How to Fix “Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home Has Stopped” on Samsung Galaxy

Jason

By Jason

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Unfortunately, Touchwiz Home Has Stopped

As a Samsung Galaxy user, you may have encountered the frustrating “Unfortunately, TouchWiz home has stopped” error message. This error indicates that the TouchWiz home launcher has crashed or frozen, preventing you from accessing the home screen.

Don’t worry – in most cases, this issue can be fixed with a few troubleshooting steps. As a technical writer who has owned various Samsung devices over the years, I’ve dealt with this error a number of times and learned the most effective ways to get TouchWiz running smoothly again.

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through all the potential solutions to try when TouchWiz home stops working on your Samsung Galaxy. We’ll cover:

  • Common causes of the TouchWiz home error
  • Clearing app cache and data
  • Disabling motions and gestures
  • Changing animation scale
  • Booting into Safe Mode
  • Wiping the cache partition
  • Performing a factory reset

Plus, I’ll provide tips to prevent the issue from occurring again. By the end of this guide, you’ll have the knowledge to fix your Samsung device’s launcher.

Why Does “Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home Has Stopped” Happen?

Why Does Unfortunately, TouchWiz Home Has Stopped Happen

Before diving into the solutions, it helps to understand the potential causes of this error:

  • Software conflicts after an OS update – Samsung devices don’t automatically clear cached data after system updates. Old data can conflict with the TouchWiz launcher.
  • Insufficient system resources – TouchWiz demands a lot of RAM and processing power. On lower-end models like those with AMD processors, it may crash frequently.
  • Problematic gestures/motions – On older devices, motion features like Smart Alerts sometimes glitch and cause crashes.
  • Buggy third party apps – Incompatible or poorly coded apps can interfere with TouchWiz and cause it to freeze or stop.
  • Corrupted data/preferences – Over time, corrupted data in TouchWiz can make it unresponsive and crash.

So in most cases, the error is caused by a software conflict, resource issue, or corrupted data rather than a serious hardware problem like a faulty touch screen. The good news is this means it can likely be fixed with some troubleshooting on your part.

Fix 1: Clear Cache and Data for TouchWiz

My first recommended step any time TouchWiz home stops is to wipe its cache and data. Here are the steps:

  1. Open your App Drawer and go to Settings > Applications > Application Manager
  2. Swipe over to the All tab if needed
  3. Scroll down and tap on TouchWiz Home
  4. Tap Clear Cache then Clear Data (under Storage)
  • This will reset your home screens and widgets, but your layout can be recreated
  1. Restart your device

Clearing the app data forces TouchWiz to start fresh which resolves many issues, especially after major OS updates. It’s an essential fix to try first.

Fix 2: Disable Motions and Gestures

Samsung phones have many motion and gesture features built-in that can sometimes conflict with TouchWiz and cause it to stop or crash. Turning these off is worth trying:

  1. Go to Settings > Motions and Gestures
  2. Toggle OFF each option one by one:
  • Smart Alert
  • Direct Call
  • Smart Stay
  • Palm Swipe to Capture
  • Palm Touch to Mute/Pause
  1. Restart your device

With these resource-intensive motions disabled, TouchWiz may run smoother. Re-enable them one at a time later to see if any specific gesture is the culprit.

Fix 3: Change the Animation Scale

Animations in the TouchWiz interface require significant processing power. If your device lacks resources, changing the animation scale can help:

  1. Go to Settings > Developer Options > Drawing
  2. Adjust the Animation values:
  • Window Animation Scale
  • Transition Animation Scale
  • Animator Duration Scale
  1. Try setting them to .5x for a moderate change
  2. Restart your device and check if problem is fixed

Lowering the animation values reduces the load on your device’s GPU and can resolve some TouchWiz crashes.

Fix 4: Boot Into Safe Mode

Safe Mode Android

“Safe mode” on Android prevents third-party apps from running temporarily. This lets you pinpoint whether an incompatible app like Smart View is causing TouchWiz issues:

  1. Press and hold the Power button
  2. Long press Power off
  3. Tap OK to confirm rebooting to Safe Mode
  4. Use your phone and see if the error occurs in Safe mode

If TouchWiz home functions normally, a third-party app is likely the issue. You can then systematically uninstall recently added apps until you find the problematic one.

Fix 5: Wipe the Cache Partition

Fix Android Stuck on Boot Screen by Wipe Cache partition

Wiping the cache partition erases temporary system files that may be corrupting TouchWiz. Here are the steps:

  1. Power off your device
  2. Press and hold Volume Up + Power
  3. Use Volume buttons to highlight Wipe Cache Partition
  4. Press Power to select it
  5. Allow device to reboot when prompted

This fix clears out old updates, temporary files, and other clutter that could be interfering with TouchWiz’s performance. It’s worth a shot if other methods don’t resolve your issue.

Fix 6: Factory Reset the Device

If all else fails, a factory reset will erase any software gremlins and give you a fresh start:

  1. Back up important data first
  2. Go to Settings > Backup and Reset
  3. Choose Factory Data Reset > Reset Device
  4. Tap Delete All to confirm and erase data

As a last resort, a factory reset virtually guarantees TouchWiz will work again by restoring your device to factory condition. Just be prepared to reconfigure your settings afterward.

Tips to Prevent “TouchWiz Home Has Stopped”

Once you’ve resolved the current error, here are some tips to help prevent it recurring:

  • Avoid outdated apps – Regularly update all apps / TouchWiz Home
  • Limit widgets – Too many can slow performance
  • Close background apps – Free up RAM using Recent Apps
  • Check for software updates – Install latest firmware
  • Monitor free storage – Low space can cause lag/freezing
  • Factory reset after major OS updates – Prevents conflicts

Following these best practices will keep TouchWiz running optimally and less prone to crashes.

Conclusion

Being unable to access your home screen due to TouchWiz stopping is certainly frustrating. However, in most cases it can be resolved through troubleshooting steps like:

  • Clearing app cache/data
  • Reducing animations
  • Disabling problematic gestures
  • Removing recently installed apps
  • Wiping temporary system files

Using the fixes in this guide, you should be able to get TouchWiz running normally again. Just be sure to backup important data before factory resetting your Samsung Galaxy.

I hope these tips help you get your device back up and running! Let me know if the solutions work for you.

Jason
Jason

Skilled software testing specialist with expertise in comparisons and research, passionate about blogging, reviews, and creating video tutorials.

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