It’s natural to feel frustrated when your iPhone touch screen is not working. You use your iPhone for everything, from making calls to scrolling through pictures — but don’t let your “touch screen troubles” get you down. In this article, I’ll explains why the touch screen on your iPhone is not working, how to fix the problems that can be fixed at home, and recommend some great repair options, if it comes to that.
There are a lot of reasons why your iPhone touch screen might stop working. Thankfully, there are also a lot of ways to fix those problems.
Why Is My iPhone Touch Screen Not Responding?
The first thing we need to do is figure out why your iPhone touch screen is not responding to touch. Usually, the problem is caused when the physical part of your iPhone’s display that processes touch (called the digitizer) stops working correctly or when your iPhone’s software stops “talking” to the hardware the way it should. In other words, it could be a hardware or a software problem, and I’ll help you with both in this article.
Troubleshooting iPhone software problems typically doesn’t cost anything. It’s also easier than prying off your screen with suction cups (please don’t do this). For this reason, we’ll start with the software fixes and move on to fixing the physical problems if you have to.
A note about drops and spills: If you’ve recently dropped your iPhone, odds are a hardware problem is to blame for your touch screen trouble — but not always. Slow apps and problems that come and go are usually caused by software problems.
One last thing to keep in mind is that a screen protector can cause touch screen issue with your iPhone. Try removing your iPhone’s screen protector if you’re having problems with the touch screen.
If your touch screen works sometimes, keep reading. If it doesn’t work at all, skip to the section below called When Your iPhone Doesn’t Respond To Touch At All.
A Quick Word On iPhone Touch Disease
iPhone touch disease refers to a series of problems that primarily affect the iPhone 6 Plus. These problems include a gray, flickering bar at the top of the display and issues with iPhone gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom and Reachability.
There’s some debate over what causes iPhone touch disease. Apple claims it’s a result of “being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device.” They’re aware of the problem and have a specific repair program if you’re experiencing this issue with your iPhone. iFixIt opened up the iPhone 6 Plus and discovered what they call a “design defect.”
Regardless of what’s really causing the problem, you can take your iPhone into Apple and get it fixed for a $149 service fee.
Software Problems and Your iPhone Touch Screen
A problem with the software that tells your iPhone how to act can cause your touch screen to stop working. It may help to reset troublesome software if your iPhone touch screen is not working.
Does The Touch Screen Stop Working When You Use A Specific App?
If your iPhone touch screen stops working when you use a specific app, there may be a problem with that app, not your iPhone. First, check to see if an update is available for the app.
Open App Store and tap on your account icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Scroll down to see a list of available app updates. If there’s an update for the app causing the problem, tap Update to its right.
If updating the app doesn’t fix the problem, try deleting and reinstalling it. The app will get a completely fresh start once it has been reinstalled.
Press and hold on the app’s icon until the menu opens. Tap Remove App -> Delete App -> Delete to uninstall the app on your iPhone.
To reinstall the app, open App Store and tap on the Search tab in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Type in the name of the app, then tap the Install button to its right. Since it’s an app you’ve previously downloaded, the button will look like a cloud with an arrow pointing down.
If your iPhone touch screen is not working after you’ve reinstalled the app, send a message to the app developer. They may have a fix for the problem or be working on a solution already.
How Do I Send a Message to the App Developer?
- Open App Store.
- Tap Search at the bottom of the screen and search for the app.
- Tap the app icon to open details about the app.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Developer Website. The developer’s website will load.
- Look for a contact form or email address on the developer’s website. It shouldn’t be hard to find it the developer is worth their salt. Remember that good developers appreciate it when you let them know about problems with their apps!
Update Your iPhone
It’s rare, but occasionally iPhone software updates can cause touch screen issues. The most recent documented case of this happening was Apple’s iOS 11.3 update. The problem was quickly fixed by a subsequent Apple update.
Open Settings and tap General -> Software Update. Tap Download and Install if an iOS update is available on your iPhone.
When Your iPhone Doesn’t Respond To Touch At All
Touch screen problems that happen in multiple applications or when you don’t have an app open may be caused by problems with the iPhone’s software. A good first troubleshooting step is to power your iPhone off and back on again, but it’s hard to do that when your touch screen doesn’t work! Instead, we’ll need to do a hard reset. Here’s how:
If your iPhone won’t turn off in the normal way — or if turning your iPhone off and back on again doesn’t solve the problem — try a hard reset. A hard reset abruptly restarts your iPhone, stopping all of its background processes.
To hard reset an iPhone 6s or older, hold the power and Home button simultaneously. Keep holding both buttons until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears.
On an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, press and hold the power button and volume down button together for several seconds until the you see the Apple logo appear on the display.
To hard reset an iPhone 8 or newer model, press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears on the center of the display.
My iPhone Touch Screen Still Isn’t Working!
Is your iPhone touch screen still giving you problems? It might be time to try restoring your iPhone to its original settings. Before you do this, be sure to back up your iPhone. You can do this by plugging your iPhone into a computer and running iTunes (PCs and Macs running macOS Mojave 10.14 or older) or Finder (Macs running macOS Catalina 10.15 or newer). You also have the option to back up your iPhone to iCloud.
