iPhone Won't Turn On? 6 Ways to Fix That

If your iPhone won't turn on, you may think that you're going to need to buy a new one. That could be true if the problem is bad enough, but there are lots of 6 ways to try to fix your iPhone before deciding it's dead.

Charge Your iPhone Battery

It may sound obvious, but make sure your iPhone's battery is charged. To test this, plug your iPhone into a wall charger or into your computer. Let it charge for 15-30 minutes. It may turn on automatically. You may also need to hold down the on/off button to turn it on.

If you suspect your phone ran out of battery but recharging doesn't work, it's possible that your charger or cable is defective. Try using another cable to double-check. (P.S. In case you haven't heard, you can now get wireless charging for the iPhone if you have an iPhone 8 or newer.)

Restart iPhone

If charging the battery didn't turn your iPhone on, the next thing you should try is to restart the phone. To do this, hold down the on/off button at the top right corner or the right side of the phone for a few seconds.

If the phone is off (not dead), it should turn on. If it's on, you may see the slider offering to turn it off.

If the phone was off, let it turn on. If it was on, restarting it by turning it off and then turning it back on is probably a good idea.

Hard Reset the iPhone

Try a hard reset if the standard restart didn't do the trick. A hard reset is a restart that clears more of the device's memory (but not its storage. You won't lose data) for a more comprehensive reset. To perform a hard reset: 

Restore iPhone to Factory Settings

Sometimes your best bet is restoring your iPhone to its factory settings. This erases all the data and settings on your phone (hopefully you synced your iPhone recently and backed up your data). While that may seem extreme, it can solve a lot of problems.

Put iPhone Into DFU Mode

In some situations, your iPhone may not turn on because it won't boot up or gets stuck at the Apple logo during startup. This can happen after jailbreaking or when you try to update iOS and it fails.

If you're facing this problem, you'll need to put your phone into DFU mode, which is similar to Recovery Mode. This isn't for the faint of heart; try this one at your own risk.

Reset iPhone Proximity Sensor

Another rare situation that causes your iPhone not to turn on is a malfunction in the proximity sensor that dims iPhone's screen when you hold it up to your face. This causes the screen to stay dark even when the phone is on and not near your face.

To reset your iPhone's proximity sensor, you'll need to perform a Hard Reset first. Then, once the screen is working again, tap Settings-->General-->Reset-->Reset All Settings. This erases all your preferences and settings on the iPhone, but won't delete your data.

If Your iPhone Still Won't Turn On

If your iPhone won't turn on after all of these steps, the problem is probably too serious to fix on your own. You need to contact Apple to make an appointment at the Genius Bar.

In that appointment, the Genius will either fix your issue or let you know what it costs to fix. Check the status of your iPhone's warranty before the appointment, since that could save you money on repairs.

If you're just over it and want to upgrade to a new iPhone, we won't judge.