Navigate
X

Wireless Charging Not Working On iPhone? Here’s The Fix.

    David Lynch
  • 4 years ago
    • Categories: Power

Your iPhone is not charging wirelessly and you don’t know why. You placed your iPhone on your charging pad, but nothing happened! In this article, I’ll show you how to fix the problem when your iPhone won’t wirelessly charge and recommend a few of the best Qi-enabled wireless chargers.

Does My iPhone Have Wireless Charging?

The following iPhones support wireless charging:

  • iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
  • iPhone X, XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, and 14 Plus
  • iPhone 11 Pro, 12 Pro, 13 Pro, and 14 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max, 12 Pro Max, 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 Mini and 13 Mini
  • iPhone SE 2 & 3

Each of these iPhone will charge when placed on a Qi-enabled wireless charging pad. The iPhone 7 and earlier models do not have wireless charging capabilities.

What To Do When Your iPhone Won’t Charge Wirelessly

  1. Restart Your iPhone

    The first thing to do when wireless charging is not working is to restart your iPhone. Restarting your iPhone can sometimes fix minor software issues and glitches which could be preventing it from charging wirelessly.

    First, turn off your iPhone by pressing and holding the power button until you see slide to power off appear on the display. Then, swipe the red power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone. If you have an iPhone without Face ID, the process is similar, except you’ll hold down the side button and either volume button simultaneously until slide to power off appears on the screen.

    Wait a few seconds, then press and hold the power button (side button on iPhones without Face ID) once again to turn your iPhone back on. Let go of the button when you see the Apple logo appear in the center of your iPhone’s display.

  2. Hard Reset Your iPhone

    If your iPhone is completely unresponsive when you place it on the wireless charging pad, you may need to perform a hard reset. A hard reset will force your iPhone to quickly turn off and back on, which can temporarily fix the problem if your iPhone is not charging wirelessly.

    To hard reset your iPhone, quickly press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button. Keep holding the side button on the Apple logo appears on your iPhone’s display.

    Don’t be surprised if you have to hold down the side button for 15–30 seconds!

  3. Take Off Your iPhone Case

    Some cases are too thick to keep on your iPhone while you charge it wirelessly. If wireless charging is not working on your iPhone, try taking of its case before placing it on the charging pad.

    If you want to buy a great case that you can keep on your iPhone while you charge it wirelessly, check out our selection in the Payette Forward Storefront on Amazon!

  4. Place Your iPhone In The Center Of The Charging Pad

    In order to charge your iPhone wirelessly, make sure you’ve placed it directly in the center of your wireless charging pad. Sometimes your iPhone won’t charge wirelessly if it’s not on the center of the charging pad.

  5. Make Sure Your Wireless Charger Is Plugged In

    An unplugged wireless charging pad could very well be the reason why your iPhone is not charging wirelessly. Quickly make sure your charging pad is plugged!

  6. Make Sure Your Wireless Charger Is Qi-Enabled

    It’s important to keep in mind that the iPhones that can be wirelessly charged will only be able to with Qi-enabled charging pads. Your iPhone probably won’t charge wirelessly on a low-quality or knock-off brand charging pad. In step 9 of this article, we’ll recommend a high-quality, Qi-enabled iPhone wireless charging pad compatible with every iPhone.

  7. Update Your iPhone

    iPhone wireless charging was originally implemented by a iOS software update. If wireless charging is not working on your iPhone, you may just have to update your iPhone to enable its wireless charging functionality.

    To check for a software update, open Settings and tap General -> Software Update. If an iOS update is available, tap Download and Install. If no update is available, you’ll see the software version number and the phrase “Your iPhone is up to date.”

  8. DFU Restore Your iPhone

    There’s still a chance that a software issue is the reason why your iPhone won’t wirelessly charge. Our last-ditch effort to fix a potential software problem is the DFU restore, the deepest type of restore that can be done on an iPhone. Check out our article to learn how to put an iPhone in DFU mode and perform a DFU restore.

  9. Get Your Charging Pad Repaired Or Buy A New One

    If you worked through our guide, but your iPhone still won’t wirelessly charge, you may need to replace or repair your charging pad. iPhones can only charge wirelessly on a Qi-enabled charging pad, so make sure your charger is compatible.

    If you’re looking for a great and affordable Qi-enabled charging pad, we recommend the one made by Anker. It’s a high-quality charger and costs less than $10 on Amazon.

  10. Visit The Apple Store

    If your iPhone still won’t charge wirelessly, it may be experiencing a hardware issue. A drop on a hard surface of exposure to water could have damaged some of your iPhone’s internal components, preventing it from being able to wirelessly charge. Take your iPhone into the Apple Store and see what they can do for you. It wouldn’t hurt to bring your wireless charging pad too! We recommend scheduling an appointment before you go in, just to make sure someone is available to help you as soon as you arrive.

No Wires, No Problem!

Your iPhone is charging wirelessly once again! Now that you know what to do when iPhone wireless charging is not working, we hope you’ll share this article on social media with your friends and family too. If you have any other questions, or if you want to share your thoughts about wireless charing with us, leave a comment down below!

View Comments (92)

  • I have done all these but my xs max doesn’t get recognised by my wireless chaeger.
    everybody eleventh iPhone works but not mine.
    why?

  • Thank you for the article, It was very informative. my iPhone 11 will charge but extremely slow. I
    am using a RavPower charger. Any thoughts?

