Here's How To Force Restart A Frozen iPhone

There's nothing worse than being in the middle of sending a text, or opening an app, and having your iPhone freeze up on you. If this happens, you'll often find that the screen has become unresponsive and nothing you do seems to make it work again. Luckily, there are ways to fix the issue, and you can force restart your frozen iPhone to get things working again.

Normally, you'd just restart your phone by holding down a combination of the power button, the volume button, or the home button (depending on your iPhone model). If your iPhone is frozen, though, you'll need to take some different steps to restart it. Much like powering your phone off and on, the way you force restart your iPhone can vary depending on the specific model of iPhone that you have. Of course, if you continue to have freezing problems after a force restart, you may want to contact Apple support.

As Apple releases new models of the iPhone, it constantly changes how you access certain features on the device. The force restart method is no exception to the rule, and you'll find that the way you restart your phone when the screen is frozen will all depend on which iPhone you're running, per Apple.

If you're rocking an iPhone 8 or later (including the new iPhone 13), then you're going to use the volume buttons and the power button to force a restart on your device. To restart these devices, tap the volume up button and then quickly press the volume down button. Next, press and hold the power button and wait for the Apple logo to appear on your screen.

At this point, the phone should completely restart and resolve any freezing issues you might have been experiencing. Apple recommends charging your phone for up to an hour if it doesn't immediately turn back on, as the battery may have been low.

If you have an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, then you can force a restart by pressing a separate combination of buttons. Instead of the combination listed above, you're going to need to press and hold the volume down button and the power button at the same time. Be sure to hold them down until the Apple logo appears on your phone screen. At this point, the phone should restart completely.

Users with an iPhone 6S or older — including the first generation iPhone SE — will need to restart their phones a different way. To force restart these older devices, press and hold the home button and the power button (it could be on the side or the top depending on your phone model) at the same time. Now, wait for the Apple logo to appear and the phone should force restart. 

Force restarting your iPhone should resolve most screen freezing issues. If the issue persists, though, you may want to reach out to Apple Support.