How To Fix iPhone 12 Pro Unlock Issues

Is your iPhone 12 Pro not unlocking? This article explains what you can do to troubleshoot iPhone 12 Pro unlock issues. Let’s get started.

Several users have reported that the slide to unlock feature either does not work and is unresponsive, or very slow to respond, making it impossible to slide to unlock iPhone 12 Pro. Several users have also stated that this issue started after updating their iPhone 12 Pro or apps. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone 12 Pro won’t unlock and how to fix the issue.

Fix iPhone 12 Pro unlock issues

If your iPhone 12 Pro is not responding and can’t slide to unlock, there may be a problem with the touch screen, or your device has a glitch in an app or the system software. Or, in some cases, the VoiceOver has accidentally enabled so the touch won’t work. Below are some basic fixes you can try if your iPhone 12 Pro won’t unlock. After trying each step, check to see if your issue is resolved:

Fix 1: Make Sure You’re Swiping Up From Low Enough

One of the most common reasons why your iPhone 12 Pro won’t unlock is because you aren’t swiping up from low enough on the display. Try to swipe up from the bottom edge of your screen. Apply a very light touch when swiping up to unlock your device and you will increase your chances of the device recognizing your gesture and redirect you to the Home Screen!

See also: iPhone 12 Pro screen not rotating? Fix

Fix 2. Clean iPhone Screen

If the iPhone screen has some dirt or water on it, iPhone touch screen may not work, so you can’t unlock it. Try drying your iPhone’s screen with a soft absorbent cloth or leaving the iPhone turned off for a while

Does your screen have any debris or dust on it? A dirty screen sometimes make your multi-touch screen stop functioning correctly. Try to clean your screen and try again.

Fix 3: take off the Screen Protector

Screen guards can affect the iPhone’s touch-screen sensitivity. If the Slide to Unlock slider stopped responding after you installed a screen guard on your iPhone 12 Pro, take off the protector, clean the screen and try the slider again.

Fix 4: Turn off voiceover

If you see a long rectangular box when you try to slide, and your iPhone speaks aloud the items that you’re tapping on, that means you have the VoiceOver enabled. VoiceOver could be accidentally activated by a shortcut. To turn it off, you can triple-click the side button of your iPhone.

Fix 5: Ask Siri to open apps from your lock screen for you

Siri is another (secret) method to reach your Home screen. Hold down the Side button until Siri asks “What can I help you with?” Say Open Settings, Open Mail, etc. and if prompted, enter your passcode. Once you’re in an app, swipe up from the bottom of your screen.

Fix 6: Force restart iPhone

If you’ve entered your passcode and your iPhone 12 Pro won’t unlock even if you’ve used the correct passcode, your iPhone is either experiencing a software glitch or a bug which isn’t allowing you to enter your device with the right passcode.

If your iPhone 12 Pro keeps freezing and isn’t letting you bypass the lock screen, you can use this step.

You can force restart your iPhone with the push of the buttons to fix the iPhone 12 Pro won’t slide to unlock problem. After a restart, your iPhone screen should be responsive again. Here’s how:

• Quickly press the Volume Up button and release.
• Quickly press the Volume Down button and release.
• Press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

After your iPhone turns back on, you can try and put in your password again and see if you get into your iPhone.

If you didn’t manage to get in, you can restore your iPhone from DFU mode.

Fix 7: Use Back Tap To Home

A very useful workaround to get around the swiping-up to go to the Home Screen gesture is to use the new iOS 14 Back Tap feature. Here is how to:
how to fix iPhone 12 Pro lock screen issue

1. Start the Settings app.
2. Tap on Accessibility.
3. Select Touch.
4. Scroll to the bottom and open Back Tap.
5. Go for Double Tap and select Home from the System list.

Next time you unlock your iPhone, just double-tap the back of your device and the gesture will redirect you to the Home Screen.

While this isn’t an actual fix for the iPhone 12 Pro Lock Screen bug, it’s a great workaround that allows you to elegantly bypass this problem.

Fix 8: DFU Mode

If your iPhone 12 Pro still won’t unlock after you’ve tried the above methods, you can put your iPhone into DFU mode and restore it from there.

This is the deepest type of restore your iPhone can go through which means it’s going to get rid of any software problems your iPhone is experiencing.

Dfu stands for device firmware update and this means that the code on your iPhone is going to be removed from your iPhone and then put back on.

If your iPhone isn’t turning on because of the passcode, this is likely to fix the problem. Before you put your iPhone into DFU mode, you’ll need to back up your iPhone because you’re going to lose everything when you restore your iPhone. An iCloud backup is the easiest way to backup your device.

How to put iPhone 12 Pro into DFU mode

Step 1: Connect your iPhone 12 Pro to your computer using a Lightning to USB cable. If this is your first time connecting your iOS device to this computer, you’ll need to tap the Trust button that appears on the Trust This Computer dialogue that appears. You’ll then have to type in your passcode on your iPhone to confirm the pairing.

Next, perform the following steps in quick succession:

Step 2: Press Volume up button and release.

Step 3: Press Volume down button and release.

Step 4: Press and keep holding the Side button for 10 seconds.

Step 5: While still holding the side button, press and hold the Volume down key for 5 seconds.

Step 6: Let go the Side button and continue holding the Volume down key for an additional 10 seconds.

What to do if Face ID isn’t Unlocking your iPhone 12 Pro

If Face ID isn’t working, this can be because your iPhone 12 Pro didn’t recognise your face or it can be because of a software glitch. If this was because your face wasn’t recognised, you should go into somewhere with brighter light, so your iPhone can recognise your face.

At the bottom, you should see a ‘Swipe up to unlock’ tab.

You can use this and enter your passcode if Face ID wasn’t working for you.

If you’ve entered the passcode and your iPhone didn’t recognize it but you know it was correct, you can use the steps above to restore your iPhone and hard reset it.

iPhone 12 Pro unlock issues: Fixed!

Your iPhone 12 Pro is unlocked and you can start using it again! If you experience iPhone 12 Pro unlock issues in the future, you’ll know exactly how to fix the problem. If you have any other questions about your iPhone 12 Pro, drop us a comment and let us kno.