A black screen after updating your iPhone to a new version of iOS can be a frustrating experience. There’s no need to rush to the Apple Store just yet! This issue can have various causes, but sometimes it’s a simple glitch or incompatibility with a recently installed app. In this guide, we’ll walk you through a series of troubleshooting steps you can take to diagnose and fix the black screen on your iPhone and get it back in working order.
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Contents
Use Siri To Increase the Screen Brightness
For those moments when you need a quick brightness adjustment but don’t want to fumble through menus, Siri offers a hands-free solution. Here’s how to command Siri to bump up that screen brightness:
- Activate Siri by either saying “Hey Siri” (if you have it enabled) or by holding the side button on your iPhone.
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“Increase screen brightness”
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“Make the screen brighter”
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“Turn up the brightness”
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“Set brightness to [percentage]” (For example, “Set brightness to 75%”)
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- Siri will immediately adjust the display brightness and might give a verbal confirmation of the change.
If Siri seems unable to change your brightness, make sure you haven’t accidentally disabled Siri’s access to Settings. You can check and adjust this in your iPhone’s Settings app under Siri & Search.
Force Restart Your iPhone
Force restarting your iPhone can be slightly challenging as it requires executing the steps swiftly and in the correct order.
- Press the Volume Up button and release.
- Press the Volume Down button and release.
- Press and hold the Side button for 10-15 seconds until your iPhone reboots.
If your iPhone doesn’t reboot after following the above steps, you may need to press the buttons more quickly in sequence. Timing is crucial to ensure the iPhone understands the action you’re attempting to perform.
Try Connecting to a Computer
Encountering a black screen on your iPhone after an iOS update can be a disheartening experience, leaving you cut off from your digital world. However, before you consider drastic measures, there’s a straightforward technique that could breathe life back into your device: connecting it to a computer.
Sometimes, all it takes is to connect your iPhone to your computer using an Apple MFi-certified charging cable. In many instances, this will help to turn your iPhone screen back on, or will let you know if there are other issues.
Change the Display Zoom
While there are several methods to troubleshoot this issue, one often overlooked solution is adjusting the Display Zoom settings. This fix can be particularly effective if the black screen is not due to a hardware failure but rather a glitch within the software, potentially triggered by the update.
- Navigate to Settings: Open the ‘Settings’ app from your home screen.
- Display & Brightness: Scroll down and tap on ‘Display & Brightness’.
- View: Under the ‘Display Zoom’ section, tap on ‘View’.
- Choose Standard or Zoomed: You’ll be presented with two options, ‘Standard’ and ‘Zoomed’. If your iPhone is set to ‘Zoomed’, try switching to ‘Standard’ or vice versa. This action can reset any display issues caused by the software update.
While a black screen on your iPhone post-update can stem from various issues, adjusting the Display Zoom settings offers a quick and straightforward troubleshooting step. This method is particularly useful for addressing software-related glitches and can be performed without the need for professional assistance.
Reset All Settings, Without Erasing Your iPhone
This method essentially reverts all the settings and preferences you’ve adjusted throughout your ownership of the iPhone or iPad. In practice, this means that if you’ve ever activated a feature by toggling it on, executing this reset will restore the device’s settings to their original state, just as they were when you first unboxed your iPhone or iPad.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap General.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone (iPad).
- Tap the Reset button at the bottom of the page.
- Tap Reset All Settings.
- Enter your passcode if prompted.
Turn Off Auto Brightness
Sometimes, after an iOS update, the auto brightness calibration might get temporarily disrupted. This could lead to the sensor misinterpreting the lighting conditions, causing the screen to appear completely black even in a well-lit environment.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Navigate to Accessibility.
- Tap on Display & Text Size.
- Locate the toggle switch next to Auto-Brightness and turn it off.
- Manually adjust the screen brightness using the slider below the toggle switch.
If the screen comes back on after turning off auto brightness, you can try the following:
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Restart your iPhone: A simple restart can often resolve temporary software glitches.
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Adjust the brightness manually: Find a comfortable level using the brightness slider in Settings.
Delete Any Recently Installed Apps
Experiencing a black screen on your iPhone after updating to a new version of iOS can be nerve-wracking. Don’t panic! This issue can have several causes, but one potential culprit is incompatibility with recently installed apps.
- Go to your iPhone’s Home screen and locate the app you suspect might be causing problems.
- Tap and hold the app icon until a menu appears.
- Select “Delete App” or the small “x” in the corner of the icon.
- Confirm the deletion if prompted.
