How to Unfreeze an iPhone: Here are 10 Secrets to Unfreeze iPhone 5/6/7/8/X

“My iPhone is frozen and won’t turn off or reset. What can I do to unfreeze my iPhone 8 without causing any harm to my phone?”

This is one of the many queries posted by iPhone users on numerous forums. We all know that iOS devices are pretty reliable and are known for their high-end quality. Nevertheless, there are times when they seem to malfunction out of the blue. For instance, while using your iPhone, its screen might get stuck or frozen. Don’t worry – we are here to help you fix it with this detailed guide on how to unfreeze iPhone X/8/7/6/5. For your convenience, I have handpicked the 10 best and working solutions to unfreeze an iPhone easily.

• Part 1: Common Reasons why your iPhone Screen gets frozen
• Part 2: Force Restart your iPhone 5/6/7/8/X
• Part 3: Hard reset your iPhone (or Boot it in Recovery mode)
• Part 4: Go to its Settings and Update the Software
• Part 5: Force-quit and Delete Unreliable Apps
• Part 6: Use iTunes to Restore an iPhone Backup
• Part 7: Better Alternative to iTunes to restore data: dr.fone – Recover (iOS)
• Part 8: Restore iPhone by Booting it to DFU Mode
• Part 9: Use dr.fone - Repair (iOS) to Unfreeze your iPhone
• Part 10: Clear Your iPhone's Cache

Part 1: Common Reasons why your iPhone Screen gets frozen

In order to learn how to unfreeze iPhone 8/7/6/X, it is important to know what could have caused this problem to begin with. Ideally, the following reasons could have frozen your device.

• Any corrupt app or component on the device
• Its storage could be full or corrupt
• The excessive use of the device
• Too many heavy apps opened at once
• The RAM on your device could be crashed
• The firmware could be corrupted
• The iOS update process is halted in between
• Jailbreaking went wrong or any other unlocking operation
• Any unwanted physical or water damage

Part 2: Force Restart your iPhone 5/6/7/8/X

This is the easiest trick in the book to unfreeze iPhone 8, 7, X, or any other model. A force restart would reset the present power cycle of your device and fix numerous minor issues with it. To forcefully restart an iPhone and fix iPhone 5/6/7/8/X frozen screen, the following key combinations should be pressed.

iPhone 6s and previous models

Long press the Home + Power (wake/sleep) keys at the same time together. Keep holding them for at least 10 seconds and let go once the phone restarts.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Instead of the Home, you need to press the Volume Down and the Power buttons simultaneously. Hold them together for 10 seconds and release when your phone restarts.

iPhone 8 and newer models

Quick-press the Volume Up key first. As soon as you release it, quick-press the Volume Down key. Without any ado, press and hold the Side key for at least 10 seconds. In the end, release it once the phone restarts.

Part 3: Hard reset your iPhone (or Boot it in Recovery mode)

If a force restart (soft reset) won’t be able to unfreeze iPhone 7/8/X, then you can consider hard resetting it instead. To do this, you can take the assistance of iTunes and restore your device. Since this will erase all the existing data on your phone, you should be a bit cautious to do it.

Step 1. Simply connect your frozen iPhone to the system and launch an updated iTunes app on it.

Step 2. Select your iPhone from the list of the available devices and go to its Summary tab.

Step 3. Click on the “Restore iPhone” button (adjacent to the Update option). Confirm your choice when a warning message would appear regarding resetting your phone.

Option II: Boot it in Recovery Mode

If the first option won’t work, then you can consider booting your device in the recovery mode as well. The correct key combinations would boot your device in the recovery mode, letting iTunes reset it and upgrade it to a stable firmware. Here are the different solutions to learn how to unfreeze iPhone XS Max, X, 8, 7, 6, and other models.

iPhone 6s and previous models

Turn off your phone and launch iTunes on your computer. While connecting it, press and hold the Home button for a few seconds. As the iTunes symbol would come on the screen, release the Home key.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Launch iTunes on the system and turn off the device. Press the Volume Down key and keep holding it for a while as you connect the phone to iTunes. Let go of the button when the recovery mode icon will appear.

iPhone 8 and newer models

Connect the device to the system and make sure it is turned off beforehand. Launch iTunes on the computer and hold the Side key while connecting it. Let go once the iTunes sign will come on the screen.

