Phone slow or hanging: how to speed it up

A slow phone is nearly always a full phone, a hot phone, or a phone with one badly behaved app. Check those three before anything else.

What you seeApps open slowly, typing lags, the screen freezes for a few seconds

1. Restart it

Hold the power button and choose Restart (on iPhone: switch off, wait, switch on). A phone that has run for weeks collects stuck apps and unfinished updates. This alone cures many cases. See restart and force restart.

2. Check storage

A phone with less than about 10 per cent of its storage free slows down sharply, because the system has no room to work.

• Android: Settings › Storage.
• iPhone: Settings › General › iPhone Storage.

If it is nearly full, free space first. See storage full.

3. Is it hot?

A phone that is warm to the touch slows itself on purpose to cool down. Take it out of the sun, remove a thick case, stop charging and gaming for ten minutes. See phone overheating.

4. Update the system and apps

• Android: Settings › System › Software update (Samsung: Settings › Software update). Then Play Store › your picture › Manage apps and device › Update all.
• iPhone: Settings › General › Software Update. Then App Store › your picture › Update All.

Just after a big system update a phone is slow for a day while it re-indexes photos and apps. Leave it on charge overnight.

5. Find the app that is misbehaving

• Android: Settings › Battery › Battery usage shows apps by drain; a little-used app near the top is working in the background. Open it under Settings › Apps and choose Force stop, clear its cache, or uninstall it.
• iPhone: Settings › Battery lists use by app, with "Background Activity" under the name.

Did the slowness begin after installing something? Remove that app. On Android, Safe Mode starts the phone without downloaded apps: if it is quick there, an app is the cause.

6. Lighten the load

• Remove apps you do not use. Each may sync, notify and update in the background.
• Remove home-screen widgets and live wallpapers on older phones.
• Use the "Lite" version of heavy apps where one exists, or the website.
• In the browser, close old tabs.
• Android: Settings › About phone › tap Build number seven times to show Developer options, then set the three Animation scale options to 0.5x. The phone feels quicker. Leave other developer settings alone.
• iPhone: Settings › Accessibility › Motion › Reduce Motion.

7. Check the battery's health (iPhone, and some Android)

An aged battery cannot supply peak power, and the phone slows itself to avoid shutting down. iPhone: Settings › Battery › Battery Health & Charging. A Maximum Capacity well below 80 per cent, or a message about performance management, means a new battery will restore the speed. Some Android phones show battery health under Settings › Battery or in the maker's support app.

8. Last resort: reset

If the phone is still slow after all of this, back up and erase it. A fresh start clears years of clutter. See factory reset. Set it up, install only the apps you need, and judge the speed again.

Do not install "cleaner" or "booster" apps

They cannot do anything the system does not already do, they run constantly, and many show advertisements or collect data. Closing apps from the recents screen all day does not help either: the system manages memory itself, and reopening apps from scratch uses more battery.

When the phone is simply too old

Phones stop receiving updates after some years while apps keep growing. A phone with little memory and storage by today's standards will lag in heavy apps whatever you do. Keep it for calls, messages and light apps, or plan a replacement.

For Android phones and iPhones. Written in November 2026 for Android 13 to 15 and iOS 17 and 18. Phone makers rename menus; use the search box in Settings if a name differs. Back up before any reset. This is an independent guide, not connected with Google, Apple, Samsung or any phone maker or operator.