When using smartphones, laptops, tablets or any other electronic device, of any brand or model it may be, we may run into an annoying problem: during use or after a restart, the screen freezes and no longer responds to commands, remaining frozen with no apparent hope of turning it back on or restarting it. Assuming that it is not a hardware problem (which is always very serious), in this guide we will show you how to restart all blocked devices, through highly specific procedures. If not even so we can solve, we recommend taking the device immediately to a service center or to a technician, who will certainly be able to analyze the problem and offer you a more effective solution (especially if the problem is of a hardware nature).
Forced reboot of a locked smartphone or tablet
One of the first remedies to unlock a phone or tablet with a locked screen (that is, see the icons, but the touches do not work and everything seems "frozen") is to keep the power button pressed for more than 20 seconds : after this time the device will restart itself and we will be able to ascertain if the problem was temporary or deserves further study.
If the previous method does not work, we can try to remove the battery from the housing (at least from the smartphones and tablets that still allow it), so as to remove the energy source of the system; wait 2 minutes, reconnect the battery and press the power button to see if the system has recovered.
If the battery is not removable, we try to press all the buttons available on the device for 20 seconds (now only the volume rocker and the power button are left on almost all models): we will have to be able to turn off the logic board and restart the system even if locked.
The last beach for a smartphone or tablet provides the connection of the USB charging cable in the appropriate socket: if the system recovers or restarts but no longer accepts the touch inputs on the screen, we turn off and restart the system to see if the situation gets better.
For Android we also recommend reading our guides on how to Restart Android in safe mode on each smartphone and how to reset and restore Android even if the mobile phone or tablet does not start . For iPhone and iPad instead we recommend following the recommended recovery procedure in the guide on how to factory reset the iPhone and iPad by deleting and restoring data .
Turn on or unlock a locked PC
In the case of a desktop computer, we can restore a locked operating system (we can no longer move the mouse cursor, plus the WIN key on the keyboard does not open the Start menu) by simply pressing the Reset key, present on practically any PC case desktop.
On the laptop we will hardly find a dedicated reset button, but in this case it is sufficient to hold the power button for at least 20 seconds, to start the motherboard shutdown procedure (brutal, but effective).
Whatever the system in use, we can always remove the power outlet (and the battery, in the case of laptops), so as to cause the immediate shutdown of the computer.
If after the system restart the situation does not improve, we advise you to read our guides on What to do if Windows 10 freezes or slows down and how to Restore or reinstall Windows without losing personal data .
Reboot or unlock a locked modem
The problem concerns the home modem, which no longer wants to know how to navigate or has problems with some of the connected devices "> we remove the socket that powers the modem, wait just 2 minutes then we restore power to our modem. If everything went as expected, the modem will return to work properly after a few minutes from startup (the time necessary to restore the connection, activate the Ethernet ports and the Wi-Fi network).For other problems related to the modem (lights that do not come on or lights always on, navigation interrupted etc.), we advise you to read our guides on How to reset the modem and Red LED modem (Internet absent): what to do before calling assistance .
If our modem often shows signs of blockage or instability, perhaps the time has come to replace it with a more efficient one, such as those recommended in our guide to the Best Modems to buy (fiber, dual band, wireless AC) .
Force Reboot or unlock a locked Smart TV
Even TVs can present big problems, given how much technology they carry! Modern Smart TVs are in fact small computers, able to work with dedicated apps and able to interface with most other smart devices.But what can we do if the Smart TV freezes, does not change channels or no longer shows apps ? As already seen for the modem, the method of the power outlet is also useful in this case: we brutally remove the power socket for 2 minutes, then we try to connect it and see how the TV reacts. If the TV does not want to know it works, there is little we can do: better contact the manufacturer's assistance and see if it is possible to repair or replace the defective device.
Does our TV not have Smart functionality? Instead of buying a (more delicate) Smart TV, we can bring apps and Internet connectivity to every TV, as described in our guide on Turning any TV into Smart TV with Chromecast .
Conclusions
As we have seen, on many appliances simply removing the power outlet should be able to solve problems related to blockages, sudden freezes and unresponsive systems. On smartphones, tablets and modems, the situation may be more difficult to resolve, given that the problem is often of a hardware nature.If instead it was only a PC program that crashed, we don't have to be so tragic! We can just follow the advice described in the guide here -> If a program freezes and does not respond, resolve errors and crash problems (Windows) .
In the event that the problem concerned notebooks, we can proceed with the recovery by reading our factory reset guide on PCs and laptops (Acer, Asus, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba etc.) .
