What to Do when iPhone Won't Turn on

Most iPhone users have been caught up in a situation where iPhone won't turn on. Even if you press the power button for many times, the iPhone just displays a black screen. Actually, for most of the times, you do not need to buy a new iPhone. This is usually just a simple problem to resolve.

Why iPhone Won't Turn on

When iPhone won't switch on, there might be various cases:

• iOS has suffered an unusually severe crash and needs the device to be hard rebooted.
• iPhone is just dead and needs the battery to be charged for a while.
• The battery is completely dead and won't take a charge.
• iPhone is broke. For example iPhone has been exposed to severe elements, improperly treated liquid exposure or iPhone is water damaged.

Whatever the situation is, you could try to use the tips below to get your iPhone back to life. The methods are applicable to all models of iPhone including iPhone XS/XS Max/XR/X/8/7/6S/6/5S/5.

Solution 1. Charge the iPhone for a While

If your iPhone is at a very low battery, the iPhone won't turn on. That's because it's using its remaining battery to preserve your data and settings. You could follow the steps below to charge your iPhone:

• 1. Connect your iPhone to the USB charger and connect it to a wall outlet for at least 15 minutes. Or you could connect it through USB to a computer for at least 25 minutes.
• 2. After charging for a while, try turning your iPhone on as usual while the device is still connected to a power source.

Editor's advice: Wall outlets typically output more power than the USB ports on computers, thus it's generally better to connect a device to the wall to charge.

If an iPhone battery is completely drained and very low, then sometimes after 10-15 minutes of charging you will be able to press the power button. And next you'll see a screen with an empty battery and icons showing a cable connected to a power source.

When iPhone displays you the above screen, it means that your iPhone needs to charge longer before it can be used again because the battery is completely dead. It's highly suggested that you leave iPhone charged for 4+ hours.

Solution 2. Restart Your iPhone

Try restarting your iPhone, Just hold down your Power button for a few seconds. If your phone is off, then it should turn on. If it is on, you may see the slider asking you to turn it off.

Solution 3. Force Dead iPhone to Reboot

When iOS has crashed or is frozen, it sometimes manifests as an unresponsive iPhone with a black screen that appears dead because it isn't responsive to anything. And iPhone cannot be turned off or won't restart. If this is the case, you could try to force iPhone to reboot by pressing Power and Home buttons. Below are the detailed steps to get the dead iPhone back to life.

For iPhone 6s or earlier model, then long press the home button and the sleep button till the Apple logo appears and the device restarts.

For iPhone 7/7 Plus, then long press the volume down and side button till the Apple logo appears and the device restarts.

For iPhone XS, XS Max, XR or iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, then press the volume up and down button. Then, long press the side button till the Apple logo appears and the device restarts.

Solution 4. Fix iPhone Won't Turn On with ReiBoot (No Data Loss)

In case the Home or Power button fails to work, there's still another way to fix iPhone won't turn on. The program Tenorshare ReiBoot allows you to reboot iPhone using recovery mode.

Step 1: Just download and launch it on your computer. Connect iPhone to the conputer and click on Repair Operating System in the software.

Step 2: Click on Start Repair and then download the firmware for operating system repair.

Step 3: After downloading the firmware package, click on Repair Now to start repairing your device.

Solution 5. Restore iPhone with iTunes

Another way to fix iPhone won't turn on is retoring with iTunes, the problem of this method is that all data will be erased after restore. So make sure your iPhone is backed up. You can free backup your iPhone beforehand using iCareFone

Step 1: Run iTunes and connect your iPhone with your computer using a USB cable.

Step 2: Tap on your device icon appearing on the upper left corner of the iTunes interface. After that, click 'Summary' from the left corner.

Step 3: Choose the 'Restore [your device]' button and you're good to go.

Solution 6: DFU Mode Restore iPhone

Finally, if all else fails, you could put the iPhone into DFU Mode to try to fix iPhone won't turn on or charge.

Step 1: Put your iPhone into DFU mode and connect your iPhone with your computer

Step 2: Run iTunes and it will automatically detect your iOS device and prompt you to restore your iPhone. Simply, click on 'OK' followed by 'Restore' from the pop up.

Solution 7. Check for Physical or Liquid Damage

Sometimes you iPhone won't turn on due to hardware isues. Possibly you are facing one of the problems below:

• 1. The battery is completely dead and won't take a charge.
• 2. The USB charger is not functioning well or is defective and not adequately charging the iPhone. This is especially common if you're using cheap third party cables.
• 3. iPhone is broken. For example iPhone has been exposed to severe elements, improperly treated liquid exposure or iPhone is water damaged.
• 4. The iPhone is defective. This rarely happens, but it does happen, and Apple will typically swap such iPhones out for free.

Solution 8. Contact Apple for Help

If you've tried both the solutions above, but iPhone still won't turn on. If iPhone is under the warranty service period, contact Apple for help. If not, you will have to pay for money for the fix. When such tragedy happens, you not only lose money, but also lose important data on iPhone probably. Thus you'd better back up iPhone data to computer for safety concern.

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