Once you’ve uninstalled the suspected app(s), restart your iPhone. This allows your device to fully boot up without the potentially problematic app running in the background.
Enter Recovery Mode
To put an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in recovery mode you need to connect it to a computer and force restart the device. When you do this correctly, a computer or iTunes icon appears on the display. Your computer also recognizes a device in recovery mode.
- Connect your device to a computer using an Apple-certified USB cable.
- Quickly press and release the Volume Up button.
- Quickly press and release the Volume Down button.
- Press and hold the Side or Top button.
- Your iPhone or iPad will restart, keep holding the Side or Top button until it enters recovery mode.
Try Putting Your iPhone in DFU Mode
For those very rare occasions, when you need to put your iPhone into DFU mode in order to troubleshoot or restore your iPhone completely using your Mac, here are the sequence of steps. As a note, the Volume and Side button sequences need to be done faster for the Recovery mode to show up properly.
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If this is your first time physically plugging your iPhone into your computer, wait for the “Trust This Computer” prompt to appear. Once it does, tap the Trust button.
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- Press the Volume Up button and release.
- Press the Volume Down button and release.
- Press and hold the Side Button for 10 seconds.
- While holding the Side Button, press and hold the Volume Down button for 5 seconds.
- Let go of the Side Button, but continue holding the Volume Down button for 10 more seconds.
If you have successfully entered DFU mode with your iPhone, then the screen should remain black on your iPhone. You won’t see any prompts on the screen, allowing you to proceed using your Mac.
Conclusion
If you’ve meticulously followed these steps and your iPhone remains stuck on a black screen, don’t despair. There are still a couple of options. First, consider backing up your data (if possible) and performing a factory reset on your iPhone. This will erase all data and settings, so be sure to back up beforehand.
If you’re uncomfortable with these steps or the issue persists, it’s best to contact Apple Support for further assistance. Remember, keeping your iPhone updated with the latest iOS versions and avoiding app installations from untrusted sources can help prevent similar issues in the future.
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
radwimpsss says
I have the same problem before,and i try the methods that you mention above,but it didn’t work,and then my friend recommend me TunesKit iOS System Recovery for Mac,it repair my issues safely and efficiently with no data loss.
Martha Woodworth says
HI. Not sure what’s going on with my iphone. I wanted to sync it to my computer so I plugged it into the back of my desktop (iMac) and it showed that fifteen hundred images were downloaded. I don’t know what happened…but when I removed my phone from the computer after it finished downloading, the screen was black and though I plugged it into my USB port on the floor under my computer two hours ago, it hasn’t returned. If I try to force-restart, the white apple screen does show up with the logo for a few seconds, then reverts back to black. I have tried every forced restart recommended, and the same thing happens with all of them: logo on white screen suddenly comes on, then disappears into black screen mode again. Any thoughts? I can’t help wondering if I didn’t drain the phone’s battery by plugging it into my computer and all that downloading from three years ago that I never intended to happen…help!
Cynthia says
Problem with the camera. My I-pad is fine when I turn it as if to take a selfie.
However in regular camera mode. The screen is black, except on the left-hand side of the screen I have a line with + and – top & bottom, on the right it gives options which when presses alter nothing, but every few moments I get a box with a yellow outline which appears in the middle????
Barbara Frew says
When retrieving mail from my home screen the mail opens to folders and then screen turns back and then goes back to my home screen . I have tried the forced restart . All my other apps are working properly
Shanti Veluri says
My scrabble app screen is black. Not able to return to the game. With this isolation I need to keep my brain active. I am 73 years old.
Elizabeth Jones says
HI Shanti,
Is it just this one app that is black or are you unable to see any apps?
If just that one app, try closing it and then relaunching. It might have gotten stuck or frozen.
1. On an iPhone or an iPad with no home button from the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause slightly in the middle of the screen
2. On an iDevice with a home button, double-click the Home button and swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close
3. Swipe right or left to locate the Scrabble app you want to close
4. Swipe up on the Scrabble app’s preview to close it
5. Restart your iPad
6. Try tapping open Scrabble app again
If the behavior continues, first try to update the app and if no update is available, delete and reinstall the Scrabble app.
Open the Settings > General > Storage. In the list of apps, tap the Scrabble app, then tap Offload app. Tap Offload app again. Wait a moment for the app to offload, then tap Reinstall App.
My iPad updated to 13.3.1 today and the screen went black.
Voiceover turned on, and it says “screen dimmed.”
I can’t find any way to un-dim a black screen anywhere online.
