If an iPhone is frozen and does not respond to normal touches or button presses, use a force restart. This does not erase the phone.
- Quickly press and release Volume Up.
- Quickly press and release Volume Down.
- Press and hold the side button.
- Keep holding the side button until the Apple logo appears, then release it.
This button sequence applies to iPhone 8 and later. If the iPhone still will not start, charge it and try again; persistent problems may require recovery mode or hardware service.
If the labels on your screen differ slightly, use Settings search or the app’s current menus to find the named feature. Apple sometimes moves controls between iOS releases, so follow the feature name rather than an unrelated setting with similar wording.