How to Force Restart an iPhone and Enter Recovery Mode

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Looking to put your iPhone in recovery mode? You’ll need to use this if your iPhone runs into problems. But it’s not always clear how to enter this mode, especially since it differs across devices.

We’ll show you how to put your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in recovery mode, no matter which model you have.

Force Restarting and iPhone Recovery Mode Explained

You’ll hopefully never need to force restart your iPhone, but it’s a good tip to know for those occasions when something goes wrong.

When your device becomes completely unresponsive, instead of waiting for the battery to deplete, you can initiate a force restart. A force restart is basically the equivalent of pulling the power plug, as it forces your iPhone to shut down and start up again.

Recovery mode takes this a step further, putting your device into a state where you can reinstall iOS by connecting your iPhone to a computer running iTunes (or using Finder on macOS Catalina and newer). If your iPhone refuses to boot or crashes on startup, you’ll need to put the device into recovery mode in order to rescue it.

Note that when you reinstall iOS, you’ll lose all the data on your iPhone. This isn’t a problem if you make regular iPhone backups, which you can do using iCloud or locally in iTunes or Finder. Unfortunately, you can’t back up your device in recovery mode, since the process will only offer to restore the firmware.

As such, if you are stuck with an iPhone that won’t boot and you don’t have a backup to restore, there’s nothing you can do to save your data.

How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPhone 8, iPhone X, and Newer

Apple changed the button combination to force restart the iPhone 8 and later. The below steps will work with the iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone X, XS, XR, iPhone 11 line, second-generation iPhone SE, and iPhone 12 devices.

Note that you’ll need to perform these button combinations fairly quickly.

How to Force Restart the iPhone 8 and Newer

1. Press then release the Volume Up button.
2. Immediately press then release the Volume Down button.
3. Hold the Side button until you see an Apple logo. Let go of the button when you see this logo.

How to Put the iPhone 8 and Newer Into Recovery Mode

1. Connect your iPhone to a computer.
   1. On a Windows PC or Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, launch iTunes. On a Mac running macOS Catalina or newer, open Finder.
2. Press then release the Volume Up button.
3. Immediately press then release the Volume Down button.
4. Hold the Side button, and don’t let go when you see the Apple logo.
5. Keep holding until you see the Recovery Mode screen.

How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPhone 7/7 Plus and iPod Touch

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were to first iPhone models to lack a mechanical Home button, meaning that the Home button doesn’t function when the phone is turned off. This required Apple to change the force restart and recovery mode shortcuts for the first time since the iPhone launched in 2007.

These steps also work to force restart the seventh-generation iPod touch, released in 2019.

How to Force Restart the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus

1. Press and hold the Side (or Top) button and Volume Down buttons at the same time.
2. Continue holding the buttons until you see the Apple logo, then let go.

How to Put the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus Into Recovery Mode

1. Connect your iPhone to a computer.
   1. On a Windows PC or Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, launch iTunes. On a Mac running macOS Catalina or newer, open Finder.
2. Press and hold the Side button and Volume Down button at the same time.
3. Keep holding the buttons, even once you see the Apple logo.
4. Release both buttons when you see the Recovery Mode screen.

How to Enter Recovery Mode on iPhone 6s and Older

The iPhone 6s, released in 2015, was Apple’s last iPhone with a mechanical home button. The following steps work for that device, as well as all iPhones that came before it. This includes the Plus models, first-generation iPhone SE, and sixth-generation iPod touch and earlier.

How to Force Restart the iPhone 6s and Older

1. Press and hold both the Home and Side (or Top) buttons.
   1. On the iPhone 6 or later, the Side button is on the right side. For the iPhone 5s and earlier, the Top button is on top of the device, as you’d expect.
2. Release the buttons once you see the Apple logo.

How to Put the iPhone 6s and Older Into Recovery Mode

1. Connect your iPhone to a computer.
   1. On a Windows PC or Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, launch iTunes. On a Mac running macOS Catalina or newer, open Finder.
2. Press and hold the Home and Side (or Top) buttons, as mentioned above.
3. Keep holding the buttons even once you see the Apple logo.
4. Release both buttons when you see the Recovery Mode screen.

How to Force Restart and Enter Recovery Mode on an iPad

Need to force restart or use recovery mode on your iPad? The process is simple.

To perform these procedures on an iPad model with a Home button, follow the same instructions for the iPhone 6s and earlier, described above. If you have an iPad with Face ID, follow the above steps for force restarting and using recovery mode on an iPhone 8 or newer.

Just note that on iPad, the power button is on top, not on the side.

How to Recover Your iPhone

When you put your device into recovery mode, you’ll have 15 minutes to begin reinstalling iOS before your device automatically exits Recovery Mode. You’ll need to repeat the combination of button presses to put it back into Recovery Mode if this happens.

Your device will not show up as normal in iTunes or Finder while in Recovery Mode, and you’ll see an error message like the one below. Try the Update option first, which will attempt to update your device without erasing anything. If this doesn’t work, you’ll have to choose Restore, which will reinstall iOS and remove everything that was on your iPhone.

Once your iPhone reboots, you’ll need to log in with your Apple ID credentials to remove Apple’s Activation Lock. This is a security feature that prevents someone else from using your device if it’s reset without signing out of iCloud.

Because of this, you should never buy a secondhand iPhone if the seller refuses to unlock it in front of you. A reset phone with Activation Lock still enabled will ask for the owner’s Apple ID before you can begin the setup process, making it useless to you.

iPhone Recovery Mode Made Easy

We’ve seen how to force restart your device and enter recovery mode, no matter what iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch model you have. It’s a simple process once you know it, but the increasingly confusing button combinations are a bit obtuse.

For more serious iPhone troubleshooting, you’ll need to turn to DFU mode.

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