What to do if your iPhone won’t turn on

What to do if your iPhone won’t turn on

If your iPhone won’t turn on, it can be a panic-inducing moment. There are several reasons for an iPhone freezing, but with a few steps, you can troubleshoot this issue yourself.

If your iPhone won’t turn on, then take a look at our guide below. However if your phone is unable to be recovered, we have various affordable iPhones and Android devices available, either on a contract or refurbished, to get you connected as soon as possible.

Step 1: Check the battery

The first thing to check may be an obvious one, but it can help diagnose the issue early on. Begin by trying to charge your device with the charging cable. Even if your iPhone has unresponsive buttons, doing so can isolate if the issue is with the battery or not. Test with multiple charging cables if possible, to check if one is potentially faulty.

Once your phone is sufficiently charged, check if the device will turn on:

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If the phone turns on, job done!
If the phone does not turn on, check all of the device’s buttons to test if one will trigger the reboot sequence.

If your device was charging up but will not turn on via button press, it’s possible the buttons have malfunctioned, or a deeper issue exists. It is advised to consult with a phone engineer at this point for further testing.

Step 2: Force reset

Your iPhone may have been working previously, but now has a permanent black screen. The device can be forced to reset to try and engage it to boot up. To do this:

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Press and release the volume up button.
Press and release the volume down button.
Press and hold the side button. The Apple logo should appear.
On an iPhone 7 or earlier, press and hold both the side and volume down buttons. The Apple logo should appear.
On an iPhone 6 or earlier, press and hold both the Home and side buttons. The Apple logo should appear.

If force resetting does not turn the iPhone on, contact a phone engineer or Apple support for further testing.

If your device is powering up but freezes or crashes once it reaches the Apple logo, you can boot an iPhone into ‘Recovery Mode’ to try and fix the issue. Before doing this, it is recommended to install iTunes on your PC or Mac:

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Connect your iPhone to a PC or Mac
Locate your iPhone in iTunes
Follow the reset steps above in Step 2 for your respective iPhone model. You should now see the Recovery Mode screen
You will see an option to update or restore. Select Update
Your PC or Mac will now begin to update your iPhone’s software

Step 4: Other potential issues

If none of the previous steps have worked in turning your iPhone on, check for other potential causes, including:

Damage – check for any damage to your iPhone, such as water in the charging port or general wear and tear. Whilst most iPhones are pretty damage resistant, an accidental drop, for example, could harm the external components i.e. screen

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Faulty accessories – it is possible components such as your charging cable, may be faulty or damaged. Always test multiple cables and chargers to isolate a potentially broken accessory

It is always recommended to contact Apple Support if you are unable to fix an issue with your iPhone. Water damage is one such cause of unresponsive devices as we outlined previously. If your iPhone has come into contact with water and is not responding, check out our guide on water-damaged devices and how to fix them with simple, easy steps.