How to Restore an iPhone That Hangs on the Apple Screen

by Dan Stone, Demand Media

Resetting or restoring an iPhone can fix boot-screen hang-ups.

If your iPhone has hung up on the Apple Screen when booting, perform a battery-cycle reboot, or a "reset," to get the device to fully shut down and load iOS again. Resetting is different from restarting the phone because the device does not fully power down when simply restarting. If the iPhone continues to hang up when you turn it on, the phone can be fixed by entering recovery mode, or DFU mode, and performing a restore. Restoring an iPhone clears all of the saved data and apps on the device.

Step 1

Press and hold the "Home" and "Power" buttons at the same time, and wait for the screen to go black. The process should take about 10 seconds.

Step 2

Wait for the iPhone to restart. If the phone doesn't restart on its own, press and hold the power button again

Step 3

Let the iPhone load iOS. If the phone doesn't load into iOS after 10 minutes, the phone will likely need to be restored to work again.

Step 1

Open iTunes on the computer, and connect the iPhone to the USB adapter.

Step 2

Press and hold the "Home" and "Power" buttons on the iPhone for 10 seconds.

Step 3

Let go of the "Power" button, and continue to hold the "Home" button for another five seconds. The screen should remain black. If the phone pops-up with a message saying "Plug into iTunes," the process should be repeated again from step 2.

Step 4

Click "OK" on the pop-up window on the computer that indicates "iTunes Has Detected an iPhone in Recovery Mode" to start the iPhone restoration process. An iTunes restore will return the iPhone to the newest version of iOS available for the device.

Step 1

Connect the USB cable to the computer and load iTunes.

Step 2

Press and hold the "Home" and "Power" buttons at the same time for 10 seconds to force the iPhone to shut down.

Step 3

Release the "Power" button, and continue to hold the "Home" button.

Step 4

Connect the USB cable to the iPhone.

Step 5

Continue holding the "Home" button until a message pops up about detecting a device in recovery mode.

Step 6

Release the home button, and click "OK" on the iPhone.

Step 7

Follow the on-screen instructions to recover the iPhone.

Things Needed

• Computer
• ITunes software
• USB connection cable

Tip

• If the phone takes five or more minutes to load into iOS and performs choppy after a reset, the phone is likely experiencing issues with iOS. To fix an iPhone experiencing this problem, back up the phone in iTunes, restore the phone to factory settings and restore the phone to the backup point in iTunes to keep from losing all of the data stored on the device.

Warning

• Restoring an iPhone without performing a backup beforehand will permanently erase all data stored on the device.

References (10) 

About the Author

Dan Stone started writing professionally in 2006, specializing in education, technology and music. He is a web developer for a communications company and previously worked in television. Stone received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a Master of Arts in communication studies from Northern Illinois University.

Photo Credits

• Matt Cardy/Getty Images News/Getty Images