Your iPhone won’t turn off and you’re not sure why. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone is not turning off and show you how to fix the problem for good!
There is nothing new about the problem of iPhone not shutting down as it has existed on almost all iPhone models. The issue has affected many iPhone models, including iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone SE.
How To Turn Off Your iPhone
Let me begin by explaining how to turn off an iPhone the normal way.
To turn off an iPhone 8 or older, press and hold the power button until slide to power off appears on the screen. Swipe the red and white power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone. Wait a moment, then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo comes onto the screen.
To turn off an iPhone X or newer, press and hold either volume button and the side button at the same time until slide to power off appears on the screen. Slide the red and white power icon from left to right to shut down your iPhone. Wait 30–60 seconds, then press and hold the power button again to turn your iPhone back on. Let go of the power button when the Apple logo appears on the screen.
How do you power off an iPhone if the Power button is broken or not working? Well, Apple makes it pretty easy to turn the iPhone off and on without the Power button. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap General.
- Hit Shut Down.
- The Slide to Power Off screen will pop up. Drag the slider to the right and your iPhone will shut down.
If the Power button is broken or not working and your iPhone is off, you can’t easily jump into the Settings app to hit a switch. Thankfully, Apple has thought of this situation as well.
Turning your iPhone back on without the power button is pretty easy: just plug it in to charge over USB. Your iPhone will start up a few seconds after it starts charging (as long as the battery isn’t dead, in which case it takes longer).
Force Restart Your iPhone
If your iPhone won’t turn off, try performing a hard reset. There’s a chance the software on your iPhone has crashed, making it unresponsive even when you tap the display or press a button. A hard reset will abruptly turn your iPhone off and back on, which can usually fix a frozen iPhone.
To force restart iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation), or Newer, follow the steps below:
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
- Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.
To force restart iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, follow the steps below:
Press and hold both the side button and the volume down button until you see the Apple logo.
To hard reboot iPhone 6S, iPhone SE (1st generation), or Older
Press and hold both the Home button and the side button until you see the Apple logo.
Update Your iPhone
Apple releases new updates to introduce new features and resolve known bugs, one of which may be causing your iPhone not to turn off!
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap General.
- Choose Software Update.
- Tap Download and Install or Install Now if an iOS update is available.
Factory Reset your iPhone
If your iPhone won’t turn off due to a random software glitch, your best bet is to perform a factory reset.
Before reseting your iPhone, make sure to backup your device. When the reset is complete, you’ll be able to restore from your backup. That way, you won’t lose your important data such as photos and contacts.
- Open Settings.
- Go into General.
- Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Tap Erase All Content & Settings.
Find A Workaround (Or Put Up With It)
If you’re in a quiet place like a library, you can set your iPhone to vibrate instead of rings so that you don’t disturb others.
The Ring/Silent switch is on the left side of your iPhone. You can use it to control which sounds play through your iPhone speaker.
In Ring mode, you hear ringtones and alerts. In Silent mode, you don’t, but your iPhone can still play sounds, like when you play music or videos.
To put your iPhone in Silent mode, move the switch so that orange is showing.
You can also put your phone on airplane mode. First, open Control Center by swiping up from below the bottom of your iPhone’s display. If you have an iPhone X or newer, open Control Center by swiping down from the upper right-hand corner of the display.
Then, tap the airplane logo to turn on Airplane Mode. You’ll know Airplane Mode is on when airplane icon turns white inside or an orange circle.
With Focus in iOS 15 or later, you can use Do Not Disturb to silence calls, alerts, and notifications that you get while your device is locked. You can also schedule Do Not Disturb and allow calls from certain people.
When you have Do Not Disturb turned on, a crescent moon icon appears in the status bar and on your Lock Screen.
To turn on Do Not Disturb, follow the steps below:
- Go to Settings > Focus.
- Tap Do Not Disturb.
Under Turn on Automatically, set Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically at a certain time, location, or while using a certain app.
To turn on Do Not Disturb from Control Center:
Open Control Center on your iPhone and hold Focus, then tap Do Not Disturb.
Repair Options for your iPhone
In the worst case scenario, your iPhone won’t turn off because of a hardware problem. It could be that the power button is broken, in which case you either won’t get a response at all from pressing it, or you don’t get a response every time.
It could also be that another internal component is busted, which is more difficult to identify. In this case, your best bet is to contact Apple Support.
You can also look for an Apple authorized service center in your area. For best results, be sure that the technician you bring your iPhone to is authorized by Apple and uses genuine iPhone parts. This will ensure that you get your phone back as close to factory condition as possible.
Powered Down
Hopefully, your iPhone is shutting down normally and you are worry free! Next time your iPhone won’t turn off, you’ll know how to fix the problem. How did you fix your iPhone? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below!