How do I enable and exit safe mode for Xperia ? (Android 11 or higher)

IMPORTANT: This article applies only to specific products and/or operating systems. Check the Applicable Products and Categories section of this article before starting these steps.

Valid for

• Android 11 or higher

Solution

If your Xperia smartphone is on another Android version, please refer to the following article:

• For Android 9 or Android 10: How do I enable and exit safe mode for Xperia? (Android 9 or Android 10)
• For Android 8 or lower: How do I enable and exit safe mode for Xperia? (Android 8.0 or lower)

Downloaded applications may affect the performance of your device or cause it to behave unpredictably. Use safe mode to check whether a downloaded application is causing the problem.

In safe mode, your device only starts with software and applications that were already installed when you purchased your device. If the device performance improves in safe mode, it’s likely that one or more downloaded applications are affecting the device negatively. You can exit safe mode by restarting the device and uninstall the application or applications you suspect are causing the problem. (It is also possible to uninstall applications from inside safe mode.) If the problem is recent and you’re not sure which application is causing the problem, you can start by uninstalling the most recently downloaded one.

To enable safe mode

1. While the device is powered on, press and hold down the power key.
2. In the pop-up menu, press the Power key.
3. touch and hold Power off until the Reboot to safe mode message appears.
4. Tap OK to restart in safe mode.

* Note:  For Xperia 1 IV, Xperia 10 IV, Xperia 5 IV, Xperia 1 V, Xperia 10 V, Xperia 5 V, Xperia 1 VI and Xperia 10 VI

1.  While the device is powered on, press the power button and volume up button at the same time.
2.  In the pop-up menu, touch and hold Power off until the Reboot to safe mode message appears.
3. Tap OK to restart in safe mode.

To exit safe mode

• When in safe mode, restart the phone.

If you can't exit the safe mode by restarting the device, try these actions one after the other. Verify after each action whether the problem was solved, before trying the next one:

• Remove any protective case. A case might interfere with one of the physical keys of the device and prevent the device from starting properly.
• Make sure that the volume key, power key and camera key respond properly, and that they are not stuck in one position.
• Make sure that you just tap Power off when you restart your device, do not touch and hold. If you touch and hold Power off, it might result in a restart into safe mode in some device models.
• Check for new software wirelessly in your device using Settings → System → Advanced → Software update → SYSTEM. 
• If your Xperia device has the latest available software and the problem still persists, try to perform a factory data reset on your device. Note! All personal content on the internal memory of your device gets deleted when you perform a factory data reset. You can backup content that you want to keep. Content on an external memory card (SD card) is not deleted.