How to fix an unresponsive iPhone touchscreen

The first thing to try should be obvious: restart your iPhone.

Of course, if your touchscreen is acting up, you may not be able to move the power-off slider properly to shut down your iPhone. In this case, you’ll need to resort to a forced restart, which is basically like rebooting your iPhone without powering it down first.

Unlike simply powering down your iPhone, this process is a little bit different for iPhone models released prior to 2018.

How to force restart an iPhone 8, iPhone SE, or an iPhone with Face ID

1. Press and quickly release the volume up button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume down button.
3. Press and hold the right-side button until the Apple logo appears.
4. Release the side button.
5. Your device should continue booting up and return to the lock screen after a few seconds.
6. Swipe up or press the home button and enter your passcode to unlock your device.

How to force restart an iPhone 7

1. Press and hold the volume down button and the right-side button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.
2. Release both buttons.
3. Your device should continue booting up and return to the lock screen after a few seconds.
4. Press the home button and enter your passcode to unlock your device.

How to force restart an iPhone SE (2016) or an iPhone 6s or earlier model

1. Press and hold the home button and the right-side or top-corner button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.
2. Release both buttons.
3. Your device should continue booting up and return to the lock screen after a few seconds.
4. Press the home button and enter your passcode to unlock your device.

In many cases, restarting your iPhone will fix an unresponsive touchscreen, so this should be the first thing you try before attempting anything else.

Screen protectors are usually very thin these days and are designed to work well with modern smartphones. However, in some rare cases, they can affect the responsiveness of your iPhone’s touchscreen. As such, if you’re using a screen protector, you should check whether it’s been properly applied to your iPhone’s touchscreen. If it hasn’t, try removing and reapplying it or using a new protector if you have one available.

Even if your screen protector has been properly applied, it’s still a good idea to try removing it just to make sure it’s not getting in the way. If your iPhone’s touchscreen begins working properly after taking your screen protector off, you may want to consider forgoing a screen protector entirely or buying a thinner one from a reputable brand.

Dirt, dust, or moisture can also interfere with how the iPhone’s capacitative touchscreen works, and this is especially true if you’re using a screen protector that allows small particles to get trapped in between the protective glass or film and your iPhone’s screen. Try cleaning your screen — without a screen protector installed — by using a dry microfiber cloth until it looks as spotless as possible. If the touchscreen is working properly at that point, you can try reapplying your screen protector.

It’s pretty uncommon these days, but we have encountered cases where connected accessories somehow get in the way of your touchscreen interactions. So, if you’re using wired headphones or even just a charger, try disconnecting those and seeing if your touchscreen begins working properly. Be sure to restart your iPhone after disconnecting the accessory to be certain you’ve covered all the bases.

If your iPhone touchscreen still isn’t responding after trying the steps above, the next thing to do is update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS. If you can interact with your iPhone well enough to get into the Settings app, then tapping General > Software Update is the fastest and easiest way to do this. Otherwise, you’ll have to connect to a Mac or a Windows PC running iTunes.

Step 1: Connect your device to your computer.

Step 2: If you’re running macOS Catalina 10.15 (or higher), launch Finder.
If you’re running macOS Mojave 10.14 (or earlier) or Windows, launch iTunes.

Step 3: If you can unlock your iPhone to get to the home screen — which may be possible using Face ID or Touch ID even if your touchscreen isn’t responding — and you’ve connected your iPhone to this computer before, then it should appear in the sidebar in Finder or iTunes. From here, you can select your iPhone in the sidebar and select the Update button in Finder or iTunes to download and install the latest iOS update.

Step 4: If you haven’t used your iPhone with this computer, you’ll see a prompt on your iPhone to “Trust” this computer that you’ll need to tap on to confirm. If your touchscreen is responsive enough, then you may be able to tap on that to confirm, and then continue with the step above to update your iPhone.

However, if your touchscreen isn’t working at all, then you won’t be able to confirm the trust prompt, and your Mac or Windows PC will have no way of communicating with your iPhone normally. Instead, you’ll need to put your iPhone in “Recovery” mode first. Here’s how to do that:

1. Ensure your iPhone is connected to your computer.
2. If you’re running Windows or macOS 10.14 or earlier, ensure iTunes is running.
3. Force restart your iPhone using the steps in the section above appropriate for your specific model.
4. Instead of seeing the Apple logo during the force restart, you should see a recovery mode screen appear on your iPhone.
5. A window should pop up on your computer telling you that an iPhone in recovery mode has been detected.
6. Select Update from that window to begin downloading and installing the latest iOS version.

If you’ve been using your iPhone for a long time, chances are it’s pretty packed with apps, photos, videos, and other media. And like all devices with internal storage, those precious bytes are finite. As your iPhone starts to near its storage capacity, there’s a chance that some basic performance functions begin running slower, or stop working altogether.

Normally, the touchscreen isn’t one of these affected areas, but it can be. Fortunately, your iPhone will send you automatic notifications when internal storage starts running thin. If you receive one of these messages, or notice your byte-count is on the low side, try deleting a handful of apps that get little to no use.

It also doesn’t hurt to remove some photos and videos from the device (and these files can be backed up to iCloud). Just a quick few deletes may be enough to take the strain off your iPhone, allowing it to perform reliably once again.

Running heavy-duty apps, or multiple apps and open tabs, can be quite strenuous for your iPhone. Sometimes, working overtime can have a direct impact on device functionality, and your touchscreen is no exception.

If you’ve noticed your iPhone is hot to the touch, and your touchscreen isn’t responding, we suggest shutting the phone down for 15 to 30 minutes. If a shutdown isn’t possible (maybe you’re expecting an important message or phone call), you could put your phone in Airplane Mode or Low Power Mode instead.

Performing one of the above actions allows your iPhone to literally cool down. When you turn it back on, or disable Airplane or Low Power Mode, your touchscreen may work just fine.

Have you noticed your iPhone touchscreen is only unresponsive when you’re using a certain app? It’s happened to us before, and sometimes the fix is as simple as ensuring you’re running the most up-to-date version of the app that’s causing trouble.

If you are running the latest firmware, you could also try deleting the app and re-downloading it. If you’re still having issues with the touchscreen after this step though, it would be wise to reach out to the app developer (via the App Store) to let them know about the glitchy performance.