Cart 0
If you have a frozen iPhone, that’s sure to frustrate you. Maybe you’re using your iPhone, and it stops right when you’re enjoying an app, watching a video, or composing an email. There are various software-related problems that can cause a frozen screen, but doing a forced restart is quite easy.
How to Force Restart an iPhone Model that Can Run iOS Version 16 or Later
First, let’s discuss how you can reboot the operating system if you have an iPhone running iOS version 16 or later. Some earlier versions of the device can’t download iOS version 16, and we’ll talk about what to do if an earlier version of an iPhone freezes a little later.
For your iPhone running iOS version 16 or later, press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Then, press and release the Volume Down button.
Press and hold down your Side button next. Wait until the Apple logo appears. When you see that Apple logo, you no longer have to press and hold the Side button.
Now, let’s talk about how to deal with a frozen iPhone that can’t handle iOS Version 16.
How to Force Restart Older iPhones
If you have an iPhone 7, you can execute a force restart when you press and hold down the Sleep/Wake button along with the Volume Down button. When the Apple logo shows up, quickly release the Volume Down button and the Sleep/Wake button.
How to Force Restart the iPhone 6S and the iPhone SE
If you have an iPhone 6S or an iPhone SE, you can do a forced restart of them when you press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button. When you see the Apple logo, you can let go of them both.
As you can see, when you press and hold certain buttons on your iPhone, regardless of what model you have, you can usually cause the Apple logo to appear, indicating you’ve restarted the device successfully. If you’ve done this, and now you see the device running smoothly, then hopefully, you will have no further issues.
If you’re still dealing with a frozen iPhone, you can also put the device in recovery mode. Let’s talk about that right now.
How to Put a Frozen iPhone in Recovery Mode
Recovery mode is a deeper reset of your device. You should only attempt one if your first force restart attempt has failed to correct the issue of the device crashing.
iPhone 8 or Later
For the iPhone 8 or a more recent model, connect the phone to a computer and open iTunes. You should have the latest version. Press and quickly release the Volume Up button, then do the same with the Volume Down button. Press the Side button till you get the Recovery Mode screen.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
Anyone with the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus can connect to iTunes and then press and hold your Top or Side button. At the same moment, press down the Volume Down button. You should enter Recovery Mode in a few seconds.
The iPhone 6S, the iPhone SE 1st Generation, and Other Earlier Models
For the iPhone models listed above, you will press your Side or Top button down. Press down your Home button simultaneously. You should get the Recovery Mode screen with no issues.
What Should You Do Next?
You can exit recovery mode when you see a home screen that says Update or Restore. You will Update your phone.
This will often fix either hardware or software-related problems, regardless of whether you have a new device or one of the older models. When you restart your iPhone after using Recovery Mode, that should fix most firmware issues. It’s not like doing a factory reset, but it’s still usually quite effective.
After using the recovery option, you may want to wait at least an hour while the phone resets itself. It’s a fairly drastic way to restart your iPhone, but in some instances, that is what’s required.
What if You Have Ongoing Problems?
If these fixes didn’t seem to correct your iPhone problems, you might take it to an Apple Store with a Genius Bar. The employees there can see whether you’re lacking storage space, and whether that’s impacting your iPhone.
They might ask you about any new apps that you downloaded recently. If you just downloaded some new apps for your iPhone from the App Store, maybe one of them is the culprit.
The Apple Store workers might try additional fixes. They may tinker with your iPhone’s power button or ask whether you want to do a factory reset. They will probably ask you to back up your iPhone, so you won’t suffer any data loss.
Ways To Restart Froze iPhone
There is no more common phone problem than a frozen or unresponsive iPhone. It can happen when you download, launch, switch apps, upgrade your system, or simply turn on your iPhone. When people’s iPhones freeze, their first reaction is to choose to restart the phone. Usually, a simple reboot is all that is needed to solve most frozen or stuck iPhone issues. However, there are times when a reboot does not help. So how do you properly restart your iPhone when it freezes or gets stuck? In this article, we’ll suggest 4 possible tutorials on how to restart iPhone when frozen. Let’s get started.
Method 1: Restart iPhone Directly
There is always a simple yet effective method for dealing with a frozen iPhone by restarting it straight away. If your iPhone freezes in a scene but the reboot option still wakes up, you can restart your phone with just a few clicks. Learn how to restart a frozen iPhone below.
For iPhone X or later: Drag the slider and wait 30 seconds for turnning off the iPhone. Then press and hold the Side button untill the Apple logo appears.
For iPhone6 – SE: Press and hold the Side button to wake up the slider bar, drag the slider to turn off your iPhone. Then press and hold the Side button untill the Apple logo appears.
For iPhone 5 or earlier: Press and hold the Top button to wake up the power-off slider. Drag the slider to turn off your iPhone. Then press and hold the Top button untill the Apple logo appears.
