Some users have complained that they see the No Service message on their iPhones after upgrading to the latest iOS. When your iPhone or iPad says “No Service”, you can’t make or receive phone calls or send SMS/MMS text messages. And you can only connect to the internet using WiFi.
There are a few different options to address this No Service issue on your iPhone or iPad.
Contents
Check Your Coverage
Make sure that you’re in an area with cellular network coverage
- Check that cellular data is on in Settings > Cellular
- On your iPad, go to Settings > Cellular Data
- If you’re traveling internationally, set up data roaming
- Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Data Roaming
- Check your carrier plan for charges associated with data roaming before you turn it on
Toggle LTE Off
Quite a few readers tell us that turning off LTE helped their iPhones regain connectivity.
Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Option > Enable LTE > Off 
Turning LTE off usually indicates the problem is with nearby towers, so it’s a temporary problem. Once you move to a different area, try turning LTE back on and see if the problem goes away.
Reset Network Settings
- Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
- This resets WiFi networks and passwords, cellular settings, and VPN and APN settings so have them on-hand to re-enter
- This resets WiFi networks and passwords, cellular settings, and VPN and APN settings so have them on-hand to re-enter
Look For A Carrier Settings Update
- Connect to a WiFi or cellular network
- Tap Settings > General > About
- If an update is available, you see an option to update your carrier settings
- If an update is available, you see an option to update your carrier settings
Whenever you insert a new SIM card into your iPhone or iPad, you need to download the carrier settings for your new carrier.
Turn Off Cellular Data
Before proceeding to any complicated solutions, try to switch off the cellular data to “Off” in your settings by going to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data. 
Next, put your device to Airplane mode and then turn it off for a minute or so. Power back your iPhone, switch off your Airplane mode and then enable the Cellular data option. This should address the problem.
Restart your iPhone
Restart your iPhone X Series
- Press and hold the Side button and either volume button until the slider appears
- Drag the slider to turn your iPhone X completely off
- After your iPhone X turns off, press and hold the Side button again until you see the Apple logo
For older models with a Home Button
- Press and hold the Top or Side button until the slider appears
- Drag the slider to turn your device completely off
- After the device turns off, press and hold the Top (or Side) button again until you see the Apple logo
Using iOS 11 or Higher?
Turn off your device by going to Settings > General> Shut Down. Then power up normally. 
Discharge Your Phone or iPad Completely
A few readers discovered that by discharging their iPhones and then charging it back up to 100% fixed the No Service Problem for them.
To discharge your device quickly, disconnect it from any charging and play videos on auto-play to quickly drain the battery down.
Sim Card
The next option although takes a little effort has proved handy in the prior iOS versions when users faced this problem.
- Switch off your iPhone and remove the SIM Card from the SIM tray. To pop open the SIM tray, insert a paper clip or a SIM-eject tool into the hole beside the SIM tray
- Find the SIM tray on the right side of your iPhone 4-X Series
- Locate the SIM tray on the top for the original iPhone and Phone 3 series phones
- Find the SIM tray on the right side, near the bottom on iPads Air, Pro, Mini, and 5th generations
- Locate the SIM tray on the left side, near the top on iPad 2, 3G, 3rd generation, and 4th generation
- Next, Switch on your iPhone, unlock the device and insert back the SIM card back to the device
Suspect Water or Liquid Damage?
If your device recently got wet (or soaked) then it’s quite possible that there’s some serious water or liquid damage.
To check for water damage, look just inside your SIM tray to inspect the LCI ( Liquid Contact Indicators.) 
The LCI activates when it contacts any water or liquid, turning from white or silver to red.
Unfortunately, if your iDevice shows an active LCI, Apple will not repair it and liquid damage is not currently covered by Apple’s warranty!
Talk To Apple Support
If you tried everything listed and you still see the No Service indicator, it’s time to reach out to Apple. 
It’s possible that your iPhone has a hardware issue and repair or replacement is in order.
We recommend chatting with Apple Support online–it’s often the fastest way to get to a support team member.
However, if you want to meet face to face at an Apple Store or Apple Service Provider, see this article for steps on how to make a live appointment.
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the 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.
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After updating to iOS 13.2, cellular access is “no service”. Settings tells me I must update to get it back. Yet I’m at latest release. How do I fix?
1st time no update my phone my phone is running very good no celluer problem but 12.3.2 update is come and creat a big problem no serivce any process i am trying but could not any solution plz give me a solution plz i am businessman
My iPhone 5s was with GPS chip problems.
I downloaded iOS 12.1.2 and the GPS chip was damaged. So I removed it and I put my SIM back in my iPhone 5s.
huh, I think it’s a joke NO signal so to with even another network.
But now, it’s working! Maybe don’t need GPS chip any more after the update?
My husband had the same problem with his phone after the ios 12.0.1 upgrade.
He was on the phone with Verizon, did everything described here, nothing worked; went to apple and they sent it in for fixing and they want $300 for that.
Now guess what?! My daughter encountered the exact same problem with her phone just a day after all this happened.
She, too, upgraded to the latest ios about a week ago.
The problem is obviously their upgrade
I’ve tried ALL of these methods.
I’ve event tried a completely NEW SIM card and erasing the phone completely…. nothing works and now I’ve been sitting in an Apple store for an hour and 1/2 WAITING for someone to help.
