How to fix when your iPhone won’t charge or turn on?

Why is my iPhone not turning on? – The causes and how to fix them.

Why is my iPhone not turning on or charging is not an uncommon issue often reported by Apple device users. When you see your iPhone not turning on, your device might have a frozen screen/black screen that doesn’t respond when you touch it or press the buttons.

You need not worry much if you see your iPhone not turning on or charging because if there is some system glitch or corrupted firmware your iPhone won’t charge or turn on. In this article, I am going to explain the possible causes of the issue and show how to fix them when your iPhone not charging or turning on.

Before I go into the possible solutions to the problem let’s first look into the probable causes when iPhone users make the query – why my iPhone won’t turn on or charge?  

Why is my iPhone not turning on – here are the possible causes

Why is my iPhone not turning on is a query you may sometimes hear from iPhone users. Recently I met one iPhone 6 user asking the question- why my iPhone won’t turn on or charge? To answer this question, I have given below some of the possible reasons why sometimes you may find your iPhone won’t turn on:

• Software crash;
• The battery drained out completely;
• Corrupted firmware;
• Water damage;
• Hardware problem;

What to do when my iPhone not turning on or charging?

If my iPhone doesn’t turn on or respond when I touch it or if it is stuck on the Apple logo when turned on, what should I do? Now that you know the causes of your query- why is my iPhone not turning on, you may try the following fixes which will make your iPhone boot again and work as it should unless your device has a hardware problem. All these fixes are found to be effective for all versions of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

1. Restart your iPhone  

When you see your iPhone won’t charge or turn on for any reason first, try to restart the phone. To do this,

Press and keep holding down the Sleep/Wake button (Power button) at the top right corner or the right edge of your phone until the red slider appears on the screen. Slide it across to turn your iPhone off. Then restart your phone again by holding down the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds.

2. Force restart your iPhone

If your iPhone doesn’t turn on even after trying the above standard restart process try to force the device to restart. Forcing your device to restart won’t erase the content currently on it. Here is what you need to do to force restart your iPhone:

• For iPhone 8 or later: Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button. Release the button when you see the Apple logo;
• For iPhone 7 or 7 plus: Press and hold the Top (or side) button and the Volume Down button until you see the Apple logo;
• For iPhone 6s or earlier: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time until you see the Apple logo;

3. Check the USB cable and power adapter

If ‘force restart’ doesn’t work and if you see your iPhone doesn’t turn on even after this, the next thing you should do is, check the power adapter and the USB cable. An iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch may fail to turn on if the device’s battery is not charged enough to run it.

Generally, if there is not enough battery power iPhone displays the low-battery image and it becomes unresponsive when you try to turn the device on. But, when the battery is completely dead, it won’t respond and you’ll just see a black screen. In such a situation, your iPhone won’t turn on until you let it charge for a while. Therefore, plug in your device and let it charge for up to one hour. A few minutes after you plug in the phone, you should see the charging screen.

If you don’t see the charging screen within an hour, or you see the ‘connect to power’ screen, your power adapter or cable may be faulty. Check the USB cable, jack, and power adapter, and make sure that everything is plugged in firmly. If your iPhone won’t charge even after this, there are a couple of things you may try:

• Try another USB cable;
• Try another power adapter;
• Try another wall outlet;
• Connect your device to your computer instead of using a wall charger;
• Clean the charging port to remove dirt, debris, or dust;

4. Put the iPhone into DFU mode

A DFU restore stands the best chance of fixing a problem with your iPhone when a reset or standard Recovery mode fails to solve it. DFU mode can be used to fix several problems with your iPhone including the ‘iPhone not turning on’ issue. Particularly in situations when you suspect that firmware updates or faulty jail-breaking of the device may be the cause of the problem, you may choose to put your iPhone into DFU mode.

