How to Force Restart an iPhone

Your iPhone is frozen, stuck on a black screen, or not responding to touch, and the normal power-off slider will not appear. A force restart reboots the phone with the buttons alone. The sequence below works on every iPhone with Face ID and on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone SE (2nd generation and later).

Press and quickly release Volume Up

Press the Volume Up button on the left side of the phone and let go right away. Do not hold it.

Press and quickly release Volume Down

Press the Volume Down button, directly below Volume Up, and let go right away. Do these first two presses one after the other without pausing between them.

Press and hold the Side button

Press and hold the Side button on the right edge of the phone. Keep holding it. After a few seconds the power-off slider appears. Ignore it and keep holding. The screen then goes black.

Release when the Apple logo appears

Let go of the Side button as soon as the Apple logo shows up. This usually takes 10 to 20 seconds of holding in total. If you release too early and see the power-off slider or the Lock Screen instead, the sequence did not register. Start again from the first step and move faster through the two volume presses.

Wait for the iPhone to finish starting

The Apple logo stays on screen for up to a minute, then the Lock Screen appears. Enter your passcode. Face ID and Touch ID are unavailable until the first passcode entry after any restart.

On older models. On an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, press and hold Volume Down and the Sleep/Wake button together until the Apple logo appears. On an iPhone 6s or iPhone SE (1st generation), press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button together until the Apple logo appears.

Nothing is erased. A force restart is the same as a power cycle. Your apps, photos, messages, and settings are exactly as you left them. If the screen stays black after the restart, the battery may be fully drained. Plug the phone into a charger for 30 minutes and run the sequence again.