Why isn't my Lumia 720 starting up and only showing a cog screen (spinning wheels)?

[Windows Central Question]

Lumia 720 is not starting up only showing cog screen (spinning wheels)

my nokia lumia is displaying the cog screen (spining wheels) for the last 4 hours as I asked to install a new update and after reading your solutions I soft reset my phone and again its showing the same....please help me how will it start???
the progress line is also not increasing....I have the good wifi available but still its not working...

 

[Pacus1x]

Re: Lumia 720 is not starting up only showing cog screen (spinning wheels)

For some users, the spinning cog issue was solve by taking out the micro SD and then the installation resumes. You can install the apps in the SD card after the updating process.

If anything else fails you can use the Lumia recovery tool to reset the phone and of course without the micro SD inserted.

Also you can check this thread about the spinning cog problem.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: Lumia 720 is not starting up only showing cog screen (spinning wheels)

Do a clean install with one of the tools here: FAQ - How can I recover/reset/restore my phone software? - Microsoft - USA

Power down and remove your memory card and SIM before hand. Use the "phone won't respond" option.