Connecting with iTunes did nothing, iTunes update did nothing, forced restart did nothing, attempting to boot into DFU mode did nothing, restore did nothing, and I tried each of these several times.
iTunes shows the battery as 100% charged.
My iPhone pairs with the iPad via Bluetooth and prompts me to set up the iPad via my phone, but that’s impossible with a black screen because the phone wants me to either photograph a pattern of squares on the iPad screen (which is solid black) or enter a code on the iPad screen (which is solid black).
It doesn’t help that I’m in a country that does not have a real Apple store.
Hi Tim,
Try asking Siri to brighten the screen: “Hey Siri, brighten the screen”–you may need to repeat this process a few times.
Kind of hard to do any of these suggestions when you can’t see what’s on the screen and phone appears to be frozen. What’s even more irritating is that this is an iPhone 11.
I have an iPhone six and everytime I try to go on an a game/media the screen turns black.
The screen freezes when I press reset so that doesn’t help and it also won’t connect to wifi.
Help is very much appreciated.
Hi there,
First, close all open apps by double pressing the home button, and then swiping up off the top of your screen ALL open apps until all you see is the home screen.
Then restart.
Try a game app and see if it now works.
If not, close that game app using the steps to close an app as listed above.
Then, force restart your iPhone by pressing the home and power buttons at the same time and maintain this hold until the apple logo appears on-screen, then release.
Once it powers up, try the game app again.
If it’s still not working, connect your iPhone 6 to its charger and plug into a wall outlet. Let it charge for at least 12 hours (such as overnight) without any interruptions or use.
Then try a game app again.
If it’s still not working, set-up an appointment with Apple and have them run diagnotics on your iPhone.
Hello, I have a problem with IOS 12 – black screen after beta update. My device is iPhone X. This is complicated, when my device got into black screen, I tried to enter the password blindly (I wish I didn’t) after wrong Face ID identification. I did false 8 entry and my device says ‘iphone is disabled try again in 15 minutes’ after I tried to force restart and in 3 seconds the text dissapear and black screen turns again. Please help me.. I connect iTunes with the device but it can’t see the iPhone probably cause of iphone is disabled error and I cannot restore.. Guys please help this poor man I don’ know what to do…
Yikes, Thats a pain for sure. I’m assuming you are running iOS 12 Public beta 2/3.
If you are using iOS 12 Public beta, try and download Xcode 10 beta 3 and then restart your mac , iTunes and see if it recognizes your iPhone X in order for you to do a restore.
If the Restore options are missing or your device is not showing up on the iTunes screen, press and hold the side button on your iPhone X past the Apple Logo and the restore functionality should appear on your iTunes screen. Let us know.
I also hate these troubles with a black screen. The last time I`ve got such issue, I`ve found some useful tips here
Try to use some of them. Some of the advices surely work.
I just encountered the black screen issue on my iPhone X after updating to an iOS Beta version. I tried almost every solution mentioned in the list above including restoring iOS and then restoring data, in the end, resetting all settings was the only thing that worked. I just had to setup my WiFi passwords and FaceID and Pass code later.
I have the black screen of death with the Apple logo on my iPhone. I was reading a New York Times article on FB when my phone turned into a brick.
I have tried the hard start – no success. | I have tried plugging it into iTunes. Message comes up that phone is locked. Which can’t be unlocked as the phone is dead. No success. | I tried rebooting the computer then opening iTunes then plugging the phone in – same message. No success.
My phone was updated only 3 days ago. I also changed the screen from normal to large. The apps I use are the same I’ve used for the last 12 months.
Bullet point 2 did it for me. The screen kept blacking out when i cover the top of the screen. Changed the date and time to manual, then to a date in the past, reset, and changed back to automatic. Hey presto. Now works great with no black screen issues – very strange but happy.
My IPhone 8 goes black everytime i turn it sideways. What should i do ?
Hi Andrea,
Wow, that’s an unusual problem. Let’s see if a setting is causing the issue. First, backup your iPhone 8 via iCloud or iTunes. Then, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings and reset all your settings. This function removes any stored WiFi passcodes, wallpapers, and other features you customized, returning them to their factory settings. It does NOT remove any data, like photos, texts, and other documents and app data.
See if resetting your settings makes a difference.
Some things to note:
Does this happen on certain apps only? If so, try uninstalling those apps and see if the problem goes away. If so, reinstall the app and see if its latest update solves the issue. If not, contact the app developer and let them know there is a bug causing this issue
Does the problem occur only some of the time? If so, take note of what you are doing just before it happens and report this to Apple Support
Since your iPhone is still under Apple’s limited 1-year warranty, contact Apple Support in your home country.
