Recovery DFU-mode: force restart iPhone & iPad

Apple has changed approach to force restart iPhone after iPhone 8 and iPhone X releases. These adjustments came up only in year after alike changes were made for iPhone 7 which was the very first iOS device Apple didn’t involve a Home button in force restart or hard reset.

Force restart iPhone is not the only thing these adjustments impacted on. Proceedings for enter recovery-mode on iPhone & iPad, as well as enter DFU mode, were changed too. Our short video guide will give you the insight on how these adjustments actually look like.

As you can see in the video, iOS 11.1 second beta release brought changes as for SOS or emergency dialing on iPhone 8. Starting with this iOS version, pressing and holding the Side button (aka Sleep/Wake button) and any of volume buttons activates the SOS dialing feature.

Force Restart iPhone

Hard reset or force restart iPhone will be executed if you press and release Volume Up button, then press and release Volume Down button, and finally press and hold the Side button till you see the black screen which means your iPhone reboots. All aforementioned steps should be made quickly one after other. Force restart iPhone will be performed after 10 seconds long the Side button holding.

Step-by-step guide on how to enter recovery – mode on iPhone & iPad

1. Use Lightning USB cable and connect the iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC.
2. Press and release the Volume Up button. Press and release the Volume Down button. Press and hold the Side button. Hold it until you see the black screen and your iPhone will reboot. DO NOT release the Side button even when Apple logo comes up on the screen. Wait till iTunes logo appears.
3. Once iTunes logo shows up on the screen, release the Side button.
4. Launch iTunes on your Mac or PC. Following message should appear on the screen: “There is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored”. Here is where you should select Restore or Update the iPhone’s software.

Step-by-step guide on how to enter DFU mode on iPhone & iPad

1. Use Lightning USB cable and connect the iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC.
2. Press and release the Volume Up button. Press and release the Volume Down button. Press and hold the Side button. Hold it for about 10 seconds until you see the black screen.
3. Keep holding the Side button, press and hold the Volume Down button for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, release the Side button but keep on holding the Volume Down button for 10 seconds more. The screen should be black throughout this process.
4. Launch iTunes on your Mac or PC. You’ll see the following message: “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes”.

Guide on how to exit recovery-mode or DFU mode on iPhone & iPad

Recovery-mode or DFU mode exit is easy to do if you don’t face any issues about your iPhone or iPad operating.

How to exit recovery mode?

Press and hold the Side button until the Connect to iTunes logo disappears.

How to exit DFU mode:

Press and release the Volume Up button then press and release the Volume Down button. Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo shows up on the screen.

Please note that exit DFU mode approach works for exit recovery-mode too. So, if you want to make things easier, you can remember this approach for both modes exit.

Starting with iPhone 8, both recovery and DFU processes look more complicated in comparison with previous models. However, it is still easy to perform for an average user. All you have to do is just following the guides presented above or watching the video we made for you.

Please feel free to share your opinion or comments on new approaches to force restart, recovery and DFU modes for iPhone or iPad. We appreciate each and every insight and feedback.