When your iPhone is frozen or not responding a normal iPhone restart won’t do the trick. If that’s your situation, you may need to force restart your iPhone.
A force restart or hard reset can help fix glitches or unresponsiveness like when your iPhone keeps restarting by refreshing the memory that apps run in. Don’t worry it won’t erase your apps or data.
The process to force restart an iPhone requires pressing a combination of keys and depends on the iPhone model. In this guide, we’ll show you how to force restart an iPhone no matter what model you own.
Force Restart an iPhone with Face ID
To force restart an iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone X, XR, and newer models follow the steps below.
1. Press and quickly release the Volume Up button
2. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button
3. Then press and hold the Side button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.
This should force restart your unresponsive iPhone.
Force Restart iPhone 7 Series
Forcing an iPhone 7 to restart is slightly different than older models that have a home button. That’s because the iPhone 7 doesn’t have a mechanical home button. So the steps have changed.
1. Press and hold both the Volume Down button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time.
2. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.
At this point, the phone should restart completely.
Force Restart iPhone 6s, iPhone SE (1st generation), or Older Models
1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake (it could be on the side or the top depending on your phone model) button and the Home button.
3. Continue to hold both buttons for about 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo appear.
Wait for the phone to restart.
Wrap Up
Force restarting your iPhone should fix most screen freezing issues. If the problem persists, though, you may need to make a Genius Bar reservation.
If you have any feedback or questions, then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.