My iPhone Won’t Turn On! Here’s The Real Fix.

Your iPhone will not turn on and you’re looking for help. It’s a problem that can be easy or difficult to fix, depending on the cause. In this article, I’ll help you determine the reason why your iPhone won’t turn on and show you how to fix your iPhone when it isn’t turning on.

Be Careful Of Misinformation About Why iPhones Won’t Turn On

I wrote this article because I’ve seen a lot of other articles that claim to have a solution to the “iPhone won’t turn on” problem, but based on my experience as an Apple tech, the other articles have only one piece of the puzzle — or the information is just plain wrong.

Why Won’t My iPhone Turn On?

Your iPhone won’t turn on because either the software crashed and needs to be reset or restored, or a hardware problem is preventing your iPhone from turning on.

How To Fix An iPhone That Won’t Turn On

  1. Determine Whether Your iPhone Won’t Turn On Due To A Hardware Or Software Problem

    We need to determine is whether a software or hardware problem is preventing your iPhone from turning on. Your iPhone’s software is the easiest to troubleshoot, so that’s where we’ll start. If that doesn’t solve the problem, I’ll discuss the hardware issues that can cause the problem.

  2. Software Crash

    I saw this problem a lot at Apple. Someone would walk in and hand me an iPhone that wouldn’t turn on. I’d do a hard reset and their iPhone would immediately spring back to life. Astonished, they’d ask, “What did you do?”

    Cross your fingers and try a hard reset. To hard reset your iPhone on an iPhone 6S or older, press and hold down the Sleep / Wake button (the power button) and the Home button at the same time, for at least 20 seconds or until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

    On iPhone 7, simultaneously hold the power button and volume down button instead.

    To hard reset an iPhone 8 or newer, quickly press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.

    Sidenote: Why Can A Hard Reset Fix An iPhone That Won’t Turn On?

    If a hard reset fixed your iPhone, your problem was never that your iPhone wouldn’t turn on, because it was on the whole time.

    A lot of people think their iPhone won’t turn on when their iPhone is on, but the software has crashed so it’s displaying a black screen and not responding. It’s an easy mistake to make, because an iPhone in that condition is almost indistinguishable from an iPhone that’s turned off.

    Fixing A Software Crash

    If you’ve determined that your iPhone’s software is the reason your iPhone won’t turn on, I recommend you backup and restore your iPhone. When a software problem is that bad, it’s time to fix the software. You can learn about how to do the deepest type of iPhone restore in my article about how to DFU restore an iPhone.

  3. Check Your Lightning Cable And Your Charger (Don’t Skip This Step)

    iphone wont turn on check cableIf your iPhone won’t turn on, try charging your iPhone with another cable and another charger, or alternatively, try charging someone else’s iPhone with your cable and your charger. If their iPhone charges and yours doesn’t, don’t skip to the next step just yet.

    A common, less-documented issue is some iPhones will charge when connected to a laptop computer, but not with the wall charger. Even if your friend’s iPhone charges with the same cable and wall charger, it’s possible that your iPhone will not. Without going into a detailed discussion about why this happens, try charging your iPhone using a USB port on your computer if you usually use a wall outlet, and try a wall charger if you usually charge your iPhone with your laptop.

    To learn more about how to fix iPhone charging problems that can be related to this issue, I recommend you check out my article called My iPhone Won’t Charge.

  4. Make Sure It’s Not Just The Display

    iphone with itunes openIf your iPhone still won’t turn on, plug your iPhone into your computer and open iTunes (PCs and Macs running macOS 10.14 or older) or Finder (Macs running macOS 10.15 or newer). Does iTunes recognize your iPhone? If it does, back up your iPhone right away. If there’s a serious hardware problem, this might be your last chance to back up your data.

    If your iPhone shows up in iTunes of Finder and you can successfully back it up, or if it’s making any noises at all, you may need to have your iPhone’s display repaired. My article about what to do if your iPhone screen turns black can help. Scroll to the Repair Options section at the bottom of this article to learn what to do next (and possibly save some money).

    If your iPhone doesn’t show up in iTunes or Finder, try doing a hard reset while your iPhone is connected to your computer. Do you see any error messages? If iTunes says you need to restore your iPhone, do it.

    If you’ve tried the previous steps and your iPhone still won’t turn on, there’s probably no way to recover the data that’s on your iPhone now unless you have an iTunes, Finder, or iCloud backup. The only other option for recovering data is to use one of the very expensive iPhone data recovery companies you can find with a Google search.

