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I have an application that isn't working correctly. Either it's not launching, or not responding to commands, or some of the functionality isn't doing what I expect.

What are some simple steps I can do to try to fix the issue on my own?

(This question and answer are intended to be a canonical and generic source for dealing with apps that aren't working quite right.)

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This question came from our discussion, support, and feature requests site for enthusiasts and power users of the Android operating system.

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The steps to take with an app that just isn't working properly are:

  • Rotate the device

if that doesn't help

From Settings | Applications | Manage applications | <application> or Settings | Apps | <application> (depends on your version of Android)

  • Force stop

if that doesn't help

  • Clear cache

if that doesn't help

  • Restart the device (turn off/turn on the device, or use the "restart" option if you have it)

if that doesn't help

  • Clear data

and if that still doesn't help, try the nuclear option:

  • uninstall and re-install
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    Final step: Report a bug and wait for the next version. – Matthew Read Dec 17 '10 at 2:23
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    If you have multiple devices, install the application on other device and verify if same issue exist. Contact the developer instead if the problem persists. – Ivan Chau Dec 7 '13 at 16:40
  • I would highly recommend switching "Clear data" with "Restart the device"! Restarting device helps in many situation and issues an isn't an intrusive way of resolving problems. Clearing app's data certainly is an intrusive way, because many applications may not work correctly after that or you may loose a a lot of settings, data etc. (i.e. entire achievements and the whole gameplay usually goes hell, if you try "Clear data" on any kind of game). – trejder Jul 4 at 9:45
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    @trejder: That seems reasonable. A restart is certainly not destructive, just time consuming. – ale Jul 4 at 20:56

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