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What to Do When the iPhone Won’t Turn On

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You’ve just pulled the iPhone out of your pocket and it won’t turn on.

A dead iPhone is a scary thought, but don’t freak out yet.

If the iPhone won’t turn on or respond, it might not be broken.

Here’s what to do if your iPhone doesn’t turn on.

What to do if your iPhone won't turn on.

If the iPhone won’t turn on, here are some steps to try and fix it.

Take a Closer Look

First give the iPhone a physical examination. Look it over and see if there is any physical damage that has been done to the device. After looking it over determine whether or not you have caused the malfunction. If there is no physical damage done to the device here are a few steps to try and resolve the issue.

Check the Temperature

Feel the device and determine whether the device is unusually warm or cold. If the device feels hot on the back where the battery is located or colder than usual let the temperature return to normal. There is usually a message that will appear if the iPhone is too hot to turn on but not if it is too cold.

This is a common cause of iPhones that won’t turn on after the owner has been outside in extreme weather or if the phone was left in the car in the heat or cold.

Charge the iPhone 

Once the phone has returned to normal temperature try booting it up. If the phone still does not turn on plug it into the wall charger with the official Apple charger and cable for 45 minutes to one hour.

This will give the battery a chance to get a charge if it was overheated or if it had been exhausted.

Go to Apple for Help

If all else fails take the phone back to Apple. If there is no physical damage you can sometimes get a replacement for $150. If you have a warranty through Square Trade, Apple Care+ or with your wireless carrier, start there.

34 Comments

34 Comments

  1. Nate

    07/21/2012 at 9:33 am

    More often than not, an iPhone that will not turn on is stuck in standby mode.

    Hold down the power and home buttons until you see the Apple logo. Chances are, you’ll be good to go.

    • Stephanie Graham

      08/04/2012 at 12:09 pm

      Nate-
      This is the trick that totally saved me!!! Thank you so much! Damn iPhone giving me a fright! Thanks for adding this comment :)

    • Debi

      08/19/2012 at 7:39 pm

      Thanks so much! Took ur advice and corrected the problem.

    • philyyyy

      04/18/2013 at 12:40 pm

      legend

    • noinee

      05/04/2013 at 10:23 am

      Hi, I encountered this problem and solved it by your comment, but do you know why this happened?
      I mean, why does this happen to the phone?

    • Espen

      04/18/2014 at 6:53 am

      Thanks Nate, legendary advice

    • P Eayre

      05/07/2014 at 7:56 pm

      Thank you! I thought it was dead. Got hot–left in gym bag in car all day, and would not respond. This fixed it, Thanks again!

    • sarah

      05/25/2014 at 5:55 am

      Thank u you just saved me too!!!!

    • Kyle Schwendenman

      02/02/2016 at 7:44 am

      Thanks so much man. You saved me.

  2. JM_66

    07/23/2012 at 6:21 am

    Or just go get a different phone.

  3. PJ

    10/26/2012 at 6:13 pm

    Nate- thanks for that tip- that worked for me! Saved me a trip and $150 for a phone that is still working!

  4. Jade Alex

    11/16/2012 at 8:46 am

    Thanks sooooooooooooooooo much i got nightmare too of my iPhone being stuck

  5. Kelly Edward

    11/16/2012 at 8:51 am

    I love my iPhone thankyou

  6. Tracey

    11/27/2012 at 9:52 am

    Thank u soooooi very much. Your a life saver :-)))))

  7. Shealyn Benton

    01/29/2013 at 1:41 pm

    that did not work for me. my iphone will just freaze with the logo sign on it or the whole screen will turn to green or blue!!!!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!

  8. Weberman

    01/29/2013 at 5:11 pm

    Worked perfectly! My iPhone just died and woudl not charge. I applied the tip above and it “turned on” in about 12 seconds. Thanks.

  9. Gee Gee

    02/03/2013 at 1:57 pm

    thank u .. I was going crazy because I couldn’t get my alarm to cut off. I spent the whole day turning it off every 1- minutes. I feel like a bone head for no checking on line b4.

    thanks again

  10. Scherpy

    02/21/2013 at 11:57 pm

    What if I suspect it won’t turn on because of contact with water? Should I send for repair?

