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Home / iPhone / Using DFU Restore to Solve iPhone Problems

Using DFU Restore to Solve iPhone Problems

Last Updated on July 27, 2010 by SK

In our 4 Rs of iPhone troubleshooting, we note that restoring the iPhone as a new phone can resolve various issues. However, some problems may require that the phone is restored while it is in DFU (device firmware upgrade) mode. Doing so may resolve issues with Exchange, an inability to send and receive MMS messages, device slowness and other problems.

To perform a DFU restore, follow these steps:

1. Backup your phone and preserve data. Follow the steps in this Apple Knowledge Base article to transfer your purchases and backup your iPhone.

2. Put iPhone into DFU mode. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes (if it doesn’t open automatically). Hold down both the top (sleep/wake) and home buttons for exactly 10 seconds, then release the top (sleep/wake) button but keep holding the home button until  iTunes displays a message stating that a phone in recovery mode has been discovered.

3. Restore. Press the restore button and allow the phone to complete the restoration data. After it is done, select setup as a new phone.

4. Restore your backup (optional). Next, you can restore the phone again in the normal fashion (not DFU mode) using the most recent backup rather than setting up as a new phone. However, this may cause the original problem to return in some cases. If the problem returns, follow steps 1-3 again and do not restore your backup.

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Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: DFU, MMS, performance, software update

Comments

  1. mike w says

    November 13, 2010 at 5:52 AM

    Please help. my iphone keeps switching itself off. I then have to press the sleep/wake button to make it work again which results in a apple logo appearing for stupid amount of time, it will then start working again only for it to go off usually within seconds. It only does this when the charge/ usb is unplugged. It is now a completely unreliable phone unless i can get in rectified. Have tried to reset/restore/ dfu restore. nothing seems to work. please help.

    cheers Winnie.

    Reply
  2. Dave G says

    January 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    This worked for me after 3g stopped working in most places
    (but occassionally did work including in the Apple store).
    Interestingly the genius behind the counter concluded a new phone
    would be best but i insisted on a DFU restore after having read
    this article (I hadnt had a chance to try it myself before my appt
    so i thought i’d let them do it) and sure enough it came good! One
    less iPhone in the world and i can keep my 3GS with no extra costs.
    thanks all!

    Reply
  3. Hisham says

    December 26, 2011 at 8:06 AM

    i think that i have the same problem of mike w,i have iphone 3gs 4.1 jailbroken ,i have a problem my iphone keeps switching itself off. I then have to press the sleep/wake button to make it work again which results in a apple logo appearing for stupid amount of time, it will then start working again for minutes , i have no wifi,no cellular data, i can not make or receive calls also no bluetooth ,i tried to restore it to it is 4.1 using DFU mode and it lawyers give me error no.1013,i tried to upgrade without success ,please help.

    Hisham obeidat

    Reply
  4. Cynthia says

    July 11, 2012 at 7:48 PM

    I locked myself out of my iPhone 4. I can’t seem to get the correct passcode put in,so it’s saying disabled connect to iTunes. Is there any way to not erase everything and unlock my phone? I dont think i ever even backed this phone up before. So am I just screwed?

    Reply
  5. Anandi says

    August 27, 2012 at 5:36 PM

    I got iphone 4 in february 2011, and even before three months, it started showing problems and hence I had to get it replaced. Just couple of months later, it just switched off itself and would not just start, tried restoring and everything, but didnt help so then, i had to get it replaced, paid 150 dollars, and in just couple of weeks again, it does not have enough range for bluetooth, I have to practically keep the iphone near my mouth for the other party to hear me clearly. I guess apple just does not have the real quality phones that they claim they have and they have just set up this business of refurbished iPhones so that they keep on minting money through this way

    Reply
  6. Sarah says

    December 5, 2014 at 7:20 PM

    I have an IPhone 5C still under warranty. This is the second time i have to drive to the Apple Store that is 1hr away to get a new phone. I let my battery die like the Apple guy told me last time since i was charging it too fast he said i should let it die and then i connected it to the charger. In the morning i tried to turn it on and it would not work. A little bit later i clicked the home and the power button at the same time which fixed my phone for the day. At night i put my phone on the charger but i didn’t let it die completely this time so i left it on but on the charger. In the morning my phone was off and i couldn’t turn it back on again. I then left the phone with my Feonce who was able to get it to work for a little bit then when i got home it turned off by itself again and now i can’t get it back on and i spoke to apple support after 2hrs of being on the phone and 1 hr of that time was waiting for support to pick up the damn phone although it says “your wait time is 15min” complete bull shit. Apple support was not able to help me, i kept receiving error messages when trying to restore the phone. I now booked an appointment to receive a new phone. I also will loose all my bridal pictures which i was unable to backup and lost a lot of other important work data. I can honestly tell you that i hate Apple now.

    Reply
  7. Phoebe says

    February 7, 2015 at 9:03 AM

    My iPhone 5 ran out of charge, right before I was going to sleep and i had left it uncharged all night and in the morning I plugged it in for 2 hours and it still had not turned back on and it is still not on now, I’ve tried holding the lock and home button for 10-20 secs and still not working. Is it fully broke?

    Reply
  8. Ys says

    July 24, 2016 at 11:00 AM

    My iphne 5 is not working itried the different tip ang trick found here on the internet . Either im doing it wrong or all these tips not working. Still showing the apple logo after that it will just turn off once i plug it back to a charge or computer it will again show the apple logo. I tried the reboot it will show the itunes connect logo on the phone and thats it please help

    Reply

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