Good luck,
SK
After my last update my iPhone is having difficulty opening up. I have a black screen. No matter what buttons I press my camera is activated and takes photos of my screen although I see black. Hope you can help me. I have an IPhone 6
Hi Sharon,
Sorry to hear about your issues with your iPhone, that’s terrible and must feel very frustrating and scary. The best solution is to connect to iTunes and see if it recognizes your device–if so, backup your device first and then either update it via iTunes or choose to restore it with that backup.
SK
I have it plugged into my computer with iTunes on – it isn’t repeatedly asking me to allow my computer access to my phone. Which is frustrating because with a black screen there’s nothing you can do. Meanwhile my alarm keeps going off
Hi Holly,
Try disconnecting your device from iTunes and your computer, closing iTunes, restarting your computer, re-launch iTunes, and connect your iDevice to iTunes while holding down the Home Button. Does this bring up any options in iTunes to Update or Restore?
SK
The newer iPhones have really bad quality. I bought an iPhone 8 just last month. My phone suddenly went black while charging and resetting the phone didn’t work. Went to Apple service center and saw that it was packed with people. The technician ended up giving me a new phone after waiting for a day. Saw that many people had the exact same problem as me.
Hi S,
That’s terrible! I hope your new iPhone is working better and that the black screen bug was just a bad unit.
Thanks for letting us know your story,
SK
Thanks @Kiran thats exactly what I was thinking too! If the screen is black, it wont respond to anything except the forced restart.
If the screen is black out then how will we go to settings>> General etc. etc. Screen is black out then how will we connect with the iTune on laptop or Mac as it asked if the system is secure or not and we have to allow or dont allow but we can’t as we cant see anything on screen.
YESS, I tried everything before this and nothing worked.. this was the most recent because I have a 8+ and the other websites were not updated !! Thanks so muchhh!!!!!!
Hi Tiah,
Awesome. Thanks for letting us know.
SK
theres two problem with me one with the first of my phones i phone 6s start yesterday to change the battery from 1% to 30% when i put it in the charger its restarted alone so i let it a bit and its bring strange yellow full screen after this its totale die no bower nothing !!! … i tried to fix it by the bower and the menu but did not help …. sec one i phone 6 and just right now i was watching video and its become full black screen !!!!!
I was able to fix mine by going into Setting>general>reset all SETTINGS, it does not clear data
Hello Mr. Smith,
Thank you for sharing what worked for you! Resetting your settings often helps with quite a bit of problems.
Cheers,
SK
my iPhone 5 just blacked out. I tried pressing the home and power button but nothing is popping up, when I plugged it to my laptop it says its in recovery mode. please help!
Hi Amber,
You may actually be pressing the home and power button for too long and initiating DFU mode.
My suggestion is to unplug your iPhone from your laptop, charge it up via a wall outlet (not a computer), and then try to restart. If nothing happens, try a forced restart by pressing and holding the home button and the power button until the Apple Logo appears on-screen, then release it.
If nothing helps, your iPhone may indeed need to go into recovery mode. Follow the steps in this article–hopefully, you have a recent backup (iCloud or iTunes) available.
Let us know what happens,
Liz
This solved my recent problems with my iPhone 8 constantly resetting itself and not being able to get anything (ANYTHING!) done on my phone. Thx
my iphone x update to new ios 11.2 then ican’t screenshoot . new iphone x xxxxx.
Hi Sunnydo,
Please try a forced restart and see if this clear your problem with not being able to take screenshots. Tap the link to get direction on how to force a restart for the iPhone X.
SK
I use iPhone 5s. After 2 days of updating iOS 11, my phone didn’t open (black screen). When i connected my phone with computer using itunes it detected my phone in recovery mode and i restored it again and it opened. But since that my phone turns off automatically twice or more time daily and i can open it by pressing both of Sleep and Home buttons for about 10-15 seconds. How i can fix this problem??
Hi Nirob,
Please update your iPhone 5S to iOS 11.2. There is a known bug in the earlier update that’s causing a resetting issue like you describe on some phones. Apple released iOS 11.2 early to specifically address this issue. To learn more about the issue, check out this article.
SK
the steps did fix the blackout problem and phone worked great for 24 hours. However once I adjusted the date/time to be current the problem shows up again. Hoping the latest system update will help.
hey it worked. thank you.
Thank you so much! My iPhone 6 has been blacking out every few seconds since this evening and I was able to fix it using your tips!