  11. Serena

    03/02/2013 at 11:52 am

    This happened to mine. I unscrewed the battery port and unhooked it. Then put it back in. And whala it turned on.

  12. Gemma sellick

    03/05/2013 at 1:29 pm

    I used this same method and my iPhone did restart but for all of 10 mins and went of again I have not been able to get it to work since I’m not fussed about the phone it’s all my pics…. Any more advice would be greatly appreciated

  13. cat parrella

    03/31/2013 at 3:27 pm

    my phone doesnt slide across to open and some buttons to put in password dont work

  14. jillian

    04/17/2013 at 5:29 pm

    i just got a new i phone, a brand new one.. and it wont let me turn the wifi on and it only works with a wall charger. i unplugged the wall charger and i put it back in and it wont turn on! i have used several chargers i got this phone 2 days ago PLEASE HELP im praying

    • That guy who know how to fix iPhones

      08/21/2013 at 5:40 am

      Plug it in to I tunes and restore it please tell me you thought of that

  15. Marphew

    08/21/2013 at 5:38 am

    You are all idiots firstly if your phone won’t turn on an obviously your would try soft restore for those people who are dumb and do not know why it is you hold down the home and lock button for 30sec to 1min and still doesn’t work what no retard ever thought of plugging it into tunes ever think of that dumb ass

    • superddub

      12/06/2013 at 4:01 pm

      @marPhew. you need your mouth washed out with soap and while your at it , someone needs to teach you some manners. that type of language un-called for. If you cannot be nice with your derisory comments, then don’t comment at all.

  16. Jujube

    08/05/2014 at 2:53 pm

    @marPhew, you should not be calling anyone dumb. You’re whole reply is full of misused words and no punctuations. Learn how too write properly

  17. Doreen

    06/16/2015 at 5:17 pm

    THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH NATE!!!!! I accidently left my phone in the car on my seat, in direct sunlight, for 2 hours in the nasty AZ 110 degrees(OUTSIDE, but it is like a oven inside the car!)temps. I was FREAKING out, because I have not been vigilent about backing up. But I tried your trick Nate, and it WORKED!!!!!! From a non-tech person, thank you for teaching me something I did not know….you are a life saver!!! :)

  18. cocoa

    06/22/2015 at 8:01 am

    worked for me too!!!!
    thanks alot!!!

  19. Darlene

    08/24/2015 at 3:51 pm

    worked for me!!!! yeyyy thank you so much!!!!

  20. Shanna

    09/26/2015 at 8:16 pm

    Nope didn’t work, The battery got SO hot it bubbled the charger cable. I then went to restore it on iTunes and I get Error 11 . Now this didn’t happen until the ios 9 update THEN while im on 1% left it showed ios 9.1 update and I hear from Apple workers its fried MANY iphones! None of that is working for me and I can’t restore it now. it cant even find the phone now while plugged into the computer! sometimes it cuts off now and it might cut on a second. So will replacing the battery make it find it now or is it just fried now!?!

  21. Kristi Pettit

    08/25/2016 at 12:04 am

    Ok, I’m done panicking!! Thank you soooo much for that. as soon as I saw the apple, I was re leaved!!

  22. Rachel Woodard

    01/11/2017 at 7:02 pm

    I lost my phone before I went to work come to find out i dropped it outside and someone returned it I got it hours later and now it wont turn on. I tried holding the power button and home button for 20-30 seconds. I took the SD card out and put it back in. The apple logo is not coming on the screen and there is no damage to the phone no cracks or scrapes or anything. I dont know what to do

  23. Cheyenne

    05/08/2017 at 2:59 pm

    What else can I do if none of those work because I really need my phone at all times. This is the first time this has happened and I am freaking out. Please HELP ME!

    -Thank You

  24. Cheyenne

    05/08/2017 at 3:04 pm

    Thank you sooooo much… It worked.

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