If an iPhone X is frozen or behaving badly, start with a normal restart. A force restart is different: it is intended for a phone that will not respond to ordinary controls. Neither procedure is the same as erasing or factory-resetting the iPhone.
Restart an iPhone X normally
- Hold the side button and either volume button until the power-off slider appears.
- Drag the slider and wait for the iPhone to shut down.
- Hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
Force restart an unresponsive iPhone X
- Quickly press and release Volume Up.
- Quickly press and release Volume Down.
- Press and keep holding the side button.
- Release the side button when the Apple logo appears.
A force restart does not intentionally delete your data. If you actually need to erase the phone for sale or troubleshooting, use the separate erase/reset controls in Settings after making sure important information is backed up.