Method 2: Force Restart Your iPhone
In case your iPhone is totally frozen and unresponsive no matter how you touch the screen, you should perform a force restart to your iPhone immediately. This way is more effective than the simple restart, which can solve the frozen issue as well as the system failure. Check how to force restart iPhone when screen is frozen in different models.
For iPhone X or later: Press and release the Volume Up button, press and release the Volume Down button, then press and hold the Side button untill you see the Apple logo appears.
For iPhone 7 series: Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button untill the Apple logo appears.
For iPhone 6 or eariler: Press and hold the Home button and the Power button untill the Apple logo appears.
Method 3: Restart Frozen iPhone via Recovery Mode
If your iPhone is still stuck after you perform a forced reboot, turn to iTunes or Finder to recover your iPhone via recovery mode. you should note that recovery mode will delete data and content on your iPhone, so make sure you have a recent backup of your phone to recover all content after the recovery. The steps to perform a restoration of your iPhone using iTunes or Finder are the same, so we will ake iTunes as an example to show you how to restore your iPhone via Recovery Mode to fix a frozen iPhone.
Step 1. Put your iPhone into recovery mode. Then luanch the latest verison of iTunes on your computer, then connect your iPhone to the computer via a lightning/Type-C USB cable.
Step 2. After seconds, the iPhone option will be displayed on iTunes. Tap the iPhone icon and select summary on the sidebar.
Step 3. Next, tap the Restore iPhone option to start restoring your iPhone.
Part 4: Fix iPhone Frozen Caused by System Issue
If all the above methods fail, then there is a serious system problem with your iPhone. In this case, the most critical thing that you should do is to fix the system problem, instead of restarting frozen iPhone.
We’d like to introduce you to a professional iOS system repairing tool, TunesKit iOS System Recovery, which is available on Windows and Mac. With its help, you are able to fix the iPhone frozen caused by a system issue, and troubleshoot other more than 150 iOS problems, such as iPhone frozen after iOS 16 update, iPhone black screen, iPhone stuck on charging, etc. Besides, it features four major sectors, enabling you to repair, reset, upgrade, and downgrade your iOS device, including iPhones, iPad, iPods, Apple TVs, and more.
Why Choose TunesKit iOS System Recovery?
- Fix frozen iPhone caused by iOS issue
- Repair over 150 iOS system issues successfully
- Enable users to repair, reset, upgrade, and downgrade their iOS devices
- Work well on all iOS models and versions
Now please read the guide on how to restart frozen iPhone via TunesKit iOS System Recovery.
Step 1. Launch TunesKit iOS System Recovery on your computer, and get your iPhone connected to it via a lightning USB cable. Afer that, choose iOS System Repair and click on the Start icon.
Step 2. In this section, you are suggested to choose the Standard Repair first, as the Deep Repair will cause data loss of your iPhone. Then follow the prompts to put your iPhone into recovery mode.
Step 3. After checking the device information of your iPhone, start downloading the firmware by clicking on the Download button.
Step 4. Next, click on the Repair button to start fixing your frozen iPhone. When it finishes, you can restart your iPhone to see if the problem still.
How to force-restart a stuck or frozen iPhone
If your iPhone is stuck, frozen or otherwise unresponsive, you can force a restart to revive it.
Taps on the screen go unnoticed. Panicked swipes aren’t registered. Frantic button presses are ignored.
When your iPhone’s screen is black or frozen and not responding, a normal restart might not work for the simple reason that your iPhone has gotten itself in such a state that it fails to recognize you holding down the power and volume buttons — or your silent prayers. If your iPhone is unresponsive and won’t restart the usual way, then a force-restart can bring it back to life. Fear not: a force-restart does not erase anything on your iPhone.
From the iPhone 6s to the iPhone 12 and all models in between, here’s how you can bring back a stuck iPhone with a force-restart.
Force-restart an iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone SE (2nd gen), iPhone X or iPhone 8
Force-restarting an iPhone released in the last four years is a three-button procedure:
- Press and release the volume-up button.
- Press and release the volume-down button.
- Press and hold the side button until the screen turns off and then turns back on. You can release the side button when the Apple logo appears.
Last option: Reinstall iOS
If your iPhone is really messed up and just won’t start, you may need to reinstall its operating system. To do that, connect your iPhone to your computer and start iTunes. Next, perform a force-restart of your iPhone but don’t let go of the button(s) when the Apple logo appears. Instead, keep holding until you see the recovery mode screen — the screen with the iTunes logo and Lightning connector.
When you see this screen on your iPhone, you should then see a window in iTunes on your computer to Restore or Update your iPhone. Click Update and iTunes will reinstall iOS — and will do so without erasing your settings, apps and data.
If Update doesn’t work, then you’ll need to opt for Restore, which will erase all of your data and reinstall iOS and then prompt you to restore a backup in iTunes or iCloud that you hopefully created in the recent past.
