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App Keeps Crashing? Here's What to Do

5 min read  ·  Works on iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac

An app that keeps crashing or freezing is one of the most common tech problems — and one of the most fixable. Whether it's happening on your phone, tablet, or computer, there's a clear order of things to try. Work through these steps and you'll almost certainly solve it without needing any technical knowledge.

Step-by-Step Fix

1

Force close the app and reopen it

iPhone: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause to see your open apps. Swipe up on the crashing app to close it. Then tap its icon to reopen. Android: Tap the square button to see recent apps, swipe the app away, then reopen. Computer: Fully quit the app (don't just close the window) and reopen it fresh.

2

Check for an app update

iPhone: Open the App Store, tap your profile icon in the top right, and scroll down to see available updates. Android: Open the Play Store, tap your profile icon, then Manage apps & device to find updates. Computer: Check the app's own menu for "Check for Updates." A bug in the current version is often the direct cause of crashes, and the update fixes it.

3

Restart your device

A full restart clears the device's memory and closes background processes that may be conflicting with the app. This fixes the majority of crashing issues that persisted through steps 1 and 2. After restarting, open the app before anything else and see if the problem is gone.

4

Check your storage space

Apps crash when a device runs out of storage. iPhone: Go to Settings › General › iPhone Storage. Android: Go to Settings › Storage. Windows/Mac: Check how much free space is on your drive. If you have less than 1–2GB free, the app may not have enough room to run. Free up space by deleting unused apps, photos, or files.

5

Clear the app's cache (Android)

On Android, go to Settings › Apps, find the crashing app, tap Storage & cache, and tap Clear Cache. This removes temporary files the app has saved that may have become corrupted. Your data and account stay intact — only temporary files are removed.

6

Delete and reinstall the app

If nothing else has worked, uninstall the app completely and reinstall it fresh from the App Store or Play Store. This gives the app a completely clean slate. Note: for apps that store data locally (games, some tools), you may lose saved progress unless the app backs up to the cloud.

Good to know: If the app crashes for everyone — not just you — it's a server-side issue on the developer's end and there's nothing you can do but wait. Check Twitter/X or downdetector.com to see if others are reporting the same problem.

When to Contact the App Developer

If the app crashes consistently after a reinstall and it's not a widespread outage, it may be a bug specific to your device or operating system version. Most apps have a "Report a Bug" or "Contact Support" option in their settings. Include details about your device model and what you were doing when it crashed — this helps developers fix the problem faster.

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