3 ways to fix your iPhone if it won't turn on

An unresponsive iPhone can be frustrating — here's how to help return it to working order. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

• If your iPhone won't turn on, make sure you're switching it on the right way first.
• You can fix an iPhone that won't turn on by restarting it or checking for charging or hardware issues.
• If all else fails, plug your iPhone into a computer to see if you can back it up before sending it for repairs.

It can be terrifying if your iPhone won't turn on — especially if you're not a tech guru. It might seem like there could be a million things wrong, and who knows where to start? Is it even fixable?

In general, you can narrow it down to one of three key issues: a software glitch, a charging malfunction, or a serious hardware problem. 

Here's how to figure out why your iPhone won't turn on and how to fix it. 

How to turn on an iPhone

You need to make sure you're turning on your iPhone the right way before trying any of the troubleshooting steps mentioned below. Not all iPhones are created equal, and it can sometimes get confusing to know just how to turn your model on.

By the offset chance this is the issue, here's how to turn on an iPhone if it:

• Has a Home and Side button. Press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
• Has a Home and Top button. Press and hold the Top button until the Apple logo shows up on the screen.
• Doesn't have a Home button but has a Side button. Press and hold the Side button for a few seconds and release it when you see the Apple logo.

What to do if your iPhone won't turn on

Once you're sure that you can switch on your iPhone properly, you can try to get to the bottom of why it's not turning on.

1. Check to see if you can restart the phone

You probably know that your iPhone is turned on all the time, even when the screen is off, unless you deliberately shut it down via the Settings app. When the screen is dark, the phone is powered on — albeit "sleeping" — and a software glitch in an app could be preventing the phone from waking when you press the Power button, tap the screen, raise it to your face, or however you try to wake it up.

The simplest remedy is to force restart your iPhone and see if it will turn on.

The first thing you should try to do is restart your iPhone — most of the time, a software glitch is likely preventing the screen from turning on. Dave Johnson

If your phone restarts successfully, your problem is probably solved. This problem can happen occasionally without suggesting a serious underlying issue. But if your phone won't turn on frequently enough that it's a nuisance, that suggests you have a misbehaving app or some corrupted data on your phone. 

In that case, you might need to reset your phone to its factory settings and then manually reinstall apps from the App Store to see which one is bugged.

Quick tip: Since a factory reset will wipe all your data and settings, make sure you back up your iPhone with iCloud or your computer before resetting it. That way you can restore what you need later.

2. Try charging your phone

If it doesn't appear that you can restart your iPhone, then it's likely that your phone is already powered off, and the battery might be dead. Here's what you should do:

Attempt to charge your phone — connect your phone however you usually charge it and let it charge for an hour or two.

If the phone still won't come on, there might be something wrong with the way it's charging. Check the phone's Lightning port to make sure it isn't filled with lint or debris, and inspect your Lightning cable for kinks, breaks, or frays. If necessary, swap the cable for another.

A damaged Lightning cable might be keeping your phone from charging. Dave Johnson

Charge the iPhone again. Be sure to plug the phone directly into an AC adapter rather than a computer's USB port, to make sure the USB port isn't an issue. 

It's entirely possible that the Lightning port or your laptop's USB port has failed, and since it wasn't charging, you couldn't turn it on. If so, this should solve your problem.

Quick tip: if the problem still persists, there are more troubleshooting steps you can try to fix an iPhone that won't charge.

3. Troubleshoot a hardware problem

If your iPhone won't respond to a hard reset and doesn't appear to be charging, the number of potential issues has narrowed, probably signaling that it's a hardware issue. This isn't good news, because it suggests you might have a serious issue. Some of the most likely issues include:

• Water damage. You might have gotten your phone wet and it has caused some components to fail.
• Drop damage. If you've dropped the phone, it might have damaged the screen (most likely) or internal components (less likely), preventing it from working.
• Component failure. As reliable as iPhones are, it's always possible that one can fail due to a manufacturing defect. It's rare, but it can happen.

To see if your phone has any life in it at all, try this:

1. Connect your ailing iPhone to a Lightning cable and plug it into a computer.

2. Start iTunes on the computer.

3. Check to see if iTunes recognizes the phone. You should see the icon for the phone appear in the top left of the iTunes window. If so, you're in luck — the phone is actually powered on, and you can probably back it up.

If you can see the iPhone icon in iTunes, the phone is still on but perhaps the screen is broken. Back it up before you try to get it serviced. Dave Johnson

4. If you see the iPhone icon appear, click it and then click the Summary tab on the left of the screen. In the Backups section, click Back Up Now to try to ensure you have a good backup of your phone's apps and data. You can later use this backup to restore your phone after it's serviced or replaced.

5. Contact Apple to have your phone serviced or replaced.