I recommend performing a DFU (device firmware update) restore. This type of restore is a bit more thorough than a traditional iPhone restore. To do this, you’ll need your iPhone, a cable to plug it into the computer, and the most recent version of iTunes or Finder.
Putting your iPhone into DFU mode can be a little tricky. For a simple step-by-step walkthrough, check out our article that explains exactly how to put your iPhone into DFU mode. When you’re done, come back here.
When Your Touch Screen Hardware Is To Blame
If you’ve dropped your iPhone recently, you may have damaged the screen. A cracked display is one of the most obvious signs of a damaged screen and can cause all sorts of issues with the touch screen.
A drop can also loosen or damage the delicate under-layers of your iPhone touch screen. What you see and put your hands on is just one part of the touch screen. Underneath, there’s an LCD screen that creates the images you see.
The LCD screen and digitizer both connect to your iPhone’s logic board — that’s the computer that makes your iPhone work. Dropping your iPhone can loosen the cords that connect the LCD screen and digitizer to the logic board. That loose connection can make your iPhone touch screen stop working.
The MacGyver Solution
When iPhones get dropped, the tiny cables that connect to your iPhone’s logic board can become dislodged just enough for the touch screen to stop working, even if there’s no physical damage. It’s a longshot, but you may be able to fix your iPhone’s touch screen by pressing down on the part of the display where the cables connect to the logic board. 
Warning: Be careful! If you press down too hard, you could crack the display — but this may be one of those “nothing left to lose” situations, and it has worked for me before.
Options for Fixing a Broken iPhone Touch Screen
If your iPhone touch screen is not working because it’s completely broken, you could order a kit and try to swap out the parts yourself, but I wouldn’t recommend it. If something goes wrong and you’ve replaced any part of your iPhone with a non-Apple part, the Genius Bar won’t even look at your iPhone, and you’ll be on the hook for a brand new iPhone at full retail price.
The Genius Bar does a great job with broken displays, but they charge a premium for their service. Make sure to schedule an appointment first if you decide to visit the Apple Store.
Once the damaged pieces are replaced, your iPhone touch screen should work like new. If it doesn’t, the software is probably to blame.
Purchasing a new iPhone is another good option. Screen repairs on their own typically aren’t too expensive. However, if multiple components broke when you dropped your iPhone, they’ll all have to be replaced. Your simple screen repair could turn into something much more expensive.
Investing that money in a new smartphone might be the more cost-effective solution. Check out the UpPhone cell phone comparison tool to find a great deal on a brand new phone.
Back In Touch With Your iPhone
Your iPhone touch screen is a complex and fascinating piece of technology. I hope this article has helped you if you iPhone touch screen is not working, and I’d love to know which solution worked for you in the comments section below.
The pressing made my screen worse. It has lines going down it and now the screen completley dosen’t work.
My IPhone Screen is not displaying totally black., I cannot function out going call but I can received incoming call by headphone. Please solve my problem as soon as possible.
Please solve this problem
Dude my hard reset doesnt work
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dropped my phone (the right hand side of my screen stopped working and I can’t even log into my phone because some of the numbers are on the right hand side of my phone), I tried pressing down on that little area, it still won’t work. What do I do now??????????? I’ve onlt had this thing for a bit more than a year. NEED. IMMEDIATE. RESPONSE!!!
only the bottom part of my phone will detect my finger. My phone was already cracked brefore i dropped it again. Tried everything in the article, don’t know what else to do
the “pressing down on the screen” worked for me…and also alternatively, pressing down on the back works too and even better (at least it seems to)…and easier to do if the screen freezes mid-tweet or so…not any real big pressure/effort required
hi, i cant do a hard reset on an X as the screen doesn’t work so i can’t “slide to power off” Any suggestions for an X?
Maybe you can take iMyFone Fixpp. It can fix all iPhone problems, like iPhone bricked, iPhone in black screen, iPhone frozen, ect.
Thank you so much, completed hard reset, lost nothing and phone works perfectly. You saved me cash at Christmas.
My Iphone5 can’t even be restored because my fingerprint passcode bugged out, I can’t use the number pad either becasue of the touch screen being unresponsive despite the phone starting up and operating noramlly. All this because a game app froze, from which I double tapped the home button, which ended up revealing that the screen did not work since the phone runs fine but the touch screen does not work. Its as if something seemed to be blocking the touch screen.
i dropped mine on the back on a rug and it wont let me touch screen . i have reset it over again let it sit nothing is working
OMG THANK YOU!!!!
I’ve tried your MacGyver tip and it worked!!!
Thanks again!! xxx
MY IPHONE ACCIDENTLY DROPPED IN WATER FOR 1MIN.. theni didnt turn off the phone as it didnt show any weird sign and i continue using it for about 3 days later. the screen dont sense any touch but is still light up and ask for passcode. the problem is it didnt type any output as i try to tye the psscde. sent to phone repair and they dismantle my phone and yes there a lot of water inside.. after drying it and cleaning then my phone back to live just as normal.. next week it occur again even it never… Read more »
I just recently updated into ios 12 (i have an iphone 7) and my iphone works fine until you erase all the contents & settings… When its done erasing , the screen wont respond anymore. But when you restore it again using the itunes on the laptop , it starts to work again. I dont know what seems to be the problem.
