You restart a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra by using the Side (power) button and Volume Down together to bring up the power menu, then choosing Restart and confirming.

How do you restart an S26 Ultra?

Basic restart (soft reboot)

Use this when your phone is working normally but you just want to refresh it.

  1. Press and hold the Side (power) button + Volume Down at the same time.
  1. Keep holding until the power menu appears on screen.
  1. Tap Restart.
  1. Tap Restart again to confirm if asked.
  1. Wait a few seconds while the phone turns off and boots back up.

This is the standard way most S26 Ultra owners use day-to-day.

Force restart (if frozen or unresponsive)

Use this when the screen is stuck, the phone doesn’t react to touches, or it’s hard-locked.

  • Press and hold Side button + Volume Down together.
  • Ignore any power menu that pops up and keep holding the buttons until:
    • The screen goes completely black , and
    • Then the Samsung logo appears.
  • Release the buttons; the phone will restart itself.

Several S26 Ultra tutorials show this exact combo as the go‑to fix for a frozen device.

Restart without using buttons (Quick Settings)

If you don’t want to use physical buttons, you can restart from the notification/quick panel.

  1. Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the notification shade.
  1. Swipe down again to fully expand Quick Settings.
  1. Tap the power icon at the top.
  1. Tap Restart , then confirm Restart again.

This method is handy if your Side button is worn out or mapped to an assistant instead of power.

If your Side button opens Gemini / assistant

On newer S26 devices, long-pressing the Side button may launch Google Gemini (assistant) by default instead of the power menu.

You have two options:

  • Use the button combo anyway
    • Even if Gemini pops up, keep holding Side + Volume Down together until the power menu appears or the screen shuts off for a force restart.
  • Remap the Side button to the power menu (optional tweak)
    1. Open Settings.
2. Go to **Advanced features** → **Side button** (or Side key settings via the power icon).

3. Under **Long press** , select **Power off menu** instead of digital assistant/Gemini.

4. Now a long press on the Side button will always open the power menu, where you can tap **Restart**.

Many guides recommend this tweak so restarting and powering off the S26 Ultra feels like older Galaxy phones again.

Simple forum-style recap

On most S26 Ultra units, just hold Power + Volume Down , wait for the power menu, then tap Restart twice and you’re done. If it’s totally frozen, keep holding those buttons until the screen shuts off and the Samsung logo comes back. Quick Settings also has a little power icon you can tap to reach the same Restart option without touching hardware buttons.

Mini sections: extra viewpoints

When should you restart?

  • If the phone feels laggy or glitchy.
  • After installing many apps or updates.
  • If Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, or mobile data act up suddenly.

Restarting is a safe first step before trying more advanced troubleshooting.

Normal restart vs. force restart

  • Normal restart : Use when the phone still responds and you can open menus.
  • Force restart : Only when the phone is frozen or not reacting at all.

A force restart won’t erase data; it just forcibly reboots the system, like pulling and replugging a computer’s power cord.

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TL;DR:
On a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, hold Side (power) + Volume Down , tap Restart in the power menu, and confirm; if the phone is frozen, keep holding those buttons until the screen turns off and the Samsung logo appears to force a restart.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.