How to restart iphone if screen is frozen

Frozen iPhone

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There's nothing worse than being in the middle of sending a text, or opening an app, and having your iPhone freeze up on you. If this happens, you'll often find that the screen has become unresponsive and nothing you do seems to make it work again. Luckily, there are ways to fix the issue, and you can force restart your frozen iPhone to get things working again.

Normally, you'd just restart your phone by holding down a combination of the power button, the volume button, or the home button (depending on your iPhone model). If your iPhone is frozen, though, you'll need to take some different steps to restart it. Much like powering your phone off and on, the way you force restart your iPhone can vary depending on the specific model of iPhone that you have. Of course, if you continue to have freezing problems after a force restart, you may want to contact Apple support.

How to force restart frozen iPhone 8 or later

Four iPhones

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As Apple releases new models of the iPhone, it constantly changes how you access certain features on the device. The force restart method is no exception to the rule, and you'll find that the way you restart your phone when the screen is frozen will all depend on which iPhone you're running, per Apple.

If you're rocking an iPhone 8 or later (including the new iPhone 13), then you're going to use the volume buttons and the power button to force a restart on your device. To restart these devices, tap the volume up button and then quickly press the volume down button. Next, press and hold the power button and wait for the Apple logo to appear on your screen.

At this point, the phone should completely restart and resolve any freezing issues you might have been experiencing. Apple recommends charging your phone for up to an hour if it doesn't immediately turn back on, as the battery may have been low.

How to force restart iPhone 7 and earlier

iPhone 7 Social media folder

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If you have an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, then you can force a restart by pressing a separate combination of buttons. Instead of the combination listed above, you're going to need to press and hold the volume down button and the power button at the same time. Be sure to hold them down until the Apple logo appears on your phone screen. At this point, the phone should restart completely.

Users with an iPhone 6S or older — including the first generation iPhone SE — will need to restart their phones a different way. To force restart these older devices, press and hold the home button and the power button (it could be on the side or the top depending on your phone model) at the same time. Now, wait for the Apple logo to appear and the phone should force restart. 

Force restarting your iPhone should resolve most screen freezing issues. If the issue persists, though, you may want to reach out to Apple Support.

Here's what you can do to restart your phone now, plus tips to prevent another crash in the future.  

Many iPhone users have been here before. You’re scrolling through social media, watching a video, or even texting, when suddenly your iPhone freezes. It’s undoubtedly frustrating, and all you want to do is get it working again. Luckily, learning how to restart an iPhone can help get it back to normal in no time.

You don’t need to know any hidden iPhone hacks and tricks to restart an iPhone—it’s pretty simple to learn. Read on to learn how to restart a frozen iPhone, and why it froze in the first place. Then, read up on what to do if your iPhone is disabled, how to factory reset and save battery life on iPhone as well as unlock your iPhone when you forget your password—you never know when the information will come in handy.

How to force restart your iPhone

“If your iPhone is completely unresponsive (frozen) and you cannot power it off normally, try forcing it to restart,” Joshua Sutton, uBreakiFix Training and Development Manager, tells Reader’s Digest. “This process varies depending on the model of iPhone you are attempting a forced restart [on].” Sutton recommends the below steps for the specific iPhone models:

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For iPhone with Face ID (X and up), iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus, Sutton recommends:

  1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.
  2. Press and quickly release the volume down button.
  3. Press and hold the side button.
  4. Release the button when the Apple logo appears.

For iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, Sutton recommends:

  1. Press and hold both the volume down button and the Sleep/Wake button.
  2. Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears.

For iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), or older models, Sutton recommends:

  1. Press and hold both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button.
  2. Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears.

What causes your iPhone to freeze?

There isn’t always an obvious reason as to why an iPhone freezes. “There are many possible reasons why an iPhone may freeze or become unresponsive, and they are generally the same as what causes a computer to freeze,” Sutton says. “After all, these are at their core, scaled-down mobile computers.” Similar to computers, did you know that some iPhones can get viruses, too?

Sutton says that iPhones freeze due to four main reasons:

  • Low available storage space
  • Infrequent iPhone reboots
  • Uninstalled updates
  • Problematic or “buggy” apps

If you only have 10 percent to 15 percent of storage space available, Sutton recommends storing some photos on the Cloud and deleting apps you no longer use. Here are more hacks to free up storage space on your iPhone.

If you always leave your iPhone on, it may be time to (safely) turn it off. In fact, this is how often you should restart your iPhone. Sutton also recommends checking iOS updates regularly and as well as always making sure an app is legitimate and operating properly before downloading it onto your iPhone. If you’re looking for a more clutter-free home screen, here’s how to hide apps on an iPhone.

What happens if the iPhone doesn’t restart?

If restarting your iPhone doesn’t fix the problem, or if the phone doesn’t restart at all, don’t panic. “If a forced restart does not resolve the issue and the device freezes again upon booting, then you may need to completely restore iOS,” Sutton says. He recommends going to your local repair technician. “If a complete iOS restore does not resolve the issue, or an iPhone iOS restore continuously fails, then you may be experiencing an issue that requires hardware repair.” Here are some warning signs it’s time for a new cell phone.

What iPhone users should know about a frozen iPhone

It’s important for iPhone users to know that a freezing iPhone could result in data loss. “Make sure you always have an iCloud backup enabled and check regularly to make sure that backups are occurring,” says Sutton. “While a freezing iPhone is often an easily addressed issue, there are some situations where you cannot retrieve data through conventional means (iCloud backups, iPhone data recovery software, etc). Data recovery in these situations, while not impossible in most cases, can be a costly ordeal.” Next, here are the things you’re doing to your iPhone that Apple experts would never do.

Source:

  • Joshua Sutton, uBreakiFix Training and Development Manager