As soon as your device enters the Recovery Mode, iTunes will detect it and display the following prompt. Agree to it and choose to update your device. Wait for a while as iTunes will reset your device and restarts it normally.

Part 4: Go to its Settings and Update the Software

Whenever I discover that my iPhone is frozen and won’t turn off or reset, this is the first thing that I do. An old, corrupt, or unstable firmware is one of the major reasons for causing this issue. To fix this, you can simply update your device to a stable iOS release.

Step 1. If your iPhone is working, then unlock it and go its Settings > General > Software Update.

Step 2. This will display the available update for your device. Just tap on the “Download and Install” button and confirm your choice to update your iPhone.

Step 3. Alternatively, you can also connect it to iTunes and go to its Summary. From here, you can check for updates and later upgrade your device as well.

Part 5: Force-quit and Delete Unreliable Apps

If an app has been corrupted or not functioning well, then it can also cause your device to be stuck or frozen. The easiest way to learn how to unfreeze iPhone 8 Plus, 8, 7, X, and other models is by following these steps.

Step 1. If you use an iPhone with a Home button, then just press it twice to get the app switcher. Now, swipe-up the app card that you wish to quit.

Step 2. For devices without the Home button, simply go to the Home screen and tap at the bottom of the screen for gesture control.

Step 3. Now, swipe up gradually to open the app switcher. Just swipe up the app card you wish to quit.

Step 4. Again, go back to the home and hold any app icon to make all the apps wiggle. Tap on the delete button at the top of the app icon that you wish to get rid of. Confirm it by tapping on the delete button again to uninstall the faulty app.

Part 6: Use iTunes to Restore an iPhone Backup

In case if you have already maintained a previous backup of your device, then you won’t face any trouble restoring it. With the help of iTunes, you can simply restore an existing backup and fix an iPhone 5/6/7/8 screen frozen situation. Needless to say, this will erase the existing data and other saved settings from your phone.

Step 1. Connect your frozen iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes on it.

Step 2. Once your device is detected, go to its Summary tab and click on the “Restore Backup” button under the Backups section.

Step 3. From the pop-up window, select the backup file of your choice and click on the “Restore” button again.

Part 7: Better Alternative to iTunes to restore data: dr.fone – Recover (iOS)

If you use iTunes, then the existing data on your device would be wiped off. Also, the entire backup content would be restored in one go. To overcome these limitations, simply take the assistance of dr.fone – Recover (iOS), which is a far better alternative to iTunes. The tool can recover all sorts of lost, deleted, and inaccessible content on your device. Also, it can be used to load an existing iTunes/iCloud backup and restore your data selectively. During the process, the existing content on your device won’t be lost.

• The application can restore an existing iTunes or iCloud backup to your iPhone without any compatibility issue.
• Users can preview the data of the backup file and select the content they wish to recover. The existing data on the device won’t be lost during the process.
• The tool can also scan the device’s internal memory and help us recover all kinds of lost or deleted content.
• It is extremely easy to use and will not need any prior technical experience to operate.
• It is fully compatible with all the new and popular iPhone models and does not require jailbreaking.
• Since the application is 100% secure, all the recovered data will remain intact and safe.

Part 8: Restore iPhone by Booting it to DFU Mode

DFU stands for Device Firmware Update and lets us upgrade (or downgrade) an iOS device. It is similar to the recovery mode, but it even skips the iPhone bootloader. Therefore, if there is a problem with your device’s booting log or files, then this solution might fix it too.

