My iPhone Won’t Turn On : A Comprehensive Guide

People love their iPhones and Apple iPhones are obviously more popular than most of the other devices because of the premium experience it offers. When your precious product fails to boot or switch on, don’t try to buy a new one immediately without trying to troubleshoot the device.

This guide has been created to help people who like to know how to fix an iPhone that won’t turn on. The solutions offered range from very simple ideas to more complex ones. Make sure to try every one of them without fail because your iPhone might work again when you least expect one method to work.

See more- How To Fix iPhone/iPad Won’t Download Or Update Apps 

Basic Troubleshooting Strategies

Try charging your phone

While it might sound not the best way to start off, this is the first thing you should do. Your iPhone’s battery could have drained completely which is why it never switched on. Even though you might have charged it a day before or just a few hours ago, sometimes malfunctioning cable or charger could cause the issue. This is a very common mistake that lots of people do.

Follow these steps:

  1. Consider charging your phone using a different charger to make sure the fault lies with your device and not the charger
  2. Plug in your phone to charge for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes, it could even be a battery issue
  3. The charging cable, charger and battery are all at work here. This is the basic step to find out what is wrong

iphone charging

Restart the iPhone and check if it fixes the issue

While this might all sound very basic and simply absurd to try, just make sure you don’t miss out on the basics because purchasing a new iPhone or changing a component is more expensive than few minutes of your time.

See also-What to Do if Your iPhone has No Sound 

Here are the steps to follow:

  1. After charging it for a considerable period of time and the phone wouldn’t turn on, the next step is to try restarting it
  2. You will find the on/off button on the right-hand side of your iPhone
  3. Hold it for a few seconds and wait for the phone to respond
  4. If it is switched off, it will probably turn on if everything is fine
  5. In case it if it ON, a slider will show up allowing you to choose to switch it off and on. This should give you an idea about the current status of your iPhone

Read More- iPhone Vibration Problem

Intermediate Troubleshooting Strategies

Consider a Hard Reset of your iPhone

All electronic gadgets come with a hard reset button. You might have done it decades ago on your devices by pressing a pin into a small hole and triggering the action. For the iPhone, this is how you should do it.

  1. For iPhone users who are using newer models like the iPhone 8 or those released after that, this is how to do it
  2. Click on the volume up button once
  3. Click on the volume down button once and release it quickly
  4. Then, click on the side button and wait for the hard reset
  5. Users still using iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, hold volume down and side button for 10 seconds
  6. Even older models like iPhone 6 require you to hold the Home button and the side or top buttons for 10-20 seconds to see if the Apple logo would appear
  7. Once the logo appears, let go of the buttons and see if your iPhone would switch on

iphone restart

Resetting the iPhone to Factory Settings

Most users may think twice about restoring their iPhone to factory settings because it will erase all the data and reset it back to how it was when you originally purchased it. Even if you haven’t backed up recently, this is something you should try in order to make sure your device is working or not.

  1. Check if your iPhone is detected by your Mac or Computer by connecting it using a lightning cable
  2. If the icon doesn’t appear in iTunes, it is important to switch on Recovery Mode on your device

How to Switch on Recovery Mode on Your iPhone?

  • Newer iPhone model owners including iPhone 8, iPhone X and later can do it by pressing the Volume Up button once, Volume Down button once and by holding the Side button until it turns on in recovery mode
  • iPhone 7, 7 Plus users should hold the Side and Volume down buttons together until it enters recovery mode
  • For iPhone users who still have a Home button on their phone, press the Home button along with top or side buttons together

Factory Reset iphone

Continue Your Factory Resetting on iTunes

  1. Find the iPhone button/icon in your iTunes software
  2. Click it and find the option that reads ‘Restore iPhone’
  3. The option requesting whether you want to backup will appear and you can use it
  4. In case it doesn’t work, continue to clean your iPhone and restore it to factory settings
  5. Let the process complete and check if your iPhone would turn on now in case it was blocked by some software issue or even hardware issues sometimes
  6. Once it switches on, it is easier to detect if there is a problem with a hardware component by running a diagnosis

Expert Troubleshooting Strategies

Booting your iPhone in DFU Mode

Despite all the warnings, sometimes users install a new iOS update when the battery life is too low and get stuck in the middle of an OS installation. Some users also find themselves in a situation where they try to jailbreak the iPhone and it wouldn’t turn back on. For such a scenario, the iPhone, when booted in DFU mode, will help.

  1. Keep the iPhone connected to iTunes and make sure your device is turned off when you are attempting it
  2. Press and hold the power button for 3 seconds
  3. Let it go and hold the volume down button
  4. While still holding it, hold down the power button as well, for 10 seconds
  5. The same process should be done with the Home and Power button for iPhone 6 or older devices
  6. Release the Power button but keep holding down the Volume Down/Home button for 5 more seconds to activate DFU mode

Once this process is successfully completed, the screen will remain black but you will receive instructions on your iTunes that you should follow to recover your iPhone. Some users may expect their iPhone to turn on when it is in DFU mode but it doesn’t work like that. So, focus on your iTunes and follow instructions to reset it.

iPhone DFU Mode

Fixing a Malfunctioning Proximity Sensor

The advantage of having the proximity sensor is that it automatically detects when you keep your iPhone close to your ears to make a call. If there is an issue with the sensor, it might keep the display switched on permanently and you wouldn’t know where the problem is.

  1. In order to successfully troubleshoot it, you need to Hard Reset your iPhone
  2. The instructions on how to do it for various iPhone models had been provided in this article which you can follow and get it done
  3. When your iPhone restarts, it should work and switch on again
  4. If it works, open Settings on your phone and tap on General
  5. Click on Reset and then proceed to Reset All Settings which will delete all your preferences
  6. In case there are issues with regards to screen brightness or auto turn off setup, it will erase them all and solve any existing issues

Common Things to Check When your iPhone Won’t Turn On

  1. Always start by checking if there is any physical or water damage on your iPhone
  2. The modern-day phones are more durable but still, a drop might affect the internal components
  3. Check for any damage near the charging port, on your cable and check for any water residue
  4. In case you are going to claim warranty, know that AppleCare+ is the only way to get replacements for water damage but it will still cost additional charges

iPhone Wifi Issues – Read More

Such an issue for the iPhone is quite common and if you are under warranty, you have nothing to worry about. The Apple service center will take care of it if there is no physical or water damage to the device. If a hardware component has to be replaced, it could be quite expensive and may not be the best alternative especially if your iPhone is an older model.

Knowing how to fix an iPhone that won’t turn on is not as complicated as it might sound because there are only a bunch of proper solutions that you should try on. Once the basics are all done and the device still wouldn’t work, it is time to visit the service center for a complete teardown and find out whether it can be fixed by paying a nominal cost or not. At the end of the day, it’s all about finding what works best for you and going with the right option.

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