Tic tock tic tock… time to get a non- apple device.
I hate it that I have a good phone but since it’s not working, I’m like beggar asking someone else to borrow their phone so I can make a phone call. I don’t understand why this software update is beneficial for my phone. All possible steps were taken but no service is just happening, so cant call, sms, nothing ….
Hi Zafar,
Yes, this makes an experience pretty miserable. It must be awful not being able to use your iPhone normally. A couple of things to check out. Does your iPhone work on other things besides phone calls–can you use the phone to play games, use the calculator or calendar, use other apps that don’t need a mobile network? Are you able to access the internet by connecting to a WiFi network? How about FaceTime, is that working for you?
What model of iPhone are you using?
See if there’s an update for your carrier settings. These settings update your phone network, hotspot, calling, voicemail, texting, and cellular data. You must connect to WiFi as carrier updates require the internet. Click on Settings>General>About. See if an update is available if so tap to update the settings.
Try this additional step:
Reset network settings by opening Settings>>General>>Reset>>Reset Network Settings>>Tap Reset Network Settings
Other people also report that had success by toggling LTE ON OR OFF (depending on what it is set at now). So toggle either On or Off, just the opposite of what you now have enabled, wait 20-30 seconds, and then toggle back to the original state (LTE ON or OFF)
Good Luck,
SK
I’m really unhappy with this iPhone and all its problems! I wish I could get my money back
Sim Card method worked. Thnaks
i hate it that you have a good phone but you are hanging around like a begger and asking somone to give you a phone to call non of these has helped me and i dont undrestand was this software update beneficial or made my whole phone a s***
I enabled LTE and got service back immediately
Dropping your phone works in most cases, however this is only a short-term fix. Almost in every case, the back antenna is dislocated and not connecting to the iphone back plate. You could either replace the whole antenna or make sure that the glue part still works.
It’s a $2 fix and usually takes 15min to replace the cellular antenna.
I’m also having this problem and none of these has worked. I’m currently abroad and won’t be back in my home country for another month so I really need to get this issue fixed. My service was working for the last three weeks, so this is completely out of the blue. I have tried restarting it, removing SIM card, turning on and off cellular and cellular roaming. The only thing I haven’t tried is reseting my phone, but I am wary of doing that in case it makes my phone literally useless. I doubt there are any T-Mobile stores in Italy, so if something is wrong with my SIM, I’m stuck.
I had the sam problem here, and tried all known tricks to fix this.. sometimes resetting network settings does the trick, but often not for long.. The no service keeps coming back once or twice a day. Today just by luck (and frustration) i found a way to get signals back more quickly.. i powered off my phone and hold down the home button, and voila signal is back. This has worked several times now, and i don´t have a clue why i keep missing signals. All i know is that i did an update on operator settings, and this shit started to happened.. Of course my network operator blames my Iphone, and Apple blames my network operator and here we are as customers in the middle without signals 🙂
But try this trick.. power off from a unlocked home screen and hold down home button until the power off slide disappear
I believe I figured out something crazy today, and I’m hoping that at least one of you can help me confirm my theory. Do any of you have service with Verizon or Sprint (or any CDMA company) that are having this problem? The reason I ask is because I have service with Verizon, and CDMA phones cannot be on a phone call and on the internet at the same time, unless the phone is connected to wifi. Earlier, I was on the phone with my girlfriend, and she said she wanted to send me a picture on facebook. I told her I wouldn’t get it until we hung up, because I wasn’t on wifi, and I couldn’t access the cellular internet while on the phone with her. She sent the picture, and to my surprise, I GOT IT! While still on the phone with her, I then accessed safari and was able to navigate around. I could also go to e-mail or any other cellular data function while still on the phone with her. I then called my sister and my best friend (both iPhone users and both Verizon users) and I had them try to access the internet while we were on the phone and not connected to wifi. Neither of them could do it, but I still could.
Sooooo, here is my theory: I believe that the CDMA chips in the phone are going bad, which would explain a lot about the fact that turning airplane mode on and off and resetting network settings and such work for a little while. I also believe that my GSM chips are still functioning and are picking up the slack for the CDMA, which explains being able to get on the internet while on a phone call. I think the reverse is happening for people with GSM carriers, but there’s no simple way for me to test it for GSM.
Basically, if any of you have a CDMA carrier, will you please try to make a phone call and get on the internet while you’re on that phone call and see if it works? If it works for you, then chances are that the reverse is true for GSM people.
Tomorrow I’m going to AT&T to get a prepaid plan. I actually tried to go today right before I figured all of this out, but they were closed. I really need both carriers for work anyway, because I drive for a living, and where Verizon doesn’t have service, AT&T usually does. I’ll let you know if switching to GSM solves my problems. If it does, I plan to forward my Verizon calls to the new AT&T number until my upgrade date.
Update: Turns out the fix was short-lived. I just lost service again. Oh well – will keep trying.
After trying everything I could think of, and then spending 2 hours at the Genius bar, I was resigned to the fact that it was a hardware issue that was causing the “No Service” problem on my iPad. But I as I was restoring my backup after a complete reset, I noticed that for a brief time I had service. I then thought that it must be a software glitch so did more searching online (I had already exhausted the Apple Support pages), and found the solution above.
Eureka! The “Turn off cellular data” fix worked for me.
None of these 3 solutions have worked for me. Thank you.