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
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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!
Thank you! I did the hard reset and my iPhone is wireless charging again!
I tried the hard reset and turning it off and on and it still didn’t work.
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.
Thanks, resetting worked.
Reset worked
Thanks
Thanks it worked did the rest …
B
phoenix
05/15/21
Hard reset did the job. Thanks
Try unplugging the wireless charger and letting it reset itself. After a power failure that was the answer.
Restarting did the Trick ! Thanks !!!
Thank you for your help! Restarting solved the problem… DUH ?
Brandon that’s exactly how I felt Friday rule of any electronic …… power off ?
Thanks for your help. Turning it off and back on did the trick IN Louisiana
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.
Thank you! I reset my phone, as you suggested, and it’s all goooood. Thank you!
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
Glad we could help! ?
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?
Hi, John. I’m sorry about your trouble, you certainly aren’t the only one. You should check out our article about what to do when your iPhone 12 won’t charge. I hope this helps! ?
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.
reset is only a temporary fix. lasts a few days than needs another reset
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.
It worked! Thanks for the easy fix (hard reset)!
No problem! Glad we were able to help you out! ?
Awesome restarting fixed it
Thank You, I got mine to charge again by simply restarting.
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?
Why my new iPhone 12 Pro Max has problem not charging on Wireless charger, anyone out there can help?
Have you read the article?
This totally fixed my brand new iPhone 12 Pro Max charging issue! Thanks!
Reset phone now charger works Thanks
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
Whoops! I went ahead and fixed that. Thanks for the heads up! ?
Thanks! Re-setting my iphone did the trick! Saved me a trip to the store to complain my new charger wasn’t working:)
It’s the charger stand not the phone. The stand’s red light blinks, I have 2 of these and this one doesn’t work. Made by ravpower
I thought my wireless charger stand wasn’t working anymore. I’ve ordered a new one, it didn’t work either; so I did a Google search, found out your post, and have tried to reboot my iPhone …. it worked!
Crazy that Apple still hasn’t fixed this. Someone mentions this too, and it was like 2 years ago; I’m writing this on Nov. 2020!
Anyway, thanks a lot for the tip!
(Now… returning the new charger…)
Thanks for the help. The restart worked!
I tried all the suggested steps including DFU reset. However nothing has worked so far and my iPhone XS is not charging wirelessly. Could it be hardware related issue?
my phone went ea cause I thought the wirelesscharging overnight, now i have no iea if its charging? it is curently blinking a soft red color
It’s possible your phone doesn’t support wireless charging or maybe it was nudged while it was on the charging pad. If it’s not aligned right, charging might stop. I actually wound up deciding to not wireless charge my phone at night anymore because I found that it would get nudged off the pad on my nightstand and the battery would die in the middle of the night. You might find wireless charging works better at your desk instead since you’ll be less likely to bump it in the middle of the night.
The restart on the iPhone fixed the wireless charging problem… thank you!!!!
Glad we could help you out!
Ditto. Same thing my iPhone 8 Plus. I have multiple Qi chargers (they are SO handy!). NONE of them recharged. Found your restart cure – now it works! Thanks.
Hard reset worked for me! Thanks!
You safe my live…thank you
This is a bug from Apple. It happens to me every 2-5 days with any of 3 different chargers. Only fix, Reboot. Too bad Apple hasn’t fixed this in a year
I appreciate so much your hint of resetting the iphone to fix the wireless charging failure. I followed your instruction and it works now.
Again thank you very much
Great tips. It works now!
Shutdown and restart iPhone X. Worked
Thank w! Rebooting my phone did he trick!
Thanks so much! I couldnt figure out why my phone just refused to charge wirelessly anymore, turns out I just had to update it!
I literally just bought this charger from att with my brand new iPhone*. It charges for a few seconds then won’t! What the heck is the problem??
Shutdown and restart iPhone X. Yay! Fixed. 🙂
Worked the first day, then nothing. Fantasy Wireless charger.
[…] followed the steps above, but your wireless charging isn’t working, check out our article on what to do when your iPhone is not charging wirelessly. A lot of the time, a bulky case or not placing your iPhone directly in the center of your charging […]