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My iPhone Apps Won’t Open! Here’s The Real Fix.

    David Payette
  • 3 years ago
    • Categories: iPhone

One of two things is happening when you tap to open an iPhone app: Nothing happens at all, or the app beings to load the opening screen, but immediately closes. Either way, you’re left staring at an iPhone full of apps that won’t open, and that’s no good. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone apps won’t open and how to fix the problem for good.

Why Won’t My iPhone Apps Open?

Your iPhone apps won’t open because your iPhone has a software problem. When an app crashes, it usually doesn’t take the whole iPhone with it. Instead, you end up back on the Home screen, and the app terminates in the background. Most of the time, that’s enough to fix a software bug – but not always.

Apps don’t exist in a vacuum, either. In my experience, iPhone apps usually won’t open because of a problem with the iPhone operating system (iOS), not a problem with the app itself.

How To Fix iPhone Apps That Won’t Open

I’ll walk you step-by-step through the process of troubleshooting an app that won’t open. We’ll start simple and work our way toward the more involved fixes, if and when they become necessary. You can do this. Let’s get started!

1. Turn Your iPhone Off And Back On

It’s simple, but turning your iPhone off and back on can resolve hidden software issues that may be preventing your apps from opening correctly. When you turn off your iPhone, the operating system shuts down all the little background programs that help your iPhone to run. When you turn it back on, they all start fresh, and sometimes that’s enough to fix a software glitch that had been preventing your apps from opening.

To turn your iPhone off, press and hold the power button on your iPhone until ‘slide to power off’ appears on the screen. Slide the icon across the screen with your finger, and wait for your iPhone to shut off. It’s normal for the process to take up to 30 seconds. To turn your iPhone back on, press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears on the screen, and then let go.

2. Check For Updates In The App Store

One of the main reasons app developers release updates is to fix software bugs that can cause problems like this one. Instead of combing through the list to find the problem app, I believe your best bet is simply to update all your apps at once.

To update your apps, open the App Store on your iPhone, tap Updates in the bottom right-hand corner, and tap Update All. If you don’t see Update All, your apps are already up-to-date.

3. Delete The App And Reinstall It

The idea that you should delete the app from your iPhone and redownload it from the App Store is the first thing most technicians will instruct you to do. It’s the “unplug it and plug it back in” school of thought, and a lot of the time it works.

I think it’s a good place to start too, but I don’t want to get your hopes up. Ask yourself, “Are all of my apps not opening, or is it a problem with just one app?”

  • If only one of your apps won’t open, there’s a good chance that deleting the app from your iPhone and reinstalling it from the App Store will fix the problem.
  • If many of your apps won’t open, I don’t recommend you delete and reinstall all of them, because it’s probably a waste of time. Instead, we’ll have to address the underlying cause, which is the iPhone’s operating system (iOS).

4. Is The App Ancient? When Was The Last Time It Was Updated?

There are over 1.5 million apps in the App Store, and not all of them are kept up-to-date. The software code that runs iPhone apps changes every time Apple releases a new version of iOS. Usually the changes aren’t too drastic, but if an app hasn’t been updated in years, there’s a good chance it’s incompatible with your version of iOS.

If you recently upgraded to a new version of iOS, especially if it was a major upgrade, like going from iOS 8 to iOS 9 (not 9.2 to 9.2.1, for example), this may explain why your app won’t open.

To find out when an app was last updated, open the App Store on your iPhone, search for the app, tap to open the app, scroll down to the section called Information, and look at the date next to Updated.

Another way to test for this is to ask a friend with the same model iPhone and iOS version to download and open the app. If the app works on their iPhone, we know there’s a software problem with yours. If the app doesn’t open on their iPhone, there’s a problem with the app itself.

Unfortunately, if an app is too old to run on a newer version of iOS, there’s nothing you can do to make it work. Your best bet is to contact the app developer and ask if they’re planning to release an updated version. If I were in their position, I’d be grateful someone let me know about the problem.

5. Reset All Settings

You’ll find Reset All Settings in Settings -> General -> Reset, and it’s not something I recommend doing unless it’s absolutely necessary. Reset All Settings doesn’t erase any of your personal data from your iPhone, but like the name suggests, it does reset all of your settings back to factory defaults. If you’ve taken the time to optimize your settings to get better battery life, for example, you’ll have to do it all over again.

I don’t believe there’s a magic bullet for iPhone problems, but if I had to choose, Reset All Settings is about as close it gets. It’s worth a shot – I’ve seen Reset All Settings fix strange software problems before, and it’s not as time-consuming as the next step in the process, which is to back up and restore your iPhone.

6. Back Up Your iPhone, And Restore

If you’ve tried resetting the settings on your iPhone, uninstalled and reinstalled the app, and you’re convinced the app isn’t too old to run on your version if iOS, it’s time to break out the big guns. We’re going to back up your iPhone to iCloud or iTunes, restore your iPhone using iTunes, and then restore your personal data from your backup.

