How to Restart, Hard Reboot, or Reset Any I Phone Model?

By Deepak Grover Last updated Sep 2, 2023

This guide explains how to quickly restart any iPhone. Need to get your phone back to the way it was when it came out of the factory? Instead, do a complete reset.

How to Turn Off an iPhone X or Later

Follow these steps to turn on an iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12, or iPhone 11/XS/XR/X again:

Hold down both the Side button and the Volume Down button. Volume up also works, but if you use it, you might take a screenshot by mistake.
A picture of the iPhone X that shows where the buttons are
When the slider to turn the device off shows up, let go of the Side and Volume Down buttons.
To turn off the phone, slide the button from left to right.
When your iPhone is turned off is a good time to clean the screen. This makes sure you don’t press any buttons or change any settings by chance.
Wait 15 to 30 seconds. When the iPhone is turned off, press and hold the Side button again until you see the Apple sign. Let go of the Side button and the phone will begin to work.

How to Turn Off and On Your iPhone (All Models)

Follow these steps to restart any other iPhone:
Press and hold the button that says “Sleep/Wake.” On older phones, it’s on top. It’s on the right side of the iPhone 6 and later.
Let go of the Sleep/Wake button when the power of scale shows up on the screen.
Slide the power off button to the right. This makes the iPhone turn off. A spinning circle shows up on the screen to show that the computer is shutting down. It might be dark and difficult to see.
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button when the phone turns off.
When the Apple logo shows on the screen, let go of the Sleep/Wake button and wait for the iPhone to finish restarting.

How to force restart an iPhone 13, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XS/XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone SE 2

Many problems can be fixed with a simple soft restart, but not all. In some situations, like when your phone is totally frozen and the Sleep/Wake button doesn’t work, you need to try a force restart. The iPhone’s info and settings won’t be lost if you restart it or force it to restart, so there’s no need to worry.

Follow these steps to force restart an iPhone with Face ID (the iPhone 13 series, iPhone 12 series, iPhone 11 series, iPhone XS/XR, or iPhone X), the iPhone 8 series, or the iPhone SE 2:
Press the Volume Up button and let go of it.
Press the Volume Down button and let go of it.
The iPhone 8 shows where the buttons are.
Hold down the Side button until you see the Apple logo. Ignore the slider that shows to turn the device off, and then let go of the button.
Wait while your phone restarts.

How to Restart Your iPhone by Force (Other Models)

A hard reset, which is the same thing as a force restart, turns the phone back on and clears the memory that apps use. It won’t delete your information, but it will help the iPhone start over. If you need to force restart an iPhone model that is older than the iPhone 7, but not the iPhone 7, follow these steps:
Hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time with the phone screen facing you.
A picture of the iPhone 6 that shows where the buttons are When the slider to turn off the power shows, don’t let go of the buttons yet.
When you see the Apple sign, let go of the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons.
Wait while the iPhone restarts.

How to Restart an iPhone 7 by Hand

How to turn off and on the iPhone 7 series is a little bit different. This is because the Home button on these models is not a real button, but a 3D Touch screen. Apple changed how these models are forced to restart because of this.

Hold the Volume Down button and the Sleep/Wake button at the same time on the iPhone 7 series until you see the Apple logo. Then you can let go of the buttons and wait for the phone to restart.