Is your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro hotspot not working? Find out why you can’t tether your iPhone.
If your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro has failed to enable personal hotspot, your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro hotspot is not discoverable, or you’re encountering any other hotspot problems, keep reading. We’re going to look at how to fix iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Hotspot problems.
There’s not just one thing that causes your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot to stop working. We’ll include some information about why Personal Hotspot might be having problems along with each solution below. These are the most common causes and ways to fix an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot that isn’t working.
How to Fix iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot Is Not Working
If your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot isn’t working, follow these suggestions—in this order—to get it working again.
Make Sure Tethering Is Enabled
It sounds obvious, but are you sure that you’ve turned on personal hotspot in your iPhone’s settings? Even if it was previously enabled, you might have deactivated it by accident via the Control Center, or perhaps an iOS update turned it off without your knowledge. If it’s not turned on, your iPhone hotspot won’t be discoverable. You can check whether your personal hotspot is enabled by going to Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot or just Settings > Personal Hotspot and ensure the toggle is in the On position.
Turn Personal Hotspot Off and On
Sometimes you need to reset your Personal Hotspot to get it working again. Do that by turning it on and off: Go to Settings > Personal Hotspot > move the Allow Others to Join slider to off/white and then back to on/green.
Turn Cellular Data On and Off
The problem with Personal Hotspot might be related to your iPhone’s connection to cellular data networks. If your iPhone 13 or iPhone13 Pro is having trouble connecting to those networks, Personal Hotspot might not work either. Reset your cellular data connection by turning it on and off: Go to Settings > Cellular > move the Cellular Data slider to off/white and back to on/green.
Restart iPhone to Fix Personal Hotspot
You’d be surprised how often a simple restart of your iPhone will fix all kinds of problems. You can do this by going to Settings > General > Shut Down.
Try a Different Connection Method
Most people assume that in order to use a personal hotspot, you need to use a Wi-Fi connection. That’s not true. You can also use Bluetooth or even a trusty USB cable to make the connection.
By trying alternative hotspot connection methods, you can rule out (or establish!) a problem with your phone’s Wi-Fi hardware. To use a different connection method, you’ll still need to enable your personal hotspot as described earlier.
If you’re attempting to use Bluetooth, you need to pair your iPhone with the computer or mobile device you’re trying to share the hotspot with. On an iPhone, that means you need to go to Settings > Bluetooth and tap on the name of the device in question.
The process on your other device will be specific to the operating system. Refer to the manual. If this is the first time that you’ve connected the other device, you may need to go through a PIN verification process.
Using a USB cable to connect to a hotspot is as simple as connecting your iPhone to a computer and selecting the hotspot from the list of available networks. USB also benefits from being the fastest type of connection. If speed is important to you, this is the best solution.
Update iOS
Every new version of the iOS—the operating system that runs on the iPhone—includes bug fixes. Your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot might not be working due to a bug that’s fixed by an iOS update. Install the latest version of iOS to see if it fixes your problem.
Enable Maximize Compatibility on your iPhone
The iPhone 13 series phones have some different networking features and options than earlier devices, including 5G. These options can sometimes cause a problem for older models connecting to them. Solve this by going to Settings > Personal Hotspot > move the Maximize Compatibility slider to on/green.
Update Carrier Settings to Fix Personal Hotspot
Every iPhone has a hidden set of carrier settings. These settings help your iPhone work with your phone company. Carriers issue updates from time to time, though not as often as iOS updates. If Personal Hotspot isn’t working, check for and install available carrier settings updates by going to Settings > General > About.
Confirm Your Phone Plan Includes Personal Hotspot
Have you changed your phone plan recently or switched phone companies? Personal Hotspot might not be working because your plan doesn’t include it. Most phone companies’ data plans include Personal Hotspot these days, but some don’t. You may also be able to remove the feature. So, before you do anything else, log into your phone company account and make sure your plan includes Personal Hotspot. If it doesn’t, add it.
Reset Network Settings
iOS offers a built-in way to erase user data and restore settings to the factory defaults. However, you can also take a more granular approach by only removing certain kinds of data.
In the case of your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro personal hotspot not working, you only need to delete the network settings. To do so, head to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. You will need to enter your passcode before the phone lets you proceed.
The reset process will remove all your Wi-Fi and carrier settings and delete your custom iPhone name. This will give you a blank slate to make sure there wasn’t an erroneous network setting causing iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro hotspot problem.
Note: After resetting the network settings, you’ll need to pair Bluetooth devices again and enter Wi-Fi passwords again.
Sign Out of iCloud
Some people have also claimed that logging out of your iCloud account can resolve iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro personal hotspot not working Issue. It’s not clear why doing do so would fix a network issue, but it’s worth a shot if nothing else has solved it.
To sign out of your iCloud account, go to Settings > [Username] > Sign Out. Make sure you log back into your account to re-enable your iCloud services.
Reset Your iPhone
The last-ditch solution is to wipe the operating system—along with all your user data—and reset your entire iPhone.
You can go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings to begin the process. But you should be sure to make a backup first.
Alternatively, you can also achieve the same outcome by using Finder or iTunes on a computer. Connect your phone to your computer, open the Finder or iTunes app, choose your iPhone in the left-hand panel, and click on Restore iPhone.
What to Do If iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot Still Isn’t Working
At this point, if iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Personal Hotspot still isn’t working, it’s time to bring in the professionals. You can contact Apple for tech support over online live chat or make a genius bar appointment for in-person support at your local Apple Store. If anyone can help with a problem this stubborn, it’s Apple.
iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro hotspot not working: fixed
Hotspot not working on your iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro might mess up your workflow. It can lead to unproductive hours as well. Go through the steps above and troubleshoot the hotspot not working on iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro. Which fix worked for you? Drop a comment and let us know!
I received my iPhone 13 Pro today and my personal hotspot would not work no matter what I did. Followed every suggestion above. I was reluctant to sign out of iCloud – because what has iCloud got to do with a hotspot?!?! But as soon as I signed out of iCloud, the personal hotspot started working!!!!