iPhone Screen Goes Black or Won’t Turn On? Here’s How to Fix It

BY Ali Hassan Mahdi

Published 20 Jul 2017

fix iphone screen black won't turn on

iPhone is best known for being a high quality phone in the market, but as is the case with hardware, things will sometimes go wrong. The same can be said for the iPhone. You’ll sometimes come across problems that you never expected to happen. One such example is that your iPhone screen will turn black and won’t turn on no matter how many times you press the Power or Home button to wake up your device.

There are many different reasons why this problem is happening. It could be a software issue that could easily be fixed with a simple reboot or a hardware problem that will require you to pay a visit to the Apple Store. In this article, we will outline all the troubleshooting steps that you should take to fix an iPhone that doesn’t turn on.

5 Ways to Fix an iPhone That Won’t Turn On

1. Plug Your iPhone to the Battery Charger

If you tried switching on your iPhone by pressing the power button, but it just won’t turn on, then it could be that the battery has been drained completely. Plug in your iPhone to the charger. If the charging screen appears, then it means that your battery was drained completely and you should wait for it to be charged enough before it turns on.

iphone charging screen

If you don’t see the charging screen after you connect your iPhone to the charger, then make sure that the charging cable or adaptor is working properly. You can use a different charging cable or adaptor to see if it solves the problem.

2. Perform a Hard Reset

It is possible that your iPhone has frozen or there’s a problem with the software, which is why it is not responding to your inputs. You can usually solve this problem by performing a hard reset, which forces your iPhone to restart even if it is stuck.

To do so, press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons together for at least ten seconds. After about ten seconds, you should see the Apple logo and can release the buttons. If you’re using an iPhone 7, then you can perform a hard reset by holding down the Volume down and Home buttons for about 10 seconds, after which a screen with the Apple logo should appear.

If you’re successful with this step and the Apple logo screen appears, then it means that the problem has been fixed and your iPhone should be back to normal after it opens to the Lock screen.

3. Check If the Display is Working

It could be that your iPhone is still on, but the display has issues which is why it’s not showing anything. To check whether it is working or not, plug your iPhone to the computer and open iTunes.

If iTunes can detect your device, or if any sound is made when you connect your iPhone to the computer, then it means that your iPhone’s display has issues or there’s a hardware problem. Take a complete backup of your iPhone using iTunes, then take it to the Apple Store to troubleshoot the problem.

4. Restore your iPhone

If your iPhone displays a “Connect to iTunes” screen when it turns on, then it means that the operating system on your iPhone has been damaged or has become corrupted. Fixing this issue is quite simple and can be done easily with a restore via iTunes.

Connect your iPhone to a computer and then open iTunes. A message should pop up that says iTunes has detected your device in “Recovery Mode”. You’ll then be prompted to restore or update your device to fix the issue. Click on the Restore button to begin the process. iTunes will download the latest version of iOS and install it on your iPhone.

During the restore process, all the files and data will be wiped from your iPhone, but since your iPhone cannot boot up properly, there’s no way that you can take a backup. If you have an old iCloud or iTunes backup, then you can use this backup after the restore is complete.

5. If Your iPhone’s Screen is Still Black and Won’t Turn On

If you’ve followed all the troubleshooting steps mentioned above and your iPhone still won’t turn on, then it is time for you to pay a visit to the Apple Store. The problem is probably too critical to fix it on your own. If you take it to the Apple Store, they’ll let you know what the problem is and how much it will cost to fix. If you’re lucky enough, they might replace your iPhone with a new one if the issue cannot be fixed.

These are the different ways of fixing an iPhone that won’t turn on. Did any of these steps help you fix the problem? Do let us know in the comments below.