Before you back up your iPhone, I recommend that you uninstall the problem app from your iPhone, if it’s only one app that won’t open. If it’s more than one app, don’t worry about uninstalling all of them – just back it up and walk through the process. 

The ideal way to do this is to back up your iPhone to iCloud (if you’re out of space, my article about why you should never pay for iCloud storage will help you free some up), DFU restore your iPhone using iTunes, and restore from your iCloud backup.

Use iCloud To Back Up Your iPhone, If You Can

I strongly recommend using iCloud to back up and restore your iPhone when your apps won’t open.

When you back up your iPhone to iTunes, it makes an image of all your apps and data. When you restore from the backup, the whole image gets put back on your iPhone, and there’s a chance the problem will come right back.

iCloud backups only save your personal data “in the cloud”, not the entire app. When you restore from an iCloud backup, your iPhone downloads your personal data from iCloud and your apps fresh from the App Store, so there’s a smaller chance the problem will return.

Apps Are Opening Again: Wrapping It Up

When an iPhone app won’t open, it’s a problem that can take 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or longer to solve. For your sake, I hope the fix was simple. I’d like to hear from you about your experience with apps that won’t open, and about how far you had to go to fix your iPhone.

Thanks for reading, and remember to pay it forward,
David P.

View Comments (126)

  • How stupid can you be? When someone tells you that the apps won't load on your phone and you say that one of the fixes is to go into the App store to update all the apps. The phone won't load apps, including the App store! Great advice.

    • well, it worked what he said to do. but after shut your phone down ,and turn it back on.SO YOUR STUPID

  • I have a iPhone 14. When I’m talking on the phone, it won’t let me go to photos, texts, apps etc.. it just stopped all at once. How can I fix it? Thanks..

  • I have had to dwnld the Australian ETA app to apply for a visa. It's all downlded but when I try to open it the spinning thing just spins endlessly and it won't open. I have deleted it and dwnlded it 3 x's still it won't open. I have turned my iPhone off and back on to no avail. I am out of ideas, have you got any other ideas.

  • Just having a problem with the instagram app. I can still get into it but not via the app which just reverts to my home page so to speak

  • I've a iPhone 6 .Some apps are not working. Tha Apps are- App store, Facebook, Massage, and Bluetooth, wifi , Ringtone sound is not working. How I can fix ti .

  • Hi I’m trying to open WhatsApp I’ve tried all fixes tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app the done option doesn’t work and won’t allow me to progress and verify my number iPhone is up to date all fixes have been attempted please help

  • so im trying to get into the apps and i just cant. i cant even turn off the phone with siri or the turn off botton or the volume botton and i just dont know what to do.

  • A bit off course from all that people are commenting here to fix the issue but I thought I'd share my issue and how I was able to resolve it. I was experiencing for days my iphone 12 Pro lagging while trying to open apps and I reset my phone as per the instructions provided here in this thread. While much of the steps worked, I was still having trouble opening my apps including my App Store. After 3 resets, I was able to finally open the app store application but still couldn't get past anything else. It was when I realized that after my resets, my wifi connection was reconnecting to a different network I use for my smart plugs in my home. After I reconnected it to the correct network, all worked as it should. I'm not sure if this will help anyone else but I thought I'd share what worked for me. Be sure your phone is connecting to your primary network and not any secondary networks. Good luck! Something so complicated could be a simple fix.

  • my iphone 6 app called wealthsimple stopped working yesterday. i have tried to delete it and bring it up again i can see the app to on my phone but it doesn't open. when i ask siri to open it she say i don't have the app on my phone. but i do see it. please help.

  • I have an iphone 13 and my kohls app won't open. I have tried turning phone off and on, also delete app and reinstall, still won't open

  • My iPhone 6 will turn on Battery full sounds during working calls. The incoming ring tone and unlock work, but there are no apps. The screen is blank. The iPhone backup was done and up to date. The phone will lock and unlock the notifications display on the home screen, but it will not open.

  • My iPhone 12 Mini is updated to the latest iOS 15 and I wanted to try your methods but not only do none of my apps respond, but I can't shut it off at all. Siri can't do anything at all but tell me something must be wrong and to try again in a few moments. It's a 4 month old phone, please can someone help me without having to send it in for costly repair?

    • My son's phone is having the same problem. Is there a way to resolve this? He cannot open any of the apps. Not even Settings. He also cannot turn the phone off or make a call. It seems to be completely disabled. Help!

  • I have an iPhone 8. I can turn my phone on with the power button but I cant turn it off with it. When I try to click on apps they wont open. So I can't power my phone off.