  • This was really helpful. Switching the iPhone power off and back on fixed the problem for me.

  • Turning my phone off and then on again, and changing outlets, fixed the charging pad problem. Thanks for the tip!

  • My son has an iPhone SE (2nd gen) and I just bought him a Belkin duo charger. It fully charged his AirPods but the phone is charging to 87(ish) then it stops and won’t charge beyond that? The battery optimization setting is turned off. We have tried to restart the phone. Any suggestions?

  • Please help me. I am a disabled senior and can’t understand a lot of this tech stuff. I found a Googled article that said my model phone could charge on any Qi cordless charger. I can’t see which one to get, and do I have to do anything to my phone in Settings to enable cordless charging? I saw questions in some articles that sounded like that and I am confused because some articles say I just have to get a Qi charger and put my phone on it.

  • Another thing to look at: my protector case on my 6S plugs into the Lightning port, and the plug had a bit of gunk on it. I pulled out the plug, cleaned it, and now it's charging again with the case on.

    And make sure to use MFi certified cables and pads! Or buy the MFi certified Lightning-to-micro USB adapters.

  • The new iPhone SE doesn’t have wireless charging. They advertise that it does but I was told that is a mistake in the specifications. It’s one of the main reasons I purchased this phone because of the constant lightning port issues on my iPhones. The SE had about a 6=month lifespan according to most reports so I guess I’ll have to try to get the lightning port to last that long. Maybe it will.

  • I just got an iPhone 12 mini and it charges for maybe one second and then stops every single time I put it on there. And I’ve got it in the middle of the charger also

    • Hi Terri, is your charger Qi-enabled? Only Qi chargers will work to wirelessly charge your iPhone.

      • how do i know if it is Qi-enabled. Should the salesperson sold it to me if it isn't?

        • Hi Elisabeth, do you still have the box your charger came in? If it's Qi-enabled it should say so somewhere on the packaging.

  • I will say if you have a magnet on your phone or case it won’t wireless charge. I had a magnet attachment to hook my phone onto my dash. But when I tried to wireless charge it and it wouldn’t. I took the magnet off case and bam, I’m able to wireless charge. Now I just need a new way to connect my phone to my dash.

  • Try unplugging the wireless charger and letting it reset itself. After a power failure that was the answer.

    • Brandon that's exactly how I felt Friday rule of any electronic ...... power off ?

  • I purchased a MagSafe charger for my iPhone X. the wireless charger will initially start to charge my phone but after a few seconds will stop charging. Why?

    • Same problem here... it wants to start charging my 12 max pro, but instantly stops - then won't try again unless/until reset. What a PITA!

  • Resetting did not help. I have an iPhone 12pro and my husbands is a iPhone X and his is not charging also I have an casemate power pad 3-in-1 device.

  • iOS 14.4.1 here and same issue! Bought brand new on Wednesday. Wireless charging works fine on the first two days. Stopped charging on Friday on all my wireless chargers (different brands). My wife Xs still works properly! Very frustrating.
    Restarting the phone works for 1 day. Then back to not working!!!

  • Little embarrassed but tried a bunch of your fixes then realized my charger pad was upside down lol. Quick flip over and it's all good. There's another tip to add to your list :)

    Thanks for the great resource.
    Mark

  • My iPhone 12 shows that it’s charging on a wireless charger (I’ve tried several including a MagSafe) but doesn’t actually charge. Re-booting used to work for a day or two, but not any more. Tried hard reset and complete factory reset, but no joy.
    IOS 14.4 was supposed to fix this issue, but hasn’t at all.
    Not willing or able to visit an Apple store during lockdown.
    There’s obviously a big problem with IPhones and wireless charging so why are Apple seemingly doing nothing about it?

  • Restarting the phone every day a few times is really not an answer. I have DFU reset it too. This happens on all wireless chargers I have tried.

  • I have a xr and it will not work I tried everything and I also put another Xr on it and it worked but mine will not. What do I do?

    • Try and restart the device. You may want to do a hard reset as well if that doesn't work. If you still aren't having any luck, consider trying a DFU restore to eliminate any software problems that might be occurring with your device. If that doesn't work, there may be something wrong with the coils inside your device that allow wireless charging to work properly.

  • Rebooted, did hard reset, unplugged and plugged charger back in. The charger light is flashing, but the phone is still not charging.

    • There may be something deeper at fault at the system level. You may want to consider attempting a DFU restore. If that doesn't work, there may be something wrong with your hardware and you'll need to get your phone repaired or replaced.

  • Thanks for the article!
    My Baseus wireless charger didn't work, but apparently it was the iPhone 12's fault. After a reset it was charging fine again.

  • I have the new iphone mini. Also bought the duo charger which is great. However the Bellin charger would not stay charging. After trial and error I discovered that turning the phone sideways and moving it to abut the camera opening it charged. Moving it a quarter inch to the left it stopped again. Apparently the magnet won’t align unless it’s close to the lens area. You might try this if you have multiple chargers that aren’t responding. It worked on two of mine.

    • I noticed that placement was an issue too. However, when I move my phone around on the charger.... the light will begin flashing on the charger as if it is working, but the phone itself never begins to charge. Thoughts?

  • Thanks for the post. I’ll try the reboot option. BTW, there is a typo your editor missed: Place Your Charger In The Center Of The Charging Pad

1 2
Leave a Comment
David Lynch: David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.