  5. Check For Physical Or Liquid Damage

    For those of us who’ve dropped our iPhones and got away with it, iPhones are tough. For people whose iPhones stopped working after they watched their daughter’s softball game in the rain, iPhones are fragile. Drops and spills can cause damage that stops iPhones from turning on.

    Water damage is insidious and unpredictable. A spill from a week ago can cause a problem to occur today for the very first time. A drop of water got in the charging port and your iPhone won’t charge, but your friend spilled a glass of water on his iPhone and it works just fine — we hear stories like this all the time.

    Do a visual inspection of the outside of your iPhone — is there any damage? If it’s minor, Apple may ignore it and replace your iPhone under warranty.

    check closely for damageNext, check for liquid damage. Your iPhone’s warranty doesn’t cover liquid damage unless your have AppleCare+, and even then, there’s still a deductible. To learn how to check if your iPhone has water damage, check out our comprehensive guide on iPhone liquid damage.

  6. Repair Options For When An iPhone Won’t Turn On

    If you’re under warranty and there’s no physical or liquid damage, Apple will probably cover the repair for no charge. If you’re not, Apple can be expensive—but there are good alternatives.

    Now might be a good time to get a new cell phone. iPhone repairs are expensive, and your device may have multiple hardware problems. Repair companies often need to replace every broken component. Those repairs will add up quickly, and your bill may be hundreds of dollars. It may be more economical to upgrade to a newer iPhone. Check out UpPhone’s tool to compare every cell phone on every wireless carrier.

Your iPhone Is Turning On Again: Time To Wrap It Up

By this point, you’ve determined why your iPhone won’t turn on and the next steps to take if your iPhone needs to be repaired. If it helped you, please share it with your friends, especially because so many other articles out there are filled with inaccurate information on this subject. I’m interested to hear about your experience with troubleshooting and how you fixed your iPhone in the comments section below.

About Author

I'm a former Apple employee and the founder of Payette Forward, and I'm here to help you with your iPhone.

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Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you so much for this article. My phone didn’t wanna turn on, till now whOop whoop!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I love you pal! you saved my life

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you! You solved my problem!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I was shook but it worked with the hard reset.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you so much.this is really very helpful

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you so much for this article. I dropped my phone, it wouldn’t come on. Then I followed your tip and pressed the power button and volume down button and voila, worked like a charm. Much appreciated!

Anonymous
6 years ago

my iphone wont start after sudden shutdown. It keeps showing itune logo and I have already followed all steps to update the software but nothing changed. Please help!!!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you for that. Glad to say the hard reset worked and saved a trip to an Apple shop.

Anonymous
6 years ago

amazing! thank you for your help!

Anonymous
6 years ago

I’m getting something different on my son’s iPhone SE. There was no known drop or damage or water exposure- it went half dead while my son was using it. I press the power and home buttons simulatneously, and after 9 or 10 or 13 or 15 seconds (all timed with stopwatch) I get the white apple screen for about 12 seconds, and then it goes away, and is not responsive in any way. Multiple cables, multiple wall chargers, USB/laptop charging, not showing up in iTunes- nothing makes a difference. Last night it would stay lit while charging, but not today.… Read more »

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks. Had to go into i tunes which resolved problem and phone started up again. Charging at present and keeping fingers crossed no further problems. Joan

Anonymous
6 years ago

thankyou!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Hey guys, i had the same problem where my iphone would barely turn on and it would only show that it was charging a very little amount and then shut off ( and sometimes stay off for hours). Previously, anytime i would use my phone, i was advised by little notifications that i should update my software, but would ignore it. So that was why my phone wouldnt turn on. There would be moments that my phone would turn on, but with very little power. i would try to call/ message/ text back anyone i could in the very little… Read more »

Anonymous
6 years ago

Hooray! It works. Thank you!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks for your help!!

I Love Bluegrass/Celtic Music
6 years ago

I have had this problem before. Luckily, I got an experienced tech. This works for me. Good luck.
No signal
Settings
Cellular
Cellular data options
Roaming
Voice
Turn off then on: voice roaming

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you for this article. Turns out I just had to do the hard reset. I was already thinking about how much a new phone was going to cost me, now I just have to find out why it crashed.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks so much. Did the hard reset in a panic and it worked.