  • Hi and thanks. My iPhone 11 suddenly quit opening apps over cellular. I have followed all the steps to correct, including a hard reset. I restored from an iCloud back up. My carrier account is still active and all the right buttons are selected or toggled off. Any further suggestion you can give?

  • I have a 4th generation iPad Air running iPadOS 14.8. There is one app that keeps crashing yet it seems to work fine on my iPhone 7. I have tried all of your suggestions other than the reset but nothing seems to work. Ideas? I’m a little hesitant to try resetting as it sounds rather complicated to try to restore everything.

    • Hi Heidi,

      Since even native apps like the Settings app aren't opening for you, it's most likely that your iPhone is experiencing a software malfunction or a hardware issue. First, I'd recommend restarting your iPhone. If that doesn't work, and you still can't open your Settings app, I'd suggest saving a backup of your iPhone to your computer. Depending on what kind of computer you have, there are a few ways you can do that.

      If you have a Mac running Catalina 10.15 or newer, you can backup your iPhone with Finder. Here's a link to our article about how to do that: https://www.payetteforward.com/how-to-backup-your-iphone-using-finder/

      If you have a Mac running an older MacOS or a Windows computer, you can backup your iPhone to iTunes. Here's a link to our article about backing up your iPhone to iTunes: https://www.payetteforward.com/how-to-backup-your-iphone-to-itunes/

      If you do get the Settings app to open, you can also backup your iPhone directly to iCloud by opening Settings and tapping on your account at the top of the screen. Then tap iCloud -> iCloud Backup -> Back Up Now.

      Once you have a backup saved, you'll want to DFU restore your iPhone. Here's a link to a video we made about how to safely perform a DFU Restore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfas8iSqcaA

      Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps!

  • only one of my apps cannot be opened. last night my phone ran out of storage, i tried to clear my gallery but nothing helps. i pressed delete, the pictures reappeared again for number of times. i left my gallery and decided to uninstall this one app. then my phone went jammed and blacked out. now, that app is still there on my home screen but it is not functioning (kinda half alive), the icon is there but i cannot open it. i tried to open it through app store, but i cant. i ask siri to open, and siri couldn’t do so. i tried uninstalling the app, but when i restarted my iphone, the app is still there. i also have tried to delete the app through settings, but the same things happened like before. haih can you help me ?? oh btw when i look for that app in my settings, it appeared half alive (like that box with grid only as the icon)

    • Hi Dea, that sounds extremely frustrating! Given that you've tried all these troubleshooting fixes already, my guess is that the app itself is experiencing a software malfunction. I would recommend reaching out to the app's developer directly to let them know about the problem. They might be able to repair the bug from their end!

    • Hi Adrian, that sounds like it could be a software bug. Have you updated your iPhone to the most recent version of iOS? This might be an issue that Apple's developers are already aware of, in which case they may have fixed it in a recent software update.

      Open Settings > General > Software Update to check if there's an available update. If you see that there is a new software update available, tap Download and Install to access it!

  • I recently downloaded a few apps and they start up but they crash always and i cant use them.

    • Sometimes, apps designed by smaller developers can crash unexpectedly. First, I'd recommend making sure that the apps you're trying to use are running the latest software update. Open the App Store, tap on your account icon in the top-right corner, then scroll down until you see app you're trying to use. If you see that there's an update available for this app, install it and see if the app starts working from there.

      On a similar note, I'd also recommend making sure your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS. To check if this is the case, open Settings > General > Software Update. If you see that there is a new update available for your device, tap Download and Install and see if that helps!

  • Can't get apps to open , only half words there, I did back up , didn't help, I've turned off phone for hours turned back on , still nothing

  • Thank you for your very helpful "Words" of wisdom. My favorite pastime of Words stopped working. Your advice of deleting the app and reinstalling worked perfectly.

  • Thank you very much. I have worked through your information and my app is now back up and running. Thanks again.

  • Thanks David!. most of my apps would not work, but your suggestion #2 worked (going to app store and hitting update all)
    Your the best

  • Mate you are legend

    Had issues with 2 apps not working and followed your steps and reset settings fixed my I phone

    Thank you for your support

  • I”m having an issue with my sons iPad. We gave him an iPad Air 2 awhile back and apps kept getting stuck loading. We now bought him the new iPad 8th generation and restored it from the Air 2 and this iPad is doing the same thing. I tried resetting all setting and that didn’t work. Not sure if I have to wipe it clean and start fresh and not even restore? I bought this new ipad so I wouldn’t have to keep resetting it every day.

  • I need help!! BAD! my xr crashed pr something. I cant open any apps, so Icant go to settigns, power button wont work so I cant reset, or turn my phone off. HELP I need this thing...its like my everythong lol

  • I don't know what happened but I decided to go on my phone and I noticed that NONE of my apps are letting me go in, like any app, not even settings. And I've tried resetting my phone and it wont work either. PLEASE HELP!

