Everyone is familiar with the necessary system reboot after a software update, but how often do you actually reboot anything outside of these events or when you experience noticeable performance issues? For most people, probably not often. With phones, laptops and game consoles, it’s easier to put them into sleep mode, avoiding a complete shutdown. It’s almost a challenge to see how long you can last.
In fact, you should restart your devices more often. Daily is a good habit, regardless of gadget, but you may not be able to restart everything as often. Fortunately, some devices, like modern routers, allow you to set up an automatic reboot schedule, which is helpful, but do you reboot or shut down? What is the difference between true power off and reboot on Android phone? What is the best choice? What about other platforms? Shut down or restart your Windows 11 PC? Shutdown is obviously when you completely turn off a device. A reboot, reboot, or soft reset occurs when the system turns off and then back on.
Before rebooting, the system clears temporary data, closes background processes, and clears RAM to free it for next use. This is why rebooting seems to fix many issues. A shutdown, especially on a PC, can leave cached data and processes available, hibernating, or shutting down, so a reset is best for a clean slate. A reboot can recalibrate most electronic devices, from TVs to laptops. This is why support teams usually ask: “have you tried restarting?” »
You should restart your phone at least once a week
Restarting your phone, a device that stays on for extended periods of time, can do wonders for performance, especially when it comes to software bugs and associated freezes. If you’re wondering what exactly would happen if you left your Android phone on all the time, it would eventually slow down, causing memory leaks, bugs, and other minor software issues. But there is another very important reason to restart your phone: it concerns security and safety. The NSA, according to the Associated Press, recommends restarting your phone at least once a week because it can prevent some simpler forms of cyberattacks.
On Android and iOS devices, you can schedule restarts at night when you’re sleeping, so they happen automatically and at times when you’re not even using the device. On iPhone, this can be done from Shortcuts > Automation > Create Personal Automation, choosing a time of day as the trigger, adding restart as a command, and saving the automation. On some Android devices, like Samsung Galaxy devices, go to Settings > Device care > Auto optimization and tap Auto restart. From here you can set the time of day, scheduled days, and even let the phone system automatically select when to reboot.
Restart your computer (PC), laptop or tablet every week
Like a phone, you really should restart your computing devices daily. Hopefully you turn them off when you’re not using them if they’re plugged into an outlet, or leave them to hibernate. If not, you’ll want to at least restart them once a week. Laptops, desktops, HTPCs and tablets all need a refresh. Again, this has everything to do with how these systems handle a reboot, flushing open applications and processes and starting everything from scratch after booting.
Most power users share the same schedule for how often you should restart your PC, which is about once a week. Modern devices are designed to stay on longer, perpetually in some cases, with automated updates, multitasking handled by the system itself, and a host of additional automations. Newer operating systems like Windows 11 even incorporate AI for better or worse. Yet no matter how advanced electronics become, it will likely always be a useful and reliable measure to reset them from time to time. Think of it as giving your system a chance to rest and recover.
Restart your modem and router monthly
You should know that things are defined differently with modems and routers. A “reset” of these devices usually refers to a factory reset where all system settings are returned to default values, as if you just took it out of the box. A reboot, on the other hand, is a conventional restart of the device where it is restarted. You only want to do a factory reset when something software-related is permanently broken. Most people will get into the habit of restarting their network equipment whenever there is a problem, such as when the modem is not connecting to service or the router seems to be slowing down performance. If your router and modem have exceptional uptime, you may not reboot them at all.
However, you should make sure to restart this equipment once a month. In fact, my router is automatically scheduled to reboot every night around 3am. You can do this with many Wi-Fi 6 routers and custom offerings, including Netgear, TP-Link, Linksys, and a few others. Even if it doesn’t, you can simply unplug the device for a few minutes and plug it back in manually. Or place them on a smart switch that lets you turn them on and off remotely.
Steam Deck or portable game console
Due to the wide variety of portable game consoles, from the Steam Deck or ROG Ally to retro handhelds from Retroid, Anbernic and other brands, there is no way to reasonably detail every possibility. Just know that most of these electronic devices could benefit from regular reboots. The Steam Deck is a great example of this, because every time there is a system update through Steam, the device reboots anyway. This update cycle can be somewhat sporadic, sometimes happening more often, with lulls in between, so if this is the only reboot they get, it could take weeks at a time.
A common troubleshooting tactic shared by the official Steam support team is to restart your device. In fact, it’s one of the first things they recommend doing whenever you encounter a software problem. So, it is not an exaggeration to say that restarting your device regularly could reduce these problems completely. Following the same recommendations as a computer, you must restart at least once a week. Quick Tip: You can actually restart your Steam Deck without ever using the physical power button on the top. It’s fast, it works, and it’s a good tip to know for restarting your Steam Deck every week.
Restart your Smart TV and media players every week or month
The average television is no longer just a television. They include Wi-Fi capabilities, smart app ecosystems, and sometimes even full streaming platforms like Roku, Fire TV, or Google TV. In other words, they’re much closer to a modern computer or mobile device, which means they’ll probably need to be restarted from time to time. The problem is that most smart TV manufacturers don’t really tell you how often you should do this.
The same goes for separate media players or streaming sticks, including Roku devices, Fire TV Sticks, Apple TV and others – hello Onn Google TV. Media players stay on in a low-power state as long as they are plugged in, regardless of whether the connected TV or display is on or not. You have to restart them from time to time.
Generally, restarting smart TVs (if they’re left on for long periods of time) or media players every week is a good habit to get into. You will want to restart them at least once a month. Like computers, phones and other devices, this gives the TV or player the ability to clean system memory, active processes and restart the operating kernel. Some of the most common smart TV problems can be fixed by simply restarting the device, and for good reason.
