How to power restart iphone?

It might sound like a joke, but it's true: You can fix most tech problems by turning your device off and back on again.

If you run into a weird glitch on your iPhone — maybe the sound won't work, or apps keep crashing, or you can't make calls — your first step should be to perform a quick restart. This will refresh the software on your iPhone and likely fix whatever's gone wrong.

And if your iPhone is so bugged that you can't even restart it, a force restart works just as well. This method "forces" your iPhone to turn off, even if it's frozen.

Here's how to restart or force restart any iPhone — and what to do if restarting doesn't fix the issue.

The exact steps to restart your iPhone will depend on what model you have. If you're not sure which iPhone model you own, check out our article on how to identify your iPhone.

1. Press and hold both the Power button and either of the Volume buttons.

2. When a slider labeled slide to power off appears at the top of the screen, drag it to the right.

3. Wait a few moments for the iPhone to completely turn off and for the screen to go black.

4. Press and hold the Power button until the Apple logo appears.

1. Press and hold the Power button.

2. When the slide to power off appears at the top of the screen, drag it to the right.

3. Wait for your iPhone to fully turn off and for the screen to go black.

4. Press the Power button until the Apple logo appears.

When your iPhone freezes, it might not even be able to show you the power slider. In this case, you'll need to "force" your iPhone to restart.

Don't worry — this won't harm your iPhone at all. Just beware that if you were working on a project, this will likely erase any unsaved data.

Again, the steps will change depending on which iPhone you own.

1. Press and release the Volume Up button, then press and release the Volume Down button.

2. Press and hold the Power button.

3. Keep holding the Power button until the Apple logo appears.

1. Press and hold the Power button and Volume Down button.

2. Keep holding the buttons until the Apple logo appears.

1. Press and hold the Power button and Home button.

2. Keep holding both buttons until the Apple logo appears.

• Press and hold either volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears.
• Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off.
• To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button (on the right side of your iPhone) until you see the Apple logo.

If you upgraded from an older iPhone model to one of the latest models, such as the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, but have never needed to reset it, you may be at a loss as to how to begin the process.

We explain how to reset your iPhone, when you should restart it, and how to force a restart when your phone is not responding. We also lay out the differences between a restart, a soft reset, and a factory reset.

Restarting your iPhone using the software option — a soft reset — will not result in the loss of any data. The same is true of a force restart, which allows you to use the hardware keys to restart your iPhone when the touchscreen isn’t responsive or your apps start acting weird. A factory reset is a completely different beast. It reverts your iPhone to its original state when it first came out of the box: It wipes all content, settings, and personal information from the device.

We recommend factory resetting your iPhone only as a last resort if you’re having issues that you can’t solve, but it should also be used when you’re selling or trading in your iPhone, giving it to a friend, or if the phone has been lost or stolen. It’s not necessarily permanent, since you can use a backup to restore all your phone's data and settings. If you need to perform a factory reset, read our guide on how to factory reset an iPhone, which also includes a breakdown of the reset options found in Settings > General > Reset.

The easiest way to soft reset your iPhone is by turning it off. This method is often called a “soft reset” because, unlike a factory reset, you will not lose any data, and it will not delete anything from your phone. Consider a soft reset when your phone is running slowly, if an app won't launch or work properly, or if you are experiencing a minor problem but your iPhone is still responsive. Apple changed how to perform a soft reset on the X, 11, 12,13, and 14 series iPhones, where a soft reset requires you to hold down two buttons. All you’re doing here is turning your phone off.

Step 1: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button and the Lower volume button. On the iPhone X and later models, you’ll find the sleep/wake button on the right side of the phone.

Step 2: Rest your finger on the Slide to power off slider that appears, then swipe to the right.

Step 3: Once there is nothing on the screen and it goes black, press and hold the Sleep/wake button again until the Apple logo appears to turn it back on.

If you’re using an iPhone SE or an iPhone 8 or earlier, you can shut down your iPhone simply by holding down the Sleep/wake button until the slider appears.

Alternatively, provided you have iOS 11 or later installed, you can go to Settings > General and scroll to the bottom, where you’ll find the Shut down button. When you tap Shut down, you will see the Slide to power off slider. You can then proceed to step 2 above.

Another way to reset your iPhone is to do what Apple officially calls a “force restart.” Once again, no important data will be lost. A force restart is recommended when your iPhone is completely unresponsive. For example, your iPhone screen turns black (despite it being powered on), the screen freezes, or your iPhone encounters an issue during startup. The exact way to perform a force restart depends on which iPhone model you own.

The following steps will work for the iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 series.

Step 1: Press and quickly release the Volume up button.

Step 2: Press and quickly release the Volume down button.

Step 3: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button until you see the Apple logo.

Press and hold the Sleep/wake and Volume down buttons until the Apple logo appears

Press and hold the Sleep/wake and Home buttons together until the Apple logo appears.

If your phone is unresponsive or failing, you can try entering recovery mode, which should let you update or restore your phone. However, if you can’t get past the Apple logo or if your phone just won’t respond, there is another option.

While this may be your only option to save your phone, this procedure will delete everything you previously had on your phone. Hopefully, you followed our guide on how to back up your iPhone so you can recover your data after you erase your iPhone. Here’s how to enter recovery mode.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

Step 2: Press and quickly release the Volume up button.

Step 3: Press and quickly release the Volume down button.

Step 4: Press and hold the Sleep/wake button until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

Step 5: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to update or restore your device to begin resetting your iPhone.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

Step 2: Press and hold down the Sleep/wake button and the Volume down button at the same time until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

Step 3: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to Update or Restore your device to begin resetting your iPhone.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. If you’re on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open a Finder window.

Step 2: Press the Sleep/wake button + Home button simultaneously until you see the recovery mode screen appear.

Step 3: In iTunes or Finder on your computer, choose to Update or Restore your device to begin resetting your iPhone.

As you can see, there are different ways to go about rebooting your iPhone if you're having issues or just want to give it a restart every now and then. While the process has changed depending on the model of iPhone that you have, it's all still relatively simple. We've laid out the different methods for you here, but always try a soft reset or a forced restart first — the update/restore method is basically when all else fails.

Editors' Note: Article was checked on March 2, 2023, and confirmed that the steps and information included are still accurate.