  • my instagram app won't open. ive tried to delete and reinstall so many times and i restart my phone too it still wont open! please help

    • Hii, Literally the same is happening with me, whatsapp, facebook, twitter, whatsapp(sometimes only),
      and more won´t open
      and when i try the reset the settings, i click it but it looks like it just gets frozen there

    • Hii, Literally the same is happening with me, whatsapp, facebook, twitter, whatsapp(sometimes only),
      and more won´t open
      and when i try the reset the settings, i click it but it looks like it just gets frozen there and i need to close the page

  • My apps crashed so I turned off my phone to restart. But screen won’t turn on and had Apple logo on constantly and flashed for 3seconds and logo appear and won’t turn on. After 10 mins tunes finally my phone but I can’t open anything and it seems it deleted all my photos and contacts details basically all,of my things even what’s all. I can’t access my phone. So I turn it off again thought it might restart but nope! Again my phone won’t turn on and screen just stuck with logo on it. What is happening ! I have 11pro max and it’s less than a month old. But I feel like like somebody hacked my phone ! This never happened before ever!!

  • I just had this problem where I could not open any apps and couldn't turn my phone off. I just fixed it by force restarting: click volume up then click volume down then HOLD lock button and the slide power off will appear. These are instructions for the iPhone 8 and up, if you have an older model you can see the instructions here https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201412

  • this is what happened to my apps after deleting it last night. And when I tried to download it again, the app can’t open ☹️

  • Hi. I'm having some major issues. I can't turn off my phone, none of my apps open, i can't open my settings, my phone won't let me "trust" my computer no matter how many times I press the "trust" button it says "denied" so i can't back it up, my apps won't delete to free up storage space, and I can't upgrade my phone to the recent bug fix. My phone freezes up and it won't do a hard reset. It's literally not functional and I don't know what to do about it.

  • Hi, all my apps just crash , even the appstore and the settings .I tried restarting my phone multiple times but it doesn't do anything ,I saved a backup file on I tunes a week ago (Icloud isn't activated on my phone ) but now either Itunes or the pc doesn't detect the phone (iphone 6s),I hope I won't lose my pics ,as I lost my dog yesterday and the only pics of him are on it...

  • I can't open my "watch" on phone. It keeps crashing and crashing. I did all of these but still. I can't connect my apple watch.

  • None of these solutions work because the only thing i can open is the home screen itself. I can't turn off my phone, i can't open setting, and siri can't open apps

    • I have the same problem. One minute my phone is fine and running. The next minute I cant turn off my phone, I can swipe left and right but it does not let me open any of my apps. How did you fix yours?

      • I'm having the same problem. I can't open any of my apps and can't turn off my phone. The only thing I can do is hold my lock button down to use siri to send messages and call. Other than that the phone doesn't allow me to do anything else except LOOK at my apps.

  • Waze and USAA ap do not open. Havent for over a year. Followed all steps above. Issue doesn’t resolve. Husband has same phone, same aps, same versions. His work, mine dont. They open and immediately close. Please help.

  • Several of my apps would not open. I followed the steps outlined here and it worked like a charm. I had to reset my settings and do an iCloud backup, but it worked. Thank you for the detailed instructions.

  • Cant open spotify after update. it worked perfectly this morning after update, and when i started my car and bluetooth to listen to phone music, it wont even open anymore.

  • Yep, I did new update as well. Now, only one of my apps will not open successfully. I wish I would have never did the iOS beta 14 update! That was the most important app I use on my phone!!?

  • My iphone Xr after being updated to ios 14 beta cannot open apps or shut down. I tried using Siri but it didn't work.
     

  • Thanks David,
    My apps on my new iPhone se 2020 would not open, but after following your instructions, it works derfectly.
    Cheers

  • My iphone XR , IOS 13.5.1 .... Contacts APP will not select a person. it will highlight the name but thats all,. Telus DOA the phone and its no change on the new replacement.
     

  • Need help, After resetting all my settings , still having the same problem. I cannot access any apps except from fb even when connected to wifi or mobile data. I`m using iphone 7 plus.

  • Reset all Settings I dreaded because so many personal touches are lost, but app freezes in outlook , settings, inability to install apps, then reading your article prompted me to do the reset. Thank you for providing such a well written expert detailed article. . It worked superbly for me, my Iphone 7 now operates much quicker, has no app problems and feels like new.

    I have to say that IOS is starting to feel a little like Windows, with reboots, resets , uninstalls and re-installs etc being necessary

  • My target app opens but when I try to sign in it doesn’t drop down sign in area with username and password it just keeps feeling me to sign in. It worked for first month had iPhone 7plus then all of a sudden it didn’t work. It works in my daughters iPhone 11 and on my Samsung tablet. I have tried and tried to get target to help me and they don’t seem to be able to. Can you please help me? Thank you so much

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