How to Fix An iPhone That Won't Turn Off (2024)

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An iPhone that's stuck in the on position isa rare situation but if it's happening to you,here's what's going on and how you can fix it.

How to Fix an iPhone that Won't Power Off

Before you try any of these steps, first you should try the standard way of turning off your iPhone. For older iPhone models, hold down the Sleep/Wake button and then swipe the Power Off slider. If you have a newer iPhone, press and hold the Side button and the Volume down button until the slider appears. Drag the slider to turn off the phone.

If the standard iPhone restart process doesn't work, or doesn't solve the problem, try these four steps, in this order:

1. Try the in-app option. The Settings app has an alternative way to shut down your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Shut Down to see if that works.

2. Hard reset your iPhone. The first,and simplest, way to shut down an iPhone that won't turn off is using a technique called a hard reset. How you do so depends on your iPhone model and the version of iOS it runs, but one of the following methods will work:

   • Press and release Volume Up, press and release Volume Down, and then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
   • Hold Volume Down and the side button until the Apple logo appears.
   • Hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

   This is similar to the standard way of turning your iPhone on and off, but is a more complete reset of the device and its memory. Don't worry: you won't lose any data. Only use a hard reset if your iPhone won't restart any other way.

3. Turn on AssistiveTouch. This is a neat trick that's most useful if your iPhone's physical Home button is broken and can't be used to reset your phone (it also works on models without a Home button).

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   In that situation, you need to use a software option by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch. Set one of the options (Single Tap, Double-Tap, or Long Press) to Home.

   Once AssistiveTouch is on, a button will appear on your phone screen. Use it in place of the Home button to try the second or third method above.

4. Restore your iPhone from a backup. If a hard reset and AssistiveTouch haven't solved it, your problem probably has to do with the software on your phone, not the hardware.

   First, back up your iPhone if possible, and then go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Your iPhone will erase itself and then restart, at which point you can restore it to recover your data.

   Settings may be in different places depending on your version of iOS. Pull down from the main Settings screen to find a search bar, which you can use to go immediately to any screen.

5. Contact Apple support. If none of these steps have solved your problem, and your iPhone still won't turn off, your problem may be bigger, or a lot trickier, than you can solve at home. It's time to bring in the experts: Apple.

   You can get phone support from Apple (charges will apply if your phone is no longer under warranty). You can also goto an Apple Store for face-to-face help. If you prefer that, be sure that you make an Apple Genius Bar appointment ahead of time. There's a lot of demand for tech support at Apple Stores and without an appointment, you'll probably wait a long time to speak to someone.

Cayses to Why your iPhone Won't Turn Off

The most likely reasons why your iPhone won't turn off are:

• It's frozen due to software problems.
• The Sleep/Wake button is broken.
• The screen is broken and isn't responding to taps.