Basic Troubleshooting Steps for iPhone
iPhones are sensitive little creatures, sometimes a little bit stubborn but fortunately, they are also pretty easy to debug. If you've got any type of issue with your iPhone, here are a few basic troubleshooting steps that might just fix it and save you a lot of headaches.
1. Reboot
We don't often think about rebooting our phones for no reason, but we also often forget that iPhones are mini-computers and a little reboot every now and then never hurt anyone.
2. Hard reset
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: Press and quickly release the volume up button, then do the same thing with the volume down button.
Press and hold the power button until you see the Apple logo, then release.
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus: Press and hold both the power button and the volume down button at the same time until you see the Apple logo, then release.
iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, SE and older generations: Press and hold both the power button and the menu button at the same time until you see the Apple logo, then release.
3. Verify that your OS is up-to-date
Verify if a software update is available for your iPhone:
Settings > General > Software Update
Proceed with the update if available.
4. Reset all settings
When to do it?
This is a useful step when you find yourself with any kind of setting issue like notifications, sounds, display, etc.
What does it do?
You don't have to worry, this will not erase your photos, text messages, nothing like that. The only thing it will erase are your settings: notifications, sounds, brightness preferences, etc., all these settings will be reset to default. That said, if you are someone who spends way too much time customizing your settings like me, it might be worth doing a little backup beforehand. If you don't even know what settings I'm talking about, then go ahead and proceed without fear.
Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
4. Reset all network settings
When to do it?
Proceed with this step when you find yourself with any kind of network issue, we're talking calls, data, WiFi, etc.
What does it do?
This will obviously reset all your network settings to default - that includes your saved WiFi passwords, so make sure you have your home and work WiFi passwords written down elsewhere before proceeding.
Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Network Settings
5. Restore iPhone
If all the previous steps failed and your iPhone is still acting up, it means that your software is corrupted and you need to restore your iPhone to its factory settings. Some will advise to reset and erase all settings directly from your iPhone, but personally I think this is a useless step.
If you are ready to erase all your phone anyway, you're better off doing a full restore as it will not only just erase all the information on your phone, but it will completely wipe the corrupted OS and install a new one which is a lot more likely to succeed in fixing your issue. From what I've seen in my previous experience working for Apple, this fixes over 90% of the iPhone software issues.
6. Exchange or repair
If you did a full restore of your iPhone and restored your iCloud backup and the issue persists, you gotta start thinking about replacing your phone. Contact Fido's awesome reps to learn about your options.