To put your iPhone into DFU mode (for iPhone 8 or later models) follow these steps:

1. Press and release quickly the volume up button;

2. Press and release quickly the volume down button;

3. Press and hold the side button until the screen goes black;

4. Once the screen turns black while continuing to hold the Side button press and hold the volume down button;

5. Next release the Side button after 5 seconds while continuing to hold the volume down button until your iPhone shows up in iTunes;

6. As soon as your iPhone appears in iTunes, release the volume button;

7. Your iPhone is now in DFU mode;

8. Now restore your iPhone using iTunes;

To Exit DFU Mode hold the Home and Side button (power button) until the Apple Logo appears. Press the Side button to reboot the device. After the device reboots, your phone should be back to its normal functions;

5. Restore your iPhone to factory settings  

If you still see your iPhone not switching on your best bet would be to restore your iPhone to its factory settings, which can solve a lot of problems. This would erase all the data and settings on your phone. therefore, make sure to back up all your data first before going for the Restore process. If you haven’t synced your device recently, do so now to make sure all your data is up to date.

Normally, you’d sync your iPhone and restore it to factory settings using iTunes. To do this, connect your device to your computer and launch iTunes. But before connecting the device and launching iTunes, make sure that you have the latest version of the iTunes software installed. Next, open iTunes on your computer and connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac with the supplied USB cable. Then, unlock your device with your PIN and tap the Trust button to trust your computer when asked for. Select your iPhone when it appears in iTunes and click the Restore button. iTunes will restore your device to its factory settings with a clean copy of the iOS operating system.

It is however very important to note that regardless of whether you use DFU mode or recovery mode, all your un-synced data since your last iTunes backup, will be lost. Therefore, you are advised to proceed with the backup of any un-synced data.

What to do if your iPhone won’t charge or turn on due to water damage?

You may sometimes find iPhone users reporting – my iPhone won’t turn on or charge after I dropped my phone accidentally in the water.

If your iPhone falls into water by accident you should avoid turning your phone on for at least 24 hours to prevent damage beyond repair. You need to dry out the phone first before trying to turn it on.  In such a situation follow the steps given in the post  –  Dropped iPhone in water? Here’s how to prevent iPhone water damage

If you see your iPhone not turning on or charging even after following all the fixes mentioned above, your iPhone or iPad likely has a hardware problem preventing it from booting. In such a case, you need to contact Apple support or visit one of their authorized stores.

You may also like to read this post: iPad not turning on -5 proven easy steps to fix the issue

Frequently asked questions

Now that I have answered your query about why is my iPhone not turning on or charging, let me also address some of the related questions often asked by iPhone users.

Why isn’t my iPhone turning on and what causes the issue 

When you see your iPhone will not turn on and you are not sure why isn’t my iPhone turning on, in most cases, this is caused due to corrupted firmware or the battery being down, or due to a system glitch. However, all these problems can be solved quite easily as discussed above in the post.

Why is my iPhone charging but not turning on?

When you see your iPhone charging but not turning on some of the major causes are,

1. The iPhone needs force restart;

2. The battery is dead;

3. Dust and dirt clogging the charging port;

4. Problem with the power button;

5. Problem with the USB or lightning cable

What causes the iPhone Black Screen of death?

Normally, hardware issue or minor firmware problems causes the iPhone’s ‘black screen of death’. It can also be caused due to system failure, outdated apps, and water or physical damage.

What to do when my iPhone screen won’t turn on?

To fix the issue, press and quickly release the volume-up button. Next, press and quickly release the volume down button. Now, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

How do you fix the iPhone’s black screen of death?

A hard reset of your device mostly fixes the iPhone black screen problem. To hard reset your iPhone, do the following:

On iPhone 8 or later – Press the volume up button. Then, quickly press the volume down button. Then, hold down the side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen;

On iPhone 7 and 7 Plus – Hold down the volume down button and the sleep/wake button at once until the Apple logo shows up;

On iPhone 6s or earlier – Press and hold both the sleep/wake button and the home button until the Apple logo appears on the screen;

You may also like to read: 5 Easy Steps to Fix iPhone touch screen not working

Conclusion

My iPhone will not turn on or charge is an issue that is not uncommon among iPhone users. If you are not sure about why is my iPhone not turning on or charging, the fixes suggested above should resolve the problem and make your device boot again and work properly in the majority of cases.

However, if your iPhone won’t charge or turn on even after trying the suggested fixes, you have no other option but to contact Apple support.

Apple support would help you to identify why your iPhone not switching on and why you see a black screen even after charging and to fix the issue.

But before you contact Apple support you should check the status of your iPhone’s warranty since that could save you money on repairs.

You may also like to read this post: My Apple Watch won’t turn on – here’re 5 best solutions