How to Eliminate the “Unfortunately, App Has Stopped” Messages

Seeing the message “Unfortunately, App has stopped” when you are in the middle of something on an Android app can be frustrating. When the message appears repeatedly, it is even worse. What can you do to fix this error? Luckily, there are several possible solutions.

The first thing before trying any of the deeper solutions is to check your internet connection and restart your phone – the standard steps for most phone problems. Restarting frees up any jammed memory problems. It’s actually beneficial to turn your phone off for a few minutes every few days to help avoid performance issues.

Force Stop the App

The least drastic solution beyond the general ones listed above is to force-stop the app in question. Not everyone realizes that even when they’ve swiped off an app to get on with something else, the app often remains open in the background. This means that when you get the “App has Stopped” message and think you’ve closed the app, you’ve actually only minimized it and the problem remains.

To Force Stop an app and get it to properly restart, the best way to do it is this:

1. Long-tap the app’s icon on your home screen, then tap “App info.”

2. On the next screen, tap “Force stop.” Ignore the “misbehave” warning on the next screen (seeing as your app already is misbehaving!) and tap OK.

Now go back to open the app, and you’ll see that it’s started up afresh, hopefully getting rid of your crashing problem.

Clear the App’s Storage

Over time, your apps save data and cached files. When that data accumulates, it can make the app more crash-prone. Clearing the cache is where you should start. This step clears only the saved data that loads your app quickly, not any data that affects your game progress, preferred settings, or similar data.

For instance, Spotify caches playlists to ensure uninterrupted listening, even if your signal drops momentarily. You can erase the cached songs without removing your account or preferences.

Clear data will erase all the app’s data. The files, settings, and accounts will all disappear, setting the app back to its original state. Instead, just clear the cache. You can also choose “Clear Data” to reset the app completely if you continue getting the “Unfortunately, App has stopped” message

Follow the steps below to clear the cache:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Application Manager.

3. Choose “App Info.”

4. Select the troublesome app from the list.

5. Select Storage.

6. Tap the “Clear Cache” option. Alternatively, choose “Clear Data” to reset the app completely (this will remove any locally stored data the app has on your phone).

Update App

When users begin to complain to the app developers about freezing or crashes, they will address the issue with an update. Keeping your apps updated reduces the instances of the “Unfortunately, App has stopped” message.

1. Open Play Store.
2. Tap your user icon at the top right.

3. Select “My apps & games.”

4. The first tab contains the updates. The apps with updates available are at the top of the screen.
5. Click Update all or click the update button next to each app you want to update.

Free Up Space

When your phone has a large number of apps, performance can suffer. Check your apps and find some you rarely use. When you find one, delete it.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap “Application Manager -> App Info”.
3. Scroll down and tap the app you want to remove.
4. Click Uninstall.

SD Card Problems

The “Unfortunately, App has stopped” message can also be caused by a corrupted SD card. To check, remove the SD card and try the app again. If it works this time, the card is the issue. You need a new memory card, but you can transfer the data from that card to your computer, then later add it to the new card.

If your computer won’t read the card, you can try to recover the data, but there’s no guarantee that this will always work.

Uninstall and Reinstall

Sometimes the apps you use are corrupted through viruses or by deleting system files by mistake. To fix this, uninstall the app using the same steps as when you tried freeing up space.

Go to “Settings -> Application Manager -> App Info” and choose the app you want to uninstall. Tap Uninstall.

Restart your device to clear anything that may still be left in the memory, then open the Play Store and reinstall your app.

Wipe Cache Partition

Another option to fix the message is wiping the cache partition. This step will clean the data and the cache completely, including your game progress and chatting log, so this is one of the last options to try. To start, boot your phone into recovery mode.

1. Turn off your phone.
2. Press the power button and the volume up button at the same time. (This could be different depending on your model. Check online for your phone’s manufacturer if this combination of buttons doesn’t work.)
3. Locate the “Control the Screen” option and use your volume up/down buttons to select it, then press the power button to confirm.
4. Select “Wipe cache partition” and press the power button.
5. When it finishes the process, choose to Reboot the system and let it reboot naturally.

Factory Reset

A factory reset is the last resort. If the app crashing is making your phone unusable, the last thing to try is resetting the phone to factory settings. Before doing this, back up your data. The reset will wipe everything off your phone.

1. Go to Settings and select System. (This may vary slightly based on your device. If you can’t find the reset options using these steps, use the search feature within settings and search for “reset.”)

2. Select “Restart & Reset”.

3. Select Factory Data Reset.

4. Follow the prompts to complete the process.

Prevent the Message from Appearing

There are some other simple maintenance steps to take that prevent many instances of the “Unfortunately, App has stopped” message.

• Don’t use too many apps at one time. Sometimes we don’t realize how many apps we have open, and all these apps running together can cause crashes.
• Keep your apps updated. Set up automatic updates, and periodically check for apps that need one.
• Every so often, clear the apps’ caches for the apps you use regularly.

Using these methods will help stop the “Unfortunately, App has stopped” message from appearing in most cases. If none of these solve it, you may want to find an alternative app. If you’re using an older version of Android, you may also want to try downloading an older version of the app to see if that helps.