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If your iPhone is no longer responding or you are experiencing problems, you can reset it using a key combination. This is often the only way to restart your device, especially if the screen is frozen.
Instructions: Reset your iPhone using a key combination (soft reset)
If it’s just a minor problem, a soft reset is all you need. For iPhones from model 8 onwards, including the latest models such as the iPhone 14 or iPhone 15, the restart works as follows:
- First, briefly press the volume up button, then briefly press the volume down button, and then press and hold the side button (power button) until the Apple logo appears. Important: Starting with the iPhone 14, pressing and holding the side button and a volume button at the same time will activate the emergency SOS mode. Therefore, make sure to press the buttons in the correct order and not simultaneously.
- For iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the key combination is slightly different: Press and hold the volume down button and the power button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears. It is normal for the volume to be reduced to 0; this is no cause for concern.
- For older iPhones with a physical Home button (e.g., iPhone 6s or iPhone SE 1st generation), press and hold the Home button and the Power button simultaneously for about 10 seconds until the Apple logo appears.
- In many cases, a forced restart will fix minor software problems or system freezes and should therefore always be the first step in troubleshooting. No data will be deleted; this is only a temporary reset.
Completely reset your iPhone (DFU mode)
If your iPhone has serious problems, e.g., it freezes when starting up or cannot be reset via the settings, you can put the device into DFU mode (Device Firmware Update). This is the only way to completely reset the device using a key combination.
- DFU mode can also be activated using a key combination, which varies depending on the model. On newer iPhones, a combination of volume buttons and the side button is used. As mistakes can easily be made here, we recommend using the current instructions on the official Apple website or a reliable source.
- Once the iPhone is in DFU mode, connect it to a computer using a USB cable. Then use iTunes (on Windows or macOS Mojave and earlier) or Finder (on macOS Catalina and later) to restore the device and reset it to factory settings.
- Caution: Resetting via DFU mode will irrevocably delete all data. Therefore, be sure to create a backup beforehand – either via iCloud or iTunes/Finder – if this is still possible.
