eli5 Why does turning your device on and off often solve a technical issue?
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After an update, the software may change registry or other environmental settings. A reboot will allow for those changes to take place
When devices turn on, they enter a state that’s valid and has been configured by the manufacturer. Eg. an mp3 player would want to start to play the first song in the playlist.
As they operate, a device can enter into a state that’s invalid due to bugs, or bad user input. Eg. going with the example above, the mp3 player would want to play song #57 on the playlist, but there are only 56 songs.
Restarting the device will mean that the device will exit the bad state, and return to the valid initial state.
it ultimately comes down to most devices being ultimately some form of computer running a specific set of software.
the longer it runs the more likely it is some non critical call fails but the device can recover.
so events like moryleaks, stack fails and such while minor on their own if your device is running ,,lets say for a few months they add up and eventually bog down the whole thing.
shutting it down and back on clear all this and lets the system start pristine.
Sometimes a computer’s operating system can get cluttered and confused with instructions with a bunch of different programs running. When you turn it off, it clears all active programs and processes from it’s memory which lets it start with a fresh slate.
Think of the computer’s memory like your desk. If you take a bunch of books and open them ont he desk and take papers and binders and writing utensils and scatter them throughout the desk it can become too cluttered to work and find things efficiently. It might help a little if you put some books and binders away but that can still leave behind loose pieces of papers and other items that don’t have a permanent place. Turning off the computer clears everything off the desk and makes it clear to work on again.
Devices were made to be started from turned off.
When a device is working it status can change, data can change, etc. Those changes can stop it from working.
When you turn it off it resets it to the default and when you turn it back on it works because it works using its defaults.
I don’t know if I’m right but I’ve once heard that turning off your internet router can let the components inside it cool down, so maybe its the same for other devices
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