Oh no! Your trusty iPhone has stopped turning on! Is it time to get a new one? Maybe not. There might be fixable issues that are causing this problem, which is why we wrote this troubleshooting guide on how to get your iPhone to turn back on.
If by the end of this guide, none of our tips have worked, it may be time to throw in the towel and get iPhone repair. Hopefully this isn’t the case though. Read on to find out how to breathe life back into your iPhone!
Is Your iPhone Charged?
OK, first things first. Is your iPhone juiced up enough to power on? It’s worth investigating. Plug your iPhone into a wall charger and let it charge for a half hour. To your delight, it just might turn on automatically. Or you may need to hold the power button down to get it to turn on.
Maybe your phone has run out of battery but it’s just not charging. The culprit might be a faulty cable or charger. To double check, try using another cable. (Tip: make sure this is a legitimate charger from the Apple store. A gas station knock off might not charge your phone properly.)
Ready...Set...Reset
If charging has not worked, try to restart your iPhone by holding the power button down for a second or two. Maybe your phone is simply off and it will turn on. If the phone was off, allow it to turn on. If the phone was on, restart it by powering it off then turning it back on.
If restarting your iPhone didn’t work, try a hard reset. This is similar to a restart but it clears your device’s memory.
To do this with an iPhone 8 or newer:
- Press and quickly release Volume Up
- Press and quickly release Volume Down
- Press and hold the Side Button until you see the Apple logo
To do this with an iPhone 7 generation:
- Press and hold Side and Volume Down for ten seconds until you see the logo
To do this with an iPhone 6s or older:
- Press and hold Home and the Top buttons for ten seconds until you see the logo
When the Apple logo appears on screen, let go of the buttons and allow the phone to start up.
Go Back to Factory Settings
Restoring your phone back to factory settings erases all of the data and settings on your phone and can fix a lot of issues.
To do this:
Connect your iPhone to your computer with a Lightning cable and open up iTunes. Make sure you see the iPhone icon in the upper left corner of the iTunes window.
If you can’t see your iPhone in iTunes, put it into recovery mode:
iPhone 8 and Newer:
- Press and quickly release Volume Up
- Press and quickly release Volume Down
- Press and hold the Side Button until the recovery-mode screen appears
iPhone 7 Generations:
- Press and hold Side and Volume Down buttons simultaneously
- Hold until the recovery-mode screen appears
iPhone 6s and older:
- Press and hold Home and the Top buttons at the same time
- Keep holding until you can see the recovery-mode screen
After your iPhone has gone into recovery mode, click on the device icon that appears in iTunes.
Click on Restore iPhone.
When asked if you would like to backup your iPhone, choose yes, because you are about to wipe the phone of all of its data.
Click restore in the second dialog box to confirm that you want to restore your iPhone.
This may allow your iPhone to power on.
DFU Mode
Sometimes, your iPhone won’t turn on because it can’t boot. This might happen when you attempt to install an update without enough battery. If this is the issue, put your iPhone into DFU Mode:
- Ensure iTunes is running and your iPhone is powered off
- Plug your iPhone into your computer
- Press down the power button for three seconds, then let go
- Press and hold down Volume Down will continuing to hold down the power button for around ten seconds
- Let go of the power button but continue to hold the volume button down for around five seconds
If you see a “plug into iTunes” message, you have held down the buttons for too long and should start over.
You’ll know you’re in DFU mode if the screen remains black. Follow the instructions on screen in iTunes.
Reset the Proximity Sensor
A rare issue that may prevent your iPhone from powering on is a bug in the proximity sensor that dims the screen when you hold it to your face. This causes the screen to stay dark even when the phone is on and not near your face.
- Perform a Hard Reset on your iPhone
- Allow the phone to restart
- Open the Settings app
- Choose General
- Choose Reset
- Choose Reset All Settings
This will delete all of your settings and preferences on your iPhone but will preserve your data.
Help! My iPhone Still Won’t Power On!
If your iPhone still won’t power on after all of this troubleshooting, the problem is probably serious. In this case, contact the Apple store if you are under warranty.
If not, consider a third party repair shop to assess the situation - you can save money, time, and convenience.
