Like Windows OS, Android also has Safe Mode feature that lets you load Android OS without any third-party apps. If you’re experiencing crashes, freezes, or battery life issues on your phone or tablet, you can boot it into safe mode to check if the issues you are experiencing is caused by a third-party app.
If you see those issues even when the device is in Safe Mode, there might be some problem with the software installed on your device. And if, they just disappear, the culprit is some app installed from the Play Store. From safe mode, you can uninstall misbehaving third-party apps.
How to Boot Android Device into Safe Mode
Safe Mode is available on almost all Android devices but the method of accessing it is differs from one OS version to another and from one model to another. Here are several methods to boot Android phones or tablets into safe mode.
Booting into Safe Mode on older Android phones
If you have device with older versions of Android OS (older than Jellybean OS), follow these steps to boot your device into safe mode.
Long-press the power button and tap Power Off to turn off your device, then turn on the device.
When you see a logo appear during boot-up, hold down both the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons and keep them held until the device boots up.
Once the device boots up, you’ll see a Safe mode watermark at the bottom left corner of the screen.
Note: If this does not work, try holding down Menu button instead of volume up and down buttons while booting.
Booting into Safe Mode on Jelly bean phones
If you have device with Jelly bean OS, follow these steps to boot your device into safe mode.
Long-press the power button until the power options menu appears.
Long-press the Power Off option and you’ll be asked if you want to reboot your Android device into safe mode. Tap the OK button to process.
In safe mode, you’ll only have access to the apps that came with your device. Apps you’ve installed will be disabled and any widgets you’ve added to your home screens won’t be present.
While apps are disabled, you can uninstall them normally. If you’ve installed any apps recently, you should try uninstalling those apps first as they may be the culprit.
If the problem is still not resolved, you may want to restore your device to its factory default settings. However, doing so will wipe out all the data on your device so make sure you have everything backed up before you doing this. To do factory reset, go to Settings -> Backup & reset, and tap ‘Factory data reset’, then follow the instructions on your screen.
To exit safe mode, just restart your device as you normally would.
Source: How to Boot into Safe Mode on Most Android Devices