How to Force Restart an Android Phone When It’s Not Responding Joe Fedewa Rebooting an Android device is usually a simple thing to do. But that’s not the case when your phone or tablet is stuck and won’t respond to any input. We’ll show you how to force restart your Android handset. The specific situation we’re talking about is when the screen is unresponsive and the power button does nothing. Usually, if an app is frozen, you can still go to the home screen or reboot the phone like normal. However, if the entire phone is stuck, you’ll need to try something else.