How to fix an iPhone 15 that won’t Force Restart

If you can’t force restart your iPhone 15, this article will show you how to fix the issue.

It might sound like a joke, but it’s true: You can fix most iPhone problems by force restarting the device.

If you run into a weird glitch on your iPhone 15 — maybe the phone is completely frozen and won’t respond — your first step should be to perform a force restart. This will "force" your iPhone to turn off, even if it’s frozen. But what if that doesn’t work?

This article explains what to do if iPhone 15 won’t force restart.

Note: information in this article apply to iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

How to force restart an iPhone 15

You need to make sure you’re force restarting your iPhone 15 the right way before trying any of the troubleshooting steps mentioned below. To force restart an iPhone 15, you need to tap the volume up button followed by tapping the volume down button (a tap means pressing and then letting go), and then you press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo on the screen. Here are the steps:

1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.
2. Now, press and quickly release the volume down button.
3. Finally, press and hold the side power button.
4. Take your finger off the side power button when the Apple logo appears on the screen. The phone will now start up.

What to do when your iPhone 15 won’t force restart

Turn iPhone off then on

It’s a tech cliche, but iPhones often do start to miraculously work again if you turn them off then on. So, if you can’t force restart your iPhone 15, go ahead and turn it off then on. Here’s how:

1. Hold down the side button and one of the volume buttons until a set of sliders appear onscreen.
2. Drag the Slide to power off slider all the way to the right.
3. Wait about 30 seconds for your iPhone to completely power down. It may not take that long.
4. Once the screen is completely black (i.e. there’s no glow), hold the side button until you see an Apple logo.
5. Let go of the Side button, and wait for the homescreen to appear.

A slightly longer method (but only by a few seconds) is to go to Settings > General. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen to find a Shut Down option. Tapping this will bring you to the same power-off screen as the last option. So the key combination is just a faster way of getting there.

You can also use Siri to restart your iPhone 15. As long as you have the "Hey Siri" feature enabled, which constantly listens for the two-letter command, you can say the following to restart your iPhone:

• First, say "Hey Siri" to activate Siri.
• Next, say "Restart iPhone."
• And last, say "Yes" when Siri prompts you to confirm.

Your iPhone will then restart. You’ll need to enter your passcode to unlock your screen.

Update your iPhone

If you still can’t force restart your iPhone 15, update your device to the latest version of iOS. To find out if an update is available, go to Settings–>General–>Software Update.

Factory Reset

If you’ve restarted and updated your iPhone 15 but force restart still not working, there’s a deeper issue at play. Some files or pieces of software might be corrupted, meaning that they’ll always cause an issue.

Your best chance at fixing these issues is to give your iPhone a factory reset. A factory reset will erase all of the data on your iPhone and return it to the state it was in when you first bought it, as if it just left the factory. This might sound extreme, but it’s a fantastic way to fix nearly any software issue.

1. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content & Settings.
2. From the next pop-up menu, tap Continue.
3. You’ll be asked to enter your passcode to confirm that you want to proceed.