How to Soft Reset Your iPhone

Soft reset should be one of your first troubleshooting steps when you encounter problems on your iPhone. Here we show you how to do it.

It’s normal for all tech devices to hiccup every now and then. Fortunately, you can often solve the problem at home for free. The solution is to soft reset your device.

First, let’s take a quick look at what an iPhone soft reset does. Then, depending on the model you own, we’ll go through the steps to soft reset an iPhone.

What is an iPhone soft reset?

A soft reset is also known as a forced restart. A soft reset is different from a “normal” reboot. The latter simply involves turning off your iPhone and turning it back on. You can restart your iPhone even if the buttons are broken.

Note that a soft reset is also different from a hard reset. When you hard reset or factory reset your iPhone, the procedure will erase your iPhone’s data and restore your device to its blank default state, as if you just bought it.

You will probably soft reset your iPhone when it is completely frozen. For example, when your iPhone is stuck on the Apple logo. A soft reset does not erase any data.

How to perform a soft reset on an iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later

If you have an iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone X or other newer models, follow these steps to soft reset your iPhone:

1. Press the volume up press and release once.
2. Press the volume down press and release once.
3. Hold down the side button until you see the Apple logo. You can now release them side Button.

It is important to press each key in quick succession. However, there is no urgent need for you to rush through the steps. It is enough to clock it with one key per second.

How to perform a soft reset on an iPhone 7

The steps to soft reset an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus are more direct. You just have to do the following:

1. Hold down the volume down button and the side press at the same time until you see the Apple logo.
2. Once the logo appears, you can release both buttons.

How to perform a soft reset on an iPhone 6s, iPhone SE (1st generation) or earlier

It’s also easy to soft reset an iPhone 6s, iPhone SE (1st gen), and other models that came before them. Here’s how:

1. Hold down the home button and the side (or above) simultaneously until you see the Apple logo.
2. Once the logo appears, you can release both buttons just like the other two ways to soft reset your iPhone.

Just do an iPhone soft reset

If you are having problems with your device, you can easily reset your iPhone with a soft reset. The methods vary slightly between different iPhone models, but they are easy to do once you know the steps.

However, if the problem persists, you may need to put your iPhone into recovery mode and reinstall iOS. Just don’t forget to back up all your data beforehand.