Frozen iPhone screen? Try the right restart before erasing anything

By Device Basics

If your iPhone screen is frozen and you cannot use the power-off slider, try a force restart using the buttons for your model. This restarts the phone; it is not a factory reset. If it does not help, the next step depends on whether the phone stays black, starts but ignores touch, or gets stuck during startup.

Exception: If you see an Apple logo and progress bar while restoring or migrating an iPhone, do not assume it is frozen. Apple says to wait until the bar has not moved for at least one hour before taking recovery steps. See Apple’s guidance for a stalled progress bar.

1. Force-restart your iPhone

You do not need the touchscreen for these steps. Use the sequence for your model—not just whether it has a Home button.

iPhone 8 or later, including iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation)

1. Press and quickly release Volume Up.
2. Press and quickly release Volume Down.
3. Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears, then release it.

Press the volume buttons one after the other, not together. The side-button hold can take longer than 10 seconds. Apple documents this sequence in its restart instructions for iPhone 8 and later and force-restart guidance.

iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus

Hold the side button and Volume Down together until the Apple logo appears, then release them. This can take longer than 10 seconds. Apple’s iPhone 7 instructions use Volume Down, not the Home button.

iPhone 6s or earlier, including iPhone SE (1st generation)

Hold the Home button and the side or top button together until the Apple logo appears, then release them. Apple describes this as taking around 10 seconds. See its older-iPhone restart steps and first-generation SE button guidance.

2. Choose the next step by what happens

The phone works again

Make a backup while you can use it. If the problem returns only in one app, try closing and reopening that app, then check for app and iOS updates. Apple’s app troubleshooting guidance also warns that deleting an app can lose data stored in it, so do not make deletion your first follow-up step.

The screen stays black or the phone will not turn on

Charge it for one hour, then try the correct force restart again. If it still will not turn on, seek service rather than moving straight to an erase. These are Apple’s recommended next steps.

The phone starts, but touch still does not work reliably

Try these non-erasing checks:

• Make sure the screen is clean and free of debris or water.
• Disconnect Lightning or USB-C accessories.
• Remove the case and screen protector.

If disconnecting an accessory fixes touch, try a different outlet, cable or charger. If touch still fails, the phone may need service; a successful restart does not establish what caused the problem. See Apple’s touchscreen troubleshooting guidance.

3. If startup is stuck, try a computer update before Restore

Recovery mode is a different step from a force restart. Apple lists an Apple logo for several minutes with no progress bar and a “Connect to computer” screen among the situations where recovery mode may be needed. Do not use this branch simply because touch remains unreliable after the phone starts. See Apple’s recovery-mode guidance.

To try recovery mode:

1. Update your Mac, or install the latest Apple Devices app on a Windows PC. Connect the iPhone with a USB cable.
2. Open Finder on a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, or Apple Devices on Windows. Macs running macOS Mojave or earlier use iTunes.
3. If the “Connect to computer” screen is not already showing, use your model’s button sequence above, but keep holding the final button or buttons past the Apple logo until that screen appears.
4. Select the iPhone on the computer. When offered Update or Restore, choose Update first.

Apple says Update reinstalls iOS while keeping personal data. Leave the iPhone connected until it finishes. The recovery instructions say that if a software download takes more than 15 minutes and the phone leaves the recovery screen, let the download finish, then repeat the recovery-mode button sequence.

Stop before choosing Restore: Restore reinstalls iOS and erases the phone’s data. If Update fails and you have not confirmed a usable backup, seek support before accepting that loss. Use our before-factory-reset access-and-backup checklist before any erase—not as a substitute for the recovery steps above.

If a required button is broken or stuck, or recovery-mode updating does not get the phone working, Apple advises that service may be needed. Tell support which screen you see and which steps you have already tried.