Anonymous
6 years ago

I tried the hard reset now and it worked! this is a very helpful article thank you

Anonymous
6 years ago

Hello,, Was installing new ios and the ipone was disconnectd from lap top Did the reboot comp , check cords etc,, now she only turns on with the apple sign for about 6 seconds then back to off mode. It is well charged and was working fine before disconnect …. Any advise please

Anonymous
6 years ago

FYI for iPhones 8 and up it’s now actually click the up volume, then click the down volume, THEN hold down the side button until the apple screen pops up

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you. I was getting ready to go to the store to see what the problem was. Had a lot of problems with my old phone, got a new one this summer. Really frustrating when your phone doesn’t work, hate the feeling of being disconnected.

Anonymous
6 years ago

thank you for your help!!! the reset totally fixed my problem!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you! The 20 second hold on the Sleep and Home buttons did the trick.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Hi I smashed my phone screen so I replaced it myself have done pleoof times but this time I kill it wont turn on dead af didnt disconnect battery what would this do exactly if I arked it out

Anonymous
6 years ago

Hi! So at first my 5s was displaying the apple logo then the screen turns red. I tried hard resetting a bunch of times but it didnt work. I left it to charge for 30 mins and now it wont turn on at all. No apple logo or anything. Just a black screen.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you so much for sharing this artical

this works like wonder when i fall my iphone 7 , it was not getting on i visited to resealers, they said it wil take 15 days to get repaired and luckily i googled it and found this and tried to hold from power buttuon and volume down button as mentioned in artical and it gets on.
im so happy

bunddle of thanks

God Bless you

Anonymous
6 years ago

very helpful!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

i have had thisproblem on my 5s for the last 3 years. couldnt afford to fix it and now i know what the hell was happening. Thank you for this. i had the software crash and after i held the two buttons it worked after 10 seconds. After hours of searching online im glad ive found the f***ing solution. Thank you

Anonymous
6 years ago

hey so um this hasnt worked for me still and I was wondering if you know what to do now, do i take it to an apple store or is there any other options?

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you so much for the hard reset tip- it worked within 20 seconds. I had no idea what to do when the phone wouldn’t turn on & I’d been using it not too long before that. Great help & thanks again.

Anonymous
6 years ago

My iphone 4 went off after i received a call but when i plug it on power it made that charging sound but i can not see anything on the screen. what i did was to give it to my colleague that fixes phone, he opened the back and removed that stainless color stuff that connect the battery and plug it back, removed my sim card and put it back and on it. everything got normal. he said the phone freeze that was why. but i have a lots of group chat on my wasap because of the job i… Read more »

Anonymous
6 years ago

Load of wank

Anonymous
6 years ago

I tried most of the above, including leaving it to charge for over an hour (but didn’t try resetting my phone for fear of losing all data) and couldn’t get it to work. Then I just left it to charge overnight with a cable I had tested on my iPad and it was on and fully charged in the morning. The battery was clearly completely depleted.

Anonymous
6 years ago

thanks

Anonymous
6 years ago

tks for saving my life….I was on phi phi island trip and my phone was turn off just right after i arrived the island because of the software as you said….1st i brought to the store and they said that they had needed at least 12 hours to check and see if they can fix or not….oh my god, i felt hopeless….luckily i found your site on my computer and my phone is turned on again…thank you.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks!

Anonymous
6 years ago

i have tried everything you have said, but my phone still wont turn on damn it!!!!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you, oh techy god, my iphone is charging and working again after 2 hours of nail-biting…this is a great site, you are a very clever person….

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks the hard reset worked.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks the hard reset worked!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Great advice worked a treat

Anonymous
6 years ago

First my iPhone 7 was a really really dark navy blue color and I could hear calls, messages and stuff. So I was thinking only the display got damaged and the system was still working. Then I pressed the power button and volume down button like this page told me to, then the screen went black and nothing worked. I am very confused. What do I do now?

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanks a mill, was straight forward and useful. Saved me some money..

Anonymous
6 years ago

I was immediately able to fix my iphone 6 issue by reading this article. The 20 second reset tip worked – thank you!

Anonymous
6 years ago

My iPad would not turn on till it had been on the charger 6 hours.

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thank you! got me real worried when my phone wont turn on after suddenly turning off while I was a taking a picture during our SFC’s christian life program. Luckily, after scouring the interent I came upon your website. Turns out, all it needed was a hard reset. (you won’t believe how many sites are suggesting complicated solutions or saying wrong infos). Again thank you so much. God bless you!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Worked like a charm, thanks so much!

Anonymous
6 years ago

Thanx, its so helpful.

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