Motorola Moto E 2nd Generation Troubleshooting

The phone won’t turn on after pressing and holding power button

Check the power key to see if it is stuck or jammed by debris. Then apply pressure to the key to check if it is simply stuck. If key moves freely but there is no response, try using a greater amount of pressure to see if the power key contact has become dirty and non-responsive.

First check that the charging port is not blocked by any debris and plug in the supplied charger. If the phone continues not charging plug in the supplied charger and wiggle it up and down, if the phone starts to charge for a brief second and stops, it means the charging pins are broken. Lastly try using a different charger to see if supplied charger has gone bad.

Plug the phone in to the supplied charger and see if it charges, if when you disconnect the supplied charger and the phone turns off instantly then the battery has gone bad. If the phone is not holding charge then the battery has gone bad. Use this guide to replace battery. It is best to use an original Motorola battery in your replacement, as unapproved batteries can cause excessive heat while charging, potentially damaging internal components.

The screen is cracked or does not respond to touch input

You can replace your cracked screen using our guide here. Or you can return to the place you purchased the phone and check to see if they replace cracked screens. Most places will for a fee of about $100.

Ensure that your hands are clean and dry. This can sometimes get in the way of the touch screen sensors. If the phone has a screen protector on, try removing that and then checking the responsiveness. If the screen remains unresponsive, try wiping it clean with a lightly damp cloth.

If all else fails, you can replace your unresponsive screen using our guide here.

You cannot hear any audio or the sound quality is bad.

Check to see if the phone is in head jack mode even when headset is not plugged in by looking for head jack logo on top notification bar. If that's the case then, first try cleaning it out to see it if was just debris causing the phone to think the headphones are plugged in.

Try cleaning ear peace and loud speaker ports of any debris blocking sound from coming out. After it's been cleaned make a phone call to see if sound has improved. If the sound coming from the earpiece is still low or distorted you can use this guide to replace the earpiece.

Start by double checking your volume settings. Then check to see if there is anything inside blocking your head jack port. Also try using different headphones.

Camera does not turn on or will not focus

When you start the camera app and the picture is out of focus or the camera doesn't turn on, it means the camera has gone bad. You can use this guide to replace the camera.

If the picture is distorted or camera cannot focus, check the lenses on the back of the phone for cracks or scratches. If that's the case you will need to replace the back case of the phone.

Your phone when turned on just keeps loading the phone logo over and over.

If your phone is stuck in boot cycle it could be one of the following reasons; If you rooted the phone to gain administrative privileges, and made a mistake while doing so, it is possible the software is now corrupt. You can try factory resetting the phone, but you will lose all content this way. Or the motherboard could be faulty and needs to be replaced. Use this guide on how to replace the mother board.

Storage on phone is too full so that phone will not load the boot software. Try plugging into a computer to erase or transfer all unnecessary files.

Phone gets excessively hot while powered on.

It is possible the phone is running apps in the background without your knowledge. To check on this go to "Settings," then "Battery." Look for any apps draining an especially high amount of battery power.

A runaway process is an error in code that causes an infinite loop within a program (such as an app trying to download over and over again).

To check if a third-party app is responsible try rebooting in Safe Mode. Press and hold the Power key until the phone reboots. A window will appear titled "reboot to safe mode," then select "OK."

If no apps are running in the background, and you have tried all the other options, it is possible you are simply in a bad signal area. The radio transmitters in modern cell phones—which connect your phone to cell towers—get incredibly hot under heavy use. Not only will the radio transmitters get hot, but boosting the signal also uses extra battery life. Turn the phone on Airplane Mode, or turn the phone off until you reach an area with better signal strength.

The phone repeatedly turns on and off again at random

Safe mode is a way for your phone to restart without any third party apps. This will help determine whether or not an app is the cause for the reboot. To reboot in safe mode, press and hold the Power key until the phone reboots. A window will appear titled "reboot to safe mode," then select "OK."

If you find that you are no longer experiencing random reboots while in safe mode, then you can assume that an app is the cause.

Make sure all your apps are fully updated; if you still experience random reboots while not in safe mode, try systematically uninstalling apps until you no longer experience the problem.

To check for updates go to the Play Store and select "My apps" to see if any updates are available. To update and app, tap on it. If more than one app is available to update, you can selected the “Update All” button.

Alternately to uninstalling apps one by one, you can also preform a factory reset and reinstall apps one by one. If you perform a factory reset, you will lose all data not stored in the cloud.

Text messages fail to send or receive

Make sure the phone is not in airplane mode. With airplane mode turned on the phone will not send or receive cellular signal. To check if your device is in airplane mode go to "settings," and tap "more." if airplane mode is on, switch it off.

Check to see if the phone had reached its data limit and the carrier had turned off the messaging services. To do this start at "settings," then tap "data usage." Make sure cellular data is on and there is not a limit blocking you.

If your problem is neither the result of airplane mode, nor reaching your data limit you can also perform a soft reset by pressing and holding the Power key for 10 seconds. This deletes any temporary files that may cause issues.

There are possible messaging issues if you have switched from an iPhone to the Moto. If you recently switched from Apple to Android with the same phone number, it may not have transferred properly. To resolve this issue you will need to remove SMS capability from Apple’s iMessage service.

To accomplish this go to the Apple iMessage de-registration webpage. In the "No longer have your iPhone?" section, enter your phone number, then click "Send Code." Enter the code sent from Apple into the "Confirmation Code" field, and submit.