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Fix iPhone or iPad Frozen or Locked Up Screen

Fix iPhone or iPad Frozen or Locked Up Screen

By Mitch Bartlett 24 Comments

If your Apple iPhone or iPad screen is frozen or locked up, it’s not fun. Normally you can simply pull a battery from a device if it locks up. Apple devices don’t have a removable battery though. Instead, you’ll have to try these options.


Try to Power Off

  • If a force quit does not work, turn the iPhone off and turn it on again. To do this, press and hold the “Sleep/Wake” button for a few seconds until a red slider appears, and then slide the slider to power the device off. Once powered down, press and hold the “Sleep/Wake” button to turn the device back on.

Force Reset

If all of the above didn’t do the trick, force a reset. Forcing a reset will not delete data from the device.

iPhone X & 8

  1. Quick press “Volume Up“.
  2. Quick press “Volume Down“.
  3. Press and hold Sleep“/”Wake” button until the Apple logo appears.

iPhone 7

  • Press and hold both the “Sleep/Wake” +”Volume Down” button for at least ten seconds.

iPhone 6 and older

  • Other versions may require holding “Sleep/Wake” + “Home“.

Hopefully, one of these options have worked for you and your Apple iPhone is now working again. If not, you may need to try a restore using iTunes, which will wipe all data from the device. Data can usually be re-synced from your computer once restored.


FAQ

My iPhone/iPad won’t turn on. What do I do?

Ensure your device is plugged into the wall using the adapter and cable so that you get the most charge going. Wait about 10 minutes, then try the steps above.

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Filed Under: iOS Tagged With: ipad, iPhone 8, iPhone X

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emilia Cordon says

    November 19, 2019 at 1:24 pm

    The first thing that worked on my iphone x, thanks a lot.

  2. Lyssalyn Rodriguez says

    November 14, 2019 at 6:57 am

    I fell asleep on the phone and now their name is burned into my screen please help me!! I have an iPhone 6s

  3. Alex says

    October 27, 2019 at 2:00 pm

    thanks bro. fixed my problem

  4. frank says

    August 28, 2019 at 3:38 pm

    I just want to say “THANK YOU”. I have been going crazy all morning. I work over the phone and it froze in zoom. I freaked. I did what you said. Bang!. Thank you.

  5. Mikeg says

    July 24, 2019 at 6:55 pm

    The reset tip worked for my 8plus, it was locked up with a black screen with a little circle going around around around, thanks a bunch

  6. Leolinda says

    January 12, 2019 at 11:30 am

    Very helpful, the reset tip worked perfectly for me (iPhone X)

  7. Hannah Wilson-James says

    December 16, 2018 at 5:21 am

    I am in Morocco and just tried to get my international calling package up and running. After making my first call my screen stopped taking my touch (two options were putting in my passcode and sliding to turn off).
    None of the methods you show work.
    For some reason siri takes my touch and I can slide up for the tool screen but none of the tools work to touch.
    I could really use some help ASAP

  8. Jacqueline Lynch says

    November 29, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    My iPhone is stuck and I can’t force ito turn it off either. Please help me. I spend so much money on my iPhone and I can’t use it.

  9. Julie says

    June 30, 2018 at 11:48 am

    It helps so much thank you!. I was also having problems with the zoom and got it working now. I wrote all the help tips down on a piece of paper to put in my wallet because this time I had to wait till I got home to get my iPad to find out what to do about my phone. 🤪

  10. RainDance21337 says

    June 6, 2018 at 12:11 pm

    Thank you.. ! Thank you.. ! Was thinking “oh no, here’s another $800 down the drain.” But your Force Reset worked.. !
    Thank you.. !

  11. Abigail says

    May 4, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    Hey.
    My iPad is blocked on the notifications center and I can’t swipe up so I can’t do anything.
    Please help. Thank you. (Btw it isn’t a new iPad, its an old one)

  12. lakeysha says

    April 14, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    YAAAASSSS!!!!!!! this worked thanks….

  13. Tammy says

    March 19, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    It worked!! Followed first 3 steps.
    Thank you!

  14. Mikable says

    March 4, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    My i7 froze this morning. I tried your restart method and the phone works great. Thank you…

  15. Laidback Lenny says

    March 2, 2018 at 8:12 am

    Gadzooks! It worked! I have an iPhone se. Screen locked, touch buttons not working. Held sleep button and home button together. It shut off and then on. All works well. Thank you, Mitch!

  16. Darla Erickson says

    February 6, 2018 at 7:27 pm

    No, I don’t see anything about my iPad frozen on magic puzzles. Help!

  17. omar says

    January 28, 2018 at 10:57 am

    thank you very much this was really helpfull

  18. Nanette Vincent says

    January 6, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    My iPad is frozen on Google. I was trying to follow a recipe and the screen froze. I’m 91 years old band not good at following instructions. Everything else is working, the only problem is the Google screen in the midst of a kabochu recipe.

  19. Dorothy says

    January 3, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    No it’s my iPad that hadthis mechanical man that was to rest my password It stops and won’t go off and won’t finish. I had a post on my timeline and a note above asking me if I posted it . I said no and that’s when the reset man came on

  20. - says

    December 26, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    Thank you so much!! My phone is working again

  21. DB says

    December 9, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    Comments did not prove effective.. Have repeatedly tried to power iPhone 8 off or hard reset without success. Had just completed programming a remote lighting device, when screen froze, approximately 8 hours ago.

  22. mark says

    December 9, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    iphone 8 plus is only a month old. i have recently updated to IOS 11.2. Everytime I go to photos and then want to send pic through messanger it locks up. Sometimes I can send one pic then if I want to send a 2nd it locks up. I have to close the app and try again. sometimes it is still locked up someitmes it will let me send the 2nd pic.

  23. Vijay konala says

    November 25, 2017 at 11:53 pm

    Yup it’s working

  24. Jenna says

    November 22, 2017 at 2:36 am

    This helped me so much! A notification was stuck at the top of my screen so i couldn’t power off. This showed me how to force shutdown. I could not live without my phone. That you so much.

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Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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