Getting message "Google keeps stopping" even in Safe Mode and no icons available

[JayInGa]

Moto G4 Play with all updates. I've looked online and it seems all the helps start by going into "Settings" which I can't do because there are no icons showing. Even pressing the "Home Button" doesn't work. I've gone into safe mode and no change. I went back with a regular start and nothing changed. Tried "Safe Mode" again and no change. Since I can't get to settings icon I can't even go to a backup or Factory Reset.
All of a sudden, after 2 days, the message has disappeared and all icons are now showing and phone is working.
For future reference, if, it happens again, what should I do? It would not allow any swiping down from top or swiping up from bottom.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! When you swipe down the notification panel, you don't see a gear icon there?

 

[JayInGa]

All of a sudden, after 2 days, the message has disappeared and all icons are now showing and phone is working.
For future reference, if, it happens again, what should I do? It would not allow any swiping down from top or swiping up from bottom. The message "Google keeps stopping" would disappear for a mili-second when pressed but, would keep coming back. Restarting, safe mode, nothing helped until after 2 days we just picked it up and after unlocking the message was gone. So, if it happens again, any suggestions?

 

[B. Diddy]

First, I'd make sure all of your important data is backed up or synced somewhere now, just in case this is a warning sign that things might start to fail more completely. Then I'd consider doing a factory reset. If the problem keeps recurring, I'd suspect either corrupt firmware or some kind of hardware fault.

Also, do you have an SD card inserted? If so, try unmounting it and removing it. If you need to use a card, consider getting a new one, in case the current one has become corrupt.