You pressed the side button on your Galaxy S25+, the Samsung logo flashed up, and then nothing. The screen sits frozen on that logo, or it loops the same animation over and over without ever reaching your home screen. It is an unsettling moment, especially on a phone this new, but a logo that refuses to load past startup is usually a stuck boot rather than a dead device, and most of the time you can clear it yourself in a few minutes.
The fixes below are ordered from the gentlest and safest to the most drastic. Start at the top and work down only as far as you need to. The early steps never touch your data, so there is no harm in trying them first. The last two steps erase the phone, so they are genuinely a last resort.
Start With a Force Restart to Break the Freeze
The Galaxy S25+ has no separate power key, so the official way to restart a frozen phone uses the volume and side buttons together. This is the single most effective fix for a logo that has simply locked up, and it leaves all of your data untouched.
Press and hold the Volume down button and the Side button at the same time.
Keep holding until the screen goes black and the Samsung logo reappears.
Samsung's troubleshooting guidance phrases the same action as holding the Side key and Volume Down key simultaneously for more than 7 seconds, then releasing when the phone vibrates, the screen turns off, and the Samsung logo appears. Hold times vary slightly across Samsung's own pages, so the safe rule is to keep the buttons pressed until the device actually restarts rather than counting to an exact number. Give the phone a full minute after the logo reappears to finish booting before you decide it has not worked.
Strip Off the Case and Check the Port and Cable
A boot that stalls at the logo is not always a software problem. A stuck button or a damaged cable can interfere with how the phone powers up, so it is worth ruling out the physical side before you go further.
Samsung recommends first checking the phone, charger, and USB cable for any physical or liquid damage. Inspect the charging port and the cable connector, and remove anything covering the charging port or the buttons. Take off the case and any other accessories, since a tight case can press a button just enough to disrupt startup.
Charge for at Least an Hour, Then Power On
A battery that has drained completely can cause a phone to hang at the logo while it scrambles for enough power to finish booting. Giving it a long, steady charge rules this out.
Connect the phone using the charging cable that came with it and an appropriate charger.
Charge for at least 1 hour. If the battery was fully drained, the charging indicator can take up to 10 minutes to appear, so do not panic if the screen stays blank at first.
After charging, try to power the phone on again.
If the phone now boots normally, the issue was simply a flat battery and you are done.
Try the Longer Black-Screen Restart Sequence
If the display stays blank or stuck even after charging, Samsung's guidance for a blank or black display calls for the same two buttons held for longer to be certain the restart triggers.
Press and hold the Side button and the Volume down button.
Keep them pressed for 20 seconds to force the device off and back on.
This is the same button combination as the first step, just held longer. On a phone that is barely responding, that extra time can be what finally forces the restart through.
Boot Into Safe Mode to Catch a Misbehaving App
If your S25+ does reach the Samsung logo but then hangs there, a recently installed third-party app may be the culprit. Safe mode loads the phone with only its built-in apps, which tells you whether something you downloaded is to blame.
Completely power off the phone.
Turn the device on, and when the Samsung logo appears, press and hold the Volume down button.
Keep holding until Safe mode shows in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
If the phone boots cleanly in Safe mode, a third-party app is causing the hang. Remove any apps you installed recently, then restart the phone normally to exit Safe mode and confirm the problem is gone.
Install Any Pending Software Update
Once the phone boots, even intermittently, installing a waiting update can patch the firmware bug that was causing the logo to stall in the first place. New devices in particular tend to get early fixes that smooth out startup behavior.
Go to Settings > Software update > Download and install > Install now. Leave the phone alone and let the update finish completely without interrupting it. If the phone cannot reach this menu because it will not stay booted, you can also update it through Samsung Smart Switch on a computer.
Factory Reset From Settings or Recovery
If the phone still hangs and nothing above has worked, a factory reset is the last step you can take on the device itself. This is a serious step because it deletes everything on the phone, so treat it accordingly.
Warning: a factory reset erases all data on the phone. Samsung states plainly, "Please save any information you need prior to the factory reset because your personal information may not be recovered." Only do this after backing up, or when you genuinely cannot get past the logo any other way.
- 1.Open Settings.
- 2.Tap General management.
- 3.Tap Reset.
- 4.Tap Factory data reset and follow the prompts.
If the phone can reach Settings at all, this is the cleanest way to wipe a stubborn software state and start fresh.
Reinstall the Firmware With Smart Switch, or Contact Samsung
If the phone will not boot far enough to reach Settings, Samsung's Smart Switch desktop app can reinstall the correct firmware through its Emergency Software Recovery feature. Like a factory reset, this also erases the phone, so it is reserved for a device that is otherwise unusable.
Warning: Emergency Software Recovery reinstalls the firmware and erases the data on the phone, so use it only when the device will not boot and you have no other way in.
Install Samsung Smart Switch on a computer (PC or Mac).
Connect the phone to the computer.
In Smart Switch, choose MORE → Emergency Software Recovery and Initialization in the top right.
Select your device from the list of devices that require emergency recovery, and let the firmware reinstall.
If the recovery fails, or if the screen never turns on at all, Samsung's guidance is that the device needs service. At that point, contact the Samsung Support Center for further assistance rather than continuing to retry on your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will a force restart on my Galaxy S25+ delete any of my data?
No. A force restart using the Volume down and Side buttons only reboots the phone, the same as a normal restart would. It does not erase apps, photos, or settings, which is why it is the first fix to try.
How do I force restart the S25+ when there is no separate power button?
The S25+ does not have a dedicated power key, so you press and hold the Volume down button and the Side button at the same time until the screen goes black and the Samsung logo reappears. Samsung also describes this as holding the Side and Volume Down keys for more than 7 seconds and releasing when the phone vibrates.
The charging indicator is not showing after I plugged the phone in. Is the phone dead?
Not necessarily. If the battery was fully drained, Samsung says the charging indicator can take up to 10 minutes to appear. Charge for at least an hour using the included cable and an appropriate charger before deciding the battery is the problem.
Does a factory reset erase everything on my Galaxy S25+?
Yes. A factory reset deletes all data on the phone, and Samsung warns that your personal information may not be recovered afterward. Back up anything you need first, and treat this as one of the last steps after the non-destructive fixes have failed.
What should I do if the screen never turns on at all?
If the phone will not boot even after charging, restarting, and a Smart Switch firmware recovery attempt, or if the screen never lights up, Samsung says the device needs service. Contact the Samsung Support Center so a technician can check for a hardware issue.