How to hard reset your iPhone

This guide will show you how to hard reset your iPhone, there are times when you may need to do this on your device. The iPhone, like any other technological device, can sometimes experience errors or glitches. Is your iPhone acting up and not responding to regular troubleshooting methods? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. Learn how to hard reset your iPhone and get it back to its normal functionality. This guide is updated for iPhones running on iOS 17 and older versions.

A hard reset, also known as a force restart, is a powerful reboot for your iPhone when it becomes unresponsive. Unlike a soft reset, a hard reset doesn’t shut down your device completely before restarting it. Instead, it interrupts the power supply momentarily before turning it back on. Rest assured, a hard reset won’t erase your data.

However, if you’re looking to delete all data and settings from your iPhone, you’re probably looking for a factory reset, not a hard reset.

How to perform a hard reset on the iPhone on iOS 17 devices?

If your iPhone is one of the later models that supports iOS 17, then you will need to follow the steps below to force restart your device.

Press the volume up button on the iPhone and release it quickly.
Press the volume down button on your device and release it quickly.
Press and hold the side button on the iPhone until you see the Apple logo
When you see the Apple logo let go of the side button

This works on all iOS 17 compatible devices which include the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. You can find out more details over at Apple’s website.

If you have an older iPhone than the ones listed below, you can find out details below on how to perform a hard reset on these devices.

How to perform a hard reset on the iPhone on iOS 15 devices?

Performing a Force Restart or Hard Reset on older iPhones which can only run iOS 15 is slightly different to iOS 17 devices.

To do this will depend on which device you own, if your handset is the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus then you can see the steps below.

Press and hold the volume down button and the sleep-wake button at the same time.
Continue to hold these buttons until you see the Apple logo.
Let go of the buttons on your iPhone when the Apple logo appears.
Your device will restart and it may have fixed the issue.

To do this on the iPhone 6S or the 1st generation iPhone SE, follow the steps below.

Hold the Home Button and the sleep-wake button at the same time.
Continue to hold both buttons until the Apple logo appears.
Let go of the buttons when the Apple logo appears.
Your device will restart and you can see if this had fixed any issues.

You can find out more details about what to do on iOS 15-supported iPhones over at Apple’s website.

Summary

Remember, it’s best to perform a hard reset only if your iPhone is not responding at all or if an app is not working correctly and the issue persists after closing and reopening the app.

For minor issues, a soft reset (normal restart) should be your first attempt, followed by updating your device’s software. If you’ve followed the steps correctly but your iPhone still isn’t working properly, you might want to contact Apple Support or visit an Apple Store or a third-party repairer.

We hope that you find our guide on how to perform a hard reset on your iPhone useful, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please let us know in the comments section below. This article has been updated in October 2023 to take into account the changes introduced with iOS 17 and also with the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro smartphones.

Image Credit: Samuel Angor

Filed Under: Apple, Apple iPhone, Guides

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