Android Phones Will Force Restart If Locked for 3 Days in a Row

The scariest part about having your device stolen isn't the cost of buying a new phone, it's the fear of someone breaking into it and accessing your private data. Luckily, Android devices are getting a new security feature that makes this a lot harder.

Android devices will now restart after 3 days of inactivity

As first reported by 9to5Google, Android is rolling out a new security feature that will force your device to automatically restart if it's been locked for three consecutive days. The feature is part of the April Google Play Services update and can be found in the Security & Privacy section :

[Phone] Enable an optional future security feature that will automatically restart your device if it is locked for 3 consecutive days.

Whenever your Android phone restarts, it automatically enters a Before First Unlock (BFU) state, which is essentially a security state your phone is in before you enter a PIN or use biometrics, where all data on the device is encrypted and inaccessible. In this state, you can't use biometrics (Face ID or fingerprint) to unlock your device, so you can either enter your device's PIN or use a pattern to unlock it (if applicable).

You might have seen a message like Unlock for all features and data appear on your Android device after a reboot before, that's exactly what happens in this security state.

Since the Google Play Services release notes explicitly mention “Phones,” it’s assumed that the feature will also extend to tablets, while categories like Auto, PC TV, and Wear will likely be excluded.

Whenever a feature like this is released, one of the first questions that comes up is whether or not your data will be completely wiped if you enable it. Don't worry, that won't happen. This isn't the same as a "factory reset" and your apps, files, and settings will remain intact. Rebooting simply reboots your phone to put it into a more secure state, ensuring it's inaccessible until you unlock it yourself.

This “new” Android feature isn’t exactly new, though. Apple introduced the same feature with iOS 18.1, called restart from inactivity, which causes an iPhone to restart after being inactive for four days. Sounds pretty similar, right?

Unfortunately, Google isn't sharing too many details, and it's unclear whether the feature is rolling out to some Android devices or all devices, or when the Google Play Services 25.14 update will be released.

More importantly, there's no word on whether this feature will be enabled by default for everyone or whether users will have the option to opt in or not. Regardless, this is definitely a feature that users are happy to see added,