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What to do if your Pixel 6a keeps restarting or shutting down

When using your Pixel 6a, you may notice that your smartphone may randomly restart or shut down. To see how you can potentially fix these problems with this Google phone, you can take a look at this troubleshooting article from Seeking Tech.

1. The first step we recommend taking is to boot your Google Pixel 6a in Safe Mode. In order to do so, press and hold either the Power Off or Restart option in the power menu.

If done correctly, a Reboot to Safe Mode notification should pop-up. Here, you need to select OK to restart your device in safe mode.

2. If your phone stops restarting and/or shutting down in safe mode, then it is likely that these issues are related to an app.

To test this theory out, reboot your Google Pixel 6a normally. Afterwards, open one app at a time to see if there are any issues. If the app appears to be running fine, then close it and then move on to testing out the next app.

If you managed to identify the problematic app, then you can try updating it. To check for app updates, go to the Google Play Store App, tap your Profile icon, select Manage Apps & Device and then select the Update All option if available.

If an update does not work, then you can try uninstalling the app.

3. Apps that run in the background could also cause issues with the stability of your Pixel 6a. To see how you can close these applications, we recommend that you take a look at this post.

4. A new firmware update may also improve the overall stability of the Google Pixel 6a. To manually check for a new software version, you need to do the following:

  • Make sure you open the Settings App.
  • You then need to scroll down and then select System from the Settings menu.
  • From the System menu, head into System Update.
  • Inside the System Update menu, tap the Check for Update option.

5. If the internal storage of your smartphone gets too full, then it could result in random restarts and shut downs.

To clear up more space, go to the Settings App and then select Storage. In the Storage menu, make sure you have at least 10% of free space remaining.

6. A factory reset may also help stop the random restarts or shut downs.

This process will return to Pixel 6a to its original setting. At the same time, it will also delete all data you have stored on the phone; therefore, we recommend backing up any important files before you continue with this process.

To see how you can factory reset this smartphone model, you can follow the steps laid out in this tutorial.

7. You phone may automatically restart or shut down if its internal temperature gets too hot.

So, if the Pixel 6a feels hot, we recommend that you manually turn off its screen or shut it down completely. If you are also recharging it, then remove the charging cable.

Let your phone cool down at room temperature before turning it back on again to see if the random restarts and shut downs have gone away.

To find out more about how you can prevent this phone model from overheating, you can check out this guide.

8. A wet Pixel 6a may also end up causing your problems. In this case, we recommend that you turn off your phone and then wait until it completely air dries at room temperature.

Afterwards, you can turn it back on again and then test to see if it isn’t randomly restarting or shutting down.

If none of the aforementioned solutions helped solve your problems, then we suggest contacting the support team at Google to get additional support.