How To Reset Frozen or Unresponsive DROID RAZR

If your Motorola DROID RAZR locks up or becomes unresponsive, try this little trick BEFORE you throw it against the nearest wall ::BREATHE:: (Happy Thoughts)  You will get through this and be up and running in no time.

Problem #1: It will not power on (although you know the battery is charged)

Solution:

1. First press the volume down key and keep holding while you then press the power key.

2. Now keep holding both of those for about 15 seconds while watching the blank screen.  The screen will flash a white line through the middle VERY VERY QUICKLY.  If you look away you will miss it. Once you see this you can let go of both buttons simultaneously.

3. The Motorola logo will pop up on the screen and device will start up as normal.

(This will not work if your battery is dead, so if you have any doubt about this, put it on a charger for about 15 minutes and then try it)

Problem #2: The device is frozen and not responding

Solution:

1. First press the volume down key and keep holding while you then press the power key.

2. Now keep holding those together until the screen goes black, and once it does you can let them go.

3. Press just the power key to power your device back on.  The Motorola screen will pop up, and the device will start as normal.

Image

You have just performed a SOFT RESET.  Was it good for you?! lol j/k Essentially, this is the equivalent of pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL on your computer.  Make sense?  During this process no data is lost.  This should not to be confused with a factory reset, in which the device is restored to its factory settings (aka erased).

A soft reset simulates a battery pull on a device that does not have a removable battery.  Do not worry, as this is completely NORMAL, and NO, there is nothing wrong with your phone.  This will happen from time to time and can be resolved in less than a minute.

(This will also work for the RAZR MAXX, RAZR HD, RAZR MAXX HD, and RAZR M)

As a side note, every smart phone should be powered down once per day.  I’m not saying that a soft reset should be performed once a day, but a normal power down using only the power key.  It doesn’t have to remain off for long.  In fact, you can turn it right back on.  By doing this you will notice your device will run much faster and a lot less glitchy.  Just some food for thought.

145 thoughts on “How To Reset Frozen or Unresponsive DROID RAZR”

    1. Casey Post author

      John,

      Bacon!? Where’s the bacon. I even have bacon knee-high athletic socks, which are AWESOME! Well, now that I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow…

      No porklem ::ahem:: I mean problem lol

      Casey

      Reply ↓
    2. Brandon

      oooooooooooooo my god you are the best, my wife was freaking out cause she had this happen to her other droid razr and lost everything on it. You are a life saver keep up the good work,

      Reply ↓
    3. Pam George

      Thank you so much! My phone froze with a black screen and I thought I was going to have to buy a new phone. Your quick fix did the job.

      Reply ↓
    6. ANGELA SUAREZ

      OMG,THANKS ALOT,THIS REALLY WORKED….I THOUGHT MY PHONE WAS BROKE…IT WORKED GREAT,THANKS A MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Reply ↓
      1. kristina

        Hey! So mine is starting to start up but it will stop at the screen right before it powers up and will stay there. The only time it goes off of that screen is when the battery finally dies…any thoughts?

  4. Dave

    I got woke up with my phone is stuck or frozen or something so I got up to take a look. While looking at it I got frustrated and about to take it apart to try to fix it when I thought of looking it up on the internet to see if anybody could help.
    Thank You so much for having this page here so i didn’t make a mistake of taking it apart.

    Reply ↓
  5. Rob

    my little green light is on. When I go to do the reboot, the green light turns off for a second or two then comes back on, but nothing else. Any ideas? Thank you.

    Reply ↓
  6. Jeff

    Casey, thanks! Earlier today, my almost two-year-old Droid RAZR M made a noise like it was booting up. I picked it up to see what was going on and accidentally hit the power button…the screen went black and it was unresponsive, even when plugged in. Uh oh!

    But the soft reset did it! It’s working again and acting like it did nothing wrong. I’ll bet it’s counting the days before I replace it with something newer and faster.

    Reply ↓
    1. Casey Post author

      Hi Jeff,

      Sorry for the late replay, but I’m glad you got it working! I’m guessing you probably have replaced it by now lol

      Casey

      Reply ↓
  7. Kayler

    It didn’t work for me, It just lights up black also the all the buttons at the bottom light up but no matter what it won’t show anything but a black screen. Do you have a solution?

    Reply ↓
  9. Karis Adams

    Well thanks for trying to help. I have a Razr i which I left charging overnight from flat. Tried to switch on and all I get is the Red M symbol flashing on and off. Have tried the volume and power button method to no avail. Here it is still flashing on and off. Just a blank screen flashing the Red M on and off.

    Reply ↓
  10. Monica

    My bf’s phone won’t turn on, he’s done everything that we read on here and it won’t work, it goes between staying on the Motorola screen and just not turning on

    Reply ↓
  14. Samantha Prewitt

    My screen on my Razor M is totally black and i have no idea on how to get it back to normal please help me!!!

    Reply ↓
  15. Mara

    Hi, my phone froze. It didn’t respond to anything. It finally turned off, I charged it for about an hour. Now it won’t turn on. And yet when I plug it up to the charger the light is green like its charging. I’m panicking.

    Reply ↓
    1. Casey Post author

      Hi Milla,
      Is it charged? (Dumb question I know)
      P.S. Sorry for responding so late. You probably have it fixed by now!
      Casey

      Reply ↓
  18. warren

    Hi Casey,
    The soft reset doesn’t work. Even when I get to the droid screen, doing a factory reset doesn’t even work. Sounds like I’m screwed.
    Any other ideas?
    -Warren

    Reply ↓
  19. Andre

    You are my angel this morning!!!! My phone froze and I thought I was stuck until the battery decided to run out of juice! I’m sending you tons of happy thoughts for a great day!

    Reply ↓
  25. Sean M

    hi ive tried everything and im so frustrated with my phone..i lost my charger and its been dead for two days..i finally get a new one and plug it in and it is staying stuck on the red Motorola thingy. ive tried everything from soft reset to factory, im told you are the best at this so tell me straight, so should I just cut my losses and get a new phone

    Reply ↓
    1. Casey Post author

      Hi Sean,
      I’m guessing by now you probably have cut your losses. If you tired all the steps in the article, that would have been my advice without actually being able to have the phone in my hand to look at.
      Casey

      Reply ↓
  29. David

    Thought I was doing the reset correctly at the gym, but it didn’t work. Followed your directions and they worked.
    thanks,
    David

    Reply ↓
    1. Casey Post author

      Zahid,
      You replaced the battery? hmmmmm this is a unibody phone with an irremovable back, I do hope you were careful. It certainly CAN be done, but isn’t as simple as a normal battery swap! If the phone is still not responding, sorry to say but it may be time for a new one.
      Casey

      Reply ↓
  39. Christina Balocca

    I’ve tried holding down those buttons multiple times. Nothing works. Phone had also been charging for a long time and tried different cords too.

    Reply ↓

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