I was scepticle but the issue was fixed by the end of the fourth bullet point, and I had to delete yahoo mail as I kept getting a pop up error abou the server not being verified. It was rough going though because the phone kept going to the black screen with spinner then to lock screen while I was trying to do it, but I finally got fast enough to get it done.
My iphone 8 goes to clack and then restarts on its own within seconds. How do I stop this?
Hi Laurie,
Oh, my that’s terrible! Please check out these tips and see if it solves these problems.
SK
Yes! Power+Home+Volume down button worked for me. Thank you a million times over!
I am SO SO grateful as a 65 year old NON techy woman …………I just managed to switch on my I phone 5 by holding the down button, home button and on/off button……….. am just so grateful and I want you to know that
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS IF MY SCREEN IS BLACK YOU BOZOS
I have same issue and it make me so annoying and have to swift it off and on again, it’s really border cause i have to search and retrieve all info in my message all the time, when it gone blank inself i can’t carry my work anymore..
I am thinking to reformat my iPhone 6 Plus. My Previous Iphone 4s having same problem and after I reformatted it, it’s ok, anyway I seldom use it the message is still there until today. Thank you
I had the same problem and found the solution at last. Nothing listed here fixed the issue but I noticed I had gibberish in the spelling corrector suggestion band right on top of the keyboard when in the SMS screen, so all I did is to go SETTINGS > GENERAL > RESET (the last item at bottom) > “Reset Keyboard Dictionary” and confirm. I’m not sure how the dictionary got corrupted, maybe the kids typed a bunch of characters in there, but it was very very long strings of mixed characters and it looks like it made the iPhone hang on black screens when switching between apps. I didn’t even have to reboot the phone, been using it for an hour in various apps and it’s is back to normal! Hope it helps somebody else 🙂
This sucks
This junk 6s plus goes black after i slide to unlock and huge app icons appeared and no status bar?? Tried everything so I smashed the new 128 gb!! Problems solved, well wasted money lol
Power+Home+Volumen Down button option worked for me on iphone 4s with iOS 7.1
Thanks
YOU’RE A LIFESAVER
guys please help me. my iphone 4s auto updated to ios 9.2 and my screen went black. i can hear siri but i can’t do anything because i can’t see anything. help me pleaseeee :((
my iphone 4s is open but the screen is black. i have auto update. can someone help me please 🙁
I am having this issue on my 6S – with a completely black unresponsive screen – with Siri randomly saying he did’ catch that. I did not do any of the steps to recreate the problem. The alarm I set went off and I turned the alarm off. I didn’t do anything else, yet 30 minutes later the phone screen is black.
The steps above are worthless with a black unresponsive screen. I can’t even force a power down.
Same here. How can I take steps to remedy when the screen is totally black?
I had this issue but it only occurs when I have bluetooth switched on, I have to switch it off when I’m not in the car and the phone is fine. Be nice if Apple could sort this out though!
Experienced the problem on a 4S.
I tried all the above things in my iPhone 5 (iOS 9.0.2). But no use.
After changing the settings, I switched off and then after switching on again, It is black again. Even the Apple logo is not seen while starting the phone. !!
What if you have vision issues and require the zoomed feature..
I’ve have searched the web and finally somebody admits that this problem exists! Non of the above works, I have to turn the phone off and on again for certain apps to work. Now I’ll refrain from using the occasional “Call wife” voice command 🙂
Awesome – had this issue for weeks now since updating 5c to IOS9; every time I would open an app the screen would blackout and i’d have to close and reopen. All solved by just switching on Siri!!!
My Iphone 5 is doing this.
It’s doing it with ALL apps, even the inbuilt ones so deleting and re-installing apps isn’t a solution.
As already said. All the stated solutions only work until using voice command (in the car for me) which is almost EVERY time I’m in the car. This problem is very annoying and needs to be addressed.
i have a simmilar issue. i”ve tried everything. can”t fix it. everytime when i turn it on the apple logo appears fur less than a second and then dissapear. but i can hear it turning on. i can remote acces the phone via itool but can”t solve the problem. i have an iphone 4s updated to ios 9.0.2 . can i downgrade to 8.4.1 to solve the problem at least?
I have experienced the same issue except that it only happens to me after the phone has been left out in the car all day and the phone is hot.
Many thanks!!! The first method solved this annoying issue.
Glad to love iOS 9… now! 🙂
i have the same issue.
I have the same issue with my iPhone 6.
I ‘ve tried everything that you describe and none of them are a solution.
They temporary solutions until you use voice commands again.
Thank you, it solved my problem