5 solutions to your problem

You press the home or power button, but nothing happens. The screen remains black. In other words, your iPhone will no longer turn on. iPhoned gives five tips to get your device up and running again.

Your iPhone no longer turns on: what now?

It can happen that your iPhone no longer gives a home from one moment to the next. Fortunately, that does not necessarily mean that your iPhone is broken. In this tip, we give you five suggestions to restart an iPhone that no longer turns on. We recommend going through them in this order to make sure you’ve covered all possible causes.

1. Charging your iPhone

Try charging your iPhone first: maybe the battery is just empty. If a red battery icon appears on the screen, you have to wait a while. The iPhone needs a minimum charge in the battery before you can turn on the device.

If you don’t see an icon right away, be patient for a few more minutes. If the battery is really completely empty, it can take a while. If the battery icon flashes three times, your iPhone recognizes that it is connected, but the iPhone is not supplied with power. Apple itself advises to charge an empty iPhone for at least one hour.

Is your iPhone not charging? Check out our 5 tips if your iPhone no longer charges. If the device is slow or if other problems occur, you can consider resetting your iPhone. You will then not lose any data.

2. Restart iPhone

If your iPhone is completely frozen and charging doesn’t work either, try to force restart. It differs per iPhone model how you do this. For newer iPhones without a home button (iPhone X and newer), it works like this:

1. Press the volume up button;
2. Press the volume down button;
3. Press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears.

For older iPhones with a home button, force a restart by pressing the power and home buttons simultaneously for at least ten seconds. Do this until the Apple logo appears; your iPhone will then reboot.

3. Restore iPhone

Have you tried the tips above, but your iPhone still won’t boot? Then consider restoring iPhone. To get your iPhone into recovery mode, the first thing you need to do is connect it to your laptop with a Lightning cable. If it is the first time you connect it, you will first have to confirm on your iPhone that you trust this computer. First, tap Trust on your iPhone, then enter your passcode. Then follow the steps below:

1. Press the volume up button;
2. Press the volume down button;
3. Press and hold the power button until you see a notification on your computer that the iPhone is paired.

For older iPhones, recovery mode works a little differently:

1. iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPod touch (7th generation): Press and hold the side button and volume down button at the same time until you see the recovery mode screen;
2. iPhone 6S and older: You’ll see the recovery mode screen if you press and hold the Home and Side buttons at the same time and wait a few moments.

If you have a MacBook that runs on macOS Catalina, you will automatically receive a notification via Finder. From here you can restore your iPhone. To exit recovery mode, long press the power button again until the pairing screen disappears. Your iPhone will then reboot as normal.

Restore via iTunes

If you have a MacBook running an older macOS version, or a Windows laptop, you can enable recovery mode via iTunes. Connect your iPhone to a PC or Mac and click on your device in iTunes. Sync your iPhone so that your data and contacts are not lost.

At the top of the overview in iTunes, you will see a button with ‘Restore iPhone’ under the iOS version your device is running on. If you don’t already have a backup, the software prompts you to create one. Then you can proceed with restoring your iPhone.

If you get the option in iTunes to restore or update the iPhone, choose the latter option. iTunes will now attempt to reinstall iOS without losing your data.

4. Factory Reset iPhone

As an absolute emergency measure, a so-called ‘hard reset’ can offer a solution. Only do this if you have a recent backup on iCloud or your computer, otherwise everything will be erased. No idea how to do that? Then check our tip for making an iPhone backup.

This reset will bring your iPhone back to factory settings. There are two ways to do that. The first is the easiest and you can do it via the Settings app. That is how it works:

1. Make sure your Apple device is sufficiently charged (at least 50 percent);
2. Go to ‘Settings > General’;
3. Scroll to ‘Reset’ and tap ‘Erase all content and settings’;
4. Confirm your choice and wait for the factory settings to be restored.

It is also possible to reset your iPhone via your laptop. If your Mac(Book) is running on macOS Catalina, use Finder for this. Do you have an older Mac running macOS Mojave or a Windows laptop? Then you need iTunes.

1. Connect your Apple device to your PC or Mac and open Finder (or iTunes);
2. Click on the relevant device and then go to the ‘General’ tab;
3. From here you can create or restore a backup, but also choose the option ‘Restore iPhone…’;
4. The latter option ensures that your device is completely erased.

If the above tips don’t solve your problem and your iPhone screen remains black, it’s a good idea to contact Apple Support. You can do this through the Apple Support app. Via a chat you will be in contact with an Apple employee, who will then discuss the possible solutions with you.

If you prefer to explain your problem over the phone, you can also call Apple’s Support department. This can be reached in the Netherlands on 0800-0201581. For Belgium you can call 0800-80404 (French) or 0800-80407 (Flemish). If you live in Luxembourg, please contact (352) 800 24550. You can also start a chat via the Apple Support online department to explain your problem digitally.