each week

Samsung Galaxy phones are packed with excellent features, many of which aren’t enabled by default, and this is one of them. As long as you have a relatively new device, you can set up automatic weekly device reboots. Here’s how:

Open the Settings menu and scroll down to “Device Care.” Scroll down past all the battery and storage graphs and under the performance section select “Auto Optimization.” At the bottom is an “Auto Restart” option. Click that, then decide which day and time you’d like your phone to restart.

Credit: Cory Gunther / How-To Geek

Depending on your Galaxy model and One UI version, you’ll see an option to automatically “Restart When Needed,” “Restart on Schedule,” or both. Samsung mentions that restarting your phone “from time to time can help keep it running in the best condition.” From here, Samsung uses the same day/time picker tool as the built-in clock and alarm app.

I have mine set to restart each Monday morning before I start the week, but you can do whatever you want. More importantly, you can set up a restart every other day, or even daily, if you want. When the time arrives, as long as you’re not actively using your phone, it’ll reboot.

A better Galaxy phone, automatically

Set this up once, and you’ll never have to mess with it again. It’s an easy, set-it-and-forget-it way to ensure your Galaxy phone stays fresh each week, stays fast, and performs at its best.

And if your main reason for trying the weekly reboots is to improve battery life, you can boost it by changing Wi-Fi settings, disabling all of Samsung’s data-collection and customization services that run in the background, or enabling battery protection mode. Otherwise, maybe it’s time to upgrade and get a new phone.

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