Before you boot your iPhone in the DFU mode, make sure that it is switched off. Also, launch an updated version of iTunes on your system beforehand. Ideally, till the end, the device should maintain a black screen. If the iTunes or the Apple logo would appear, then it means a mistake has been made, and you need to restart the process.

iPhone 6s and older phones

Turn off your iPhone, connect it to the system, and launch iTunes on it. Press the Home + Power buttons at the same time for 10 seconds at first. Now, release the Power key while still pressing the Home button for another 5 seconds.

iPhone 7/7 Plus

Firstly, connect your phone to iTunes and make sure it is turned off. Press the Power and the Volume Down buttons together for around ten seconds. Later, release the Power key and keep pressing the Volume Down button for the next five seconds.

iPhone 8 and newer models

Turn off the device and connect it to iTunes using a working cable. Press the Side key and the Volume Down button at the same time for 10 seconds. Afterward, let go of the Side key, but keep holding the Volume Down button for some 5 seconds.

As your iOS device would enter the DFU mode, iTunes will detect it, and will display a pop-up window. From here, click on the “Restore” button to reset the device and unfreeze iPhone 8/X/7/6.

Part 9: Use dr.fone - Repair (iOS) to Unfreeze your iPhone

When my iPhone is frozen and won’t turn off or reset, this is the solution that I try – and it works 100%. Developed by Wondershare, it is a part of the dr.fone toolkit and provides an ideal solution for all kinds of iOS related issues. It doesn’t matter if your device is frozen, stuck in reboot loop, or has a screen of death, dr.fone - Repair (iOS) can fix it all! The best part is that its standard mode would retain all the existing data on your device while fixing it. To learn how to unfreeze iPhone X/8/7/6/5 using dr.fone, follow these steps:

Step 1. At first, connect your frozen iPhone to the system and launch the dr.fone toolkit on it. From its welcome screen, open the “Repair” section.

Step 2. The interface will let you pick from the standard and the advanced mode. The standard mode can fix all the major issues without any data loss while the advanced mode will wipe your data.

Step 3. As you would pick the standard mode, the application will automatically detect the crucial details of your device. Verify its model and the related firmware update before clicking on the “Start” button.

Step 4. Sit back and wait for a few minutes as the application would download the related firmware update for your phone. Maintain a stable connection and wait as it would also verify your device.

Step 5. Once it is ready, you will be notified by the following screen. You can just click on the “Fix Now” button to unfreeze iPhone X/8/7/6/5.

Step 6. Again, you need to wait for a while as the application would fix your device. In the end, it will be restarted in the normal mode without any issue.

If the standard mode is not able to unfreeze your iPhone, then you can follow the same drill and pick the Advanced Mode instead. It will yield better results, but will also delete the existing data on your device.

Part 10: Clear Your iPhone's Cache

Cache is the intermediate data on the device that is stored to improve user experience. Though, when the cache data is accumulated, then it can make your iPhone slow or even freeze it. The quickest way to learn how to unfreeze iPhone X/8/7/6/5 is by deleting its cache and making more space for its processing. Here are some of the simple fixes to minimize iPhone cache.

Step 1. Firstly, go to your iPhone’s Settings > Safari and delete its cache by tapping on the “Clear History and Website Data” option. You have to again tap on the “Delete” button to confirm your choice.

Step 2. If you use Google Chrome on your iPhone instead, then go to its Settings > Privacy and choose to clear all data. This will include its temp files, cache, history, etc.

Step 3. Also, you can save space on cache by offloading the apps you no longer use. Go to your phone’s App Store settings and enable the “Offload Unused Apps” feature.

This brings us to the end of this detailed guide on how to unfreeze iPhone X/8/7/6/5. Ideally, these solutions to unfreeze iPhone would work with all the leading models. Whenever I think that my iPhone is frozen and won’t turn off or reset, I follow these tricks and they work for me. If you want to have a hassle-free experience and retain your device’s data while fixing it, then consider using dr.fone - Repair (iOS). A highly resourceful application, it can be used during an unwanted scenario and save the day while fixing any malfunctioning iPhone seamlessly.