What to do if you think you might have a dead iPhone – 5 tricks!

One of the worst things any iPhone user can face is seeing their device completely inactive, seemingly completely dead. Even though most Apple phones are high-quality, this is a somewhat common scenario. Usually, this is the faoult of an iOS issue, or even a completely drained battery!

Even so, it can be quite difficult to figure out what cause the issue when your iPhone won’t turn on and appears to be dead. Luckily, there are a few simple and easy things you can do to try to bring it back to life. Check them out down below!

1. Reboot your device

Even though it may seem extremely concerning, it is really likely that nothing has actually happened to your iPhone. More often than not, simply rebooting the device will fix the issue.

To do so, hold the power button and the home button together on older models, or the power button and the volume down on iPhone 7 onwards for about 15 seconds. Then, wait a few minutes until the phone finishes booting up by itself, and only use it when the lock screen finally shows up.

2. Try charging it in different power sources

In many occasions, the iPhone seems dead due to a complete lack of energy. This is not necessarily due to the user not paying close attention, since your power source might be giving out. This is valid for the charging brick, for your cable, and even for the pwoer outlet you usually use.

For that reason, we recommend you try charging it up in some other ways, such as a different brick, cable, outlet, wireless charging, and whatever else you can think of. It is worth mentioning that if it is completely drained, it will take about 20 minutes until the device shows life again.

Tip: while we’re at it, check out the most common iPhone charging mistakes so you can avoid doing them!

3. Plug it in to your computer

If nothing works so far, we recommend you plug it in to a computer that has iTunes installed. This is a really good and easy way to know if everything is okay with your device or if your iPhone is actually dead, since Apple’s software should be able to identify it.

Of course, if even iTunes itself can’t detect the device, the problem could be more serious. As a last resort, you can either contact an official repair shop for iPhones or keep reading our tips.

4. Restore the device

If you’re here, nothing has worked so far. So, you can try restoring your iPhone to its factory settings, which means erasing all the data on your device, so it is a good idea to have a recent backup. Of course, if your iPhone is apparently dead or not responding, you can’t back it up!

However, if iTunes has actually detected your phone, but it still doesn’t turn on, you can try restoring it. Simply choose the Restore iPhone… option on your phone’s page!

5. Use the recovery mode

The above method is great if iTunes has detected your device, but that might not be the case. If it hasn’t for you, the best way is to get in the recovery mode. To do so, you need to press the power button and the home button on older devices, or the power button and the volume down button on iPhone 7 and newer for about 15 seconds.

Then, let go of the power button, but keep holding the home or the volume down button while you connect the iPhone to your computer. During this, iTunes should open up, and you should only release the button if the software recognizes the device. From there on out, you just have to restore as we previously mentioned.

So, did you learn what to do when you think you have a dead iPhone?

Let us know in the comments if we helped you out in fixing your issue, and don’t forget to also check out how to extend your iPhone battery lifespan, the best free iPhone apps, and the best video editing apps for iPhone!