Thank you for the tips of how to fix the touch screen problem.Its given me headache for quite sometime and I almost wanted to throw it if I cannot reply to a msg.I have been deleted many apps to think that their the cause of it,been thinking to restore it to its original setting but lucky I tried first to press down on the part of the display where the cables connect to the logic board and its work.. thanks so much! 🙂
THANK YOU!!!
My dad will be mad if he finds out
Many thanks! Did a hard reset and the touch screen is working again! I appreciate the tips – super organized and easy to follow. I am assuming it was a software problem, as I haven’t dropped or spilled anything on the phone that would have damaged the hardware. Thanks again!
OMG THANK YOU!! I pressed down where the logic board is and after three good pinches, the right side of my phone is working again! I can use words with the letter “o” in it again! THANK YOU! 100x THANK YOU!
hold the Power and Home Buttons down at the same time. This worked when my touch screen was not working..thank you
Thank you so much! My phone did this repeatedly, but a hard reset did the trick, thanks for sharing the information!!
Dude, the tip about pressing down on the logic board connections is genuis. That’s the only thing that worked! Thank you!
thanks for this, did a hard reset and its fine. Phew! Thanks for the clear instructions and explanation
Phone screen will NOT respond even when I try to turn it on! Tried turning it off and on but all I see is a faint light turning on inside the phone. Can you help me?
Even I cant use my watsapp because back button is not responding Nd only one person page is open what should I do
My back button is not responding
About a week ago, I bought a used IPhone 6 Plus from a non authorized apple dealer on EBay. The phone worked fine, until today when the screen stopped working at some moments. It would happen almost every minute. So every time it froze I would hold down the home button and power button until I saw the apple logo, but it still didn’t help. I did toss my phone onto the ground where I was sitting, but it wasn’t too far down it was probably like a drop from where my elbow to my finger tips. The phone was… Read more »
Hard reset didnt help, darn it.
I just can say: THANK YOU VERY MUCH! you saved me hundreds of dollars, effort and time!
Thank you, Thank you! After installing the latest update, my beloved iPhone 6s Plus would not respond to my touch or to a stylus. Two hard resets later and I’m back in business. Thanks
my iphoneX is half working and half like literally nothing , if I open messages then that conversation column wont go back , sometimes my phone starts shaking on its own
i did restart it using the assitive touch button cause it wont switch off the normal way (because the touch aint working it wont slide off)
what do i do now
Thank you. The hard reset completely fixed my issue.
Part of my screen isnt working, cant even input my passcode, i already have done the restart.
Valerie, thanks so much for taking the time to post this! The hard reset for iPhone 7 (until reading this, didnt realize that was the down volume key and the power button) got my screen working again immediately.
is there a way to hook a touch pad up to an iphone if my iphone display is broken?
The MacGyver Solution is worked for me……. thanks very much
OK so my iPad was working perfectly fine and then all of the sudden it just went to safari when I didn’t even press it and every time I touch the screen it doesn’t move…then when I power it off my fingerprint works and all the buttons work but the screen doesn’t….. When I do a hard reset the screen let’s me put in my password but as soon as I click on an app or try to it goes on the app for 2 seconds and then safari opens…I’m getting messages and can’t answer them and when I told… Read more »
Didn’t work I have iPhone 10. No home button
My iPhone 6 plus screen was cracked and worked fine for about two weeks. Yesterday it basically stopped working. If I touched an app it would not open or instead another app would open. I tried to reboot and then was unable to sign back in. In my frustration I dropped the phone and it started working again temporarily which enabled me to back it up on my computer. Then someone called me and I was unable to answer it. I then went on google and found your page. Thank you so much for your assistance. After a hard boot… Read more »
MacGyver method worked for me! Thanks
Hard reset worked once I reread the article and realized you had to use the bottom (down) volume button. Thanks!
my iphone 5s had a touch screen problem not sensed…..exactly warrenty period completed and more heat generated during charging and using…any suggestion?
hey guess what! maygver solution worked for me…my iphone 6 display stopped working from the morning, realized that it got pressed under by body during sleep may be..no physical damage..this solution worked and hope it stays that way.. Thanks a ton.
THANK YOU!
thanks it worked ,my phone stopped responding and did a hard reset and all working well now.
dropped the phone, changed the screen and still working when he wants 🙂 not all the time..
what should i do ?
My phone screen hasn’t been working, even before I cracked it! But there are no apps that make it like this. Before, when I lightly hit my phone’s side, it would work. But nowadays it just stays the same. I can get calls and texts but I can never pick up or text back. This has been going on for a while and I don’t know what to do! I thought maybe my phone got humid or something and I put it in rice for a couple of days but it still doesn’t work! Does anyone know how to fix… Read more »
My iPhone wont do anything its like islets frozen
My phone wont listen to me, if try to open one app it opens other app, sometimes it operates by its own, it will call to somebody on my contacts without my knowledge. Do u have any idea whats wrong with my phone.