Nobody’s perfect, and neither is the iPhone. Apple makes some of the best smartphones available today, but the white screen is a recurring problem on some models, such as the iPhone 4, 5, 7, 8 and X.
Many users assume that a white screen (or a white screen with the black Apple logo in the middle) is a serious problem, so they rush to a repair center without thinking twice.
If this has happened to your iPhone, stay calm: it is more common, and often easier to fix, than you might think.
The most common reasons for a white screen
Every fault has a cause behind it. If you’re worried about the white screen on your iPhone, here are the most common reasons, so you can understand where the problem comes from.
Failed software updates
Sometimes the iPhone crashes while updating its operating system, and the result is the famous white screen.
It can also happen when someone tries to jailbreak the iPhone, that is, remove Apple’s restrictions so they can install apps from outside the App Store.
Hardware problem
Another cause of the white screen is the hardware itself. Sometimes it is simply a component failing after years of use. In other cases, the cable that connects the logic board to the screen may have come loose, which is quite likely if the phone has been dropped several times.
What to do when your iPhone is stuck on a white screen
Now that you know the main causes of the white screen, let’s see how to fix it.
Three-finger trick
Sometimes the problem isn’t really a white screen, but the Zoom accessibility feature switched on by accident. The screen is zoomed in so far on something white that it looks as if the phone has frozen.
It’s worth a try: double-tap the screen with three fingers. If the screen was zoomed in, it will return to normal.
To turn off Zoom, go to Settings > Accessibility > Zoom and switch it off (on older versions of iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom).
Force restart your iPhone
A forced restart is often an effective way to solve problems on electronic devices, and it doesn’t erase your data.
On older iPhones with a Home button, a well-known fix for the white screen is to press and hold the Home, Volume Up and Power buttons together until the screen turns off and comes back on with the Apple logo. If that doesn’t work, use the standard forced restart for your model, described below.
As you may know, some iPhone models don’t have a Home button, and on others the button works differently, so the restart process varies slightly.
From the original iPhone up to the iPhone 6s:
- Press and hold the Home and Power buttons together until the screen flashes and the Apple logo appears;
- On the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, press and hold Volume Down and the side button instead.
On the iPhone 8, X, XS, XR and later models, do the following:
- Press and release the volume up button;
- Press and release the volume down button;
- Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
Recovery mode
If the previous tips haven’t solved the problem, the next step is recovery mode.
Recovery mode lets you reinstall iOS from a computer. It offers two options: Update, which reinstalls iOS while keeping your data, and Restore, which erases everything on the iPhone and only lets you get your data back from a backup. Always try Update first.
To use recovery mode, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, use Finder instead of iTunes. Then:
- Turn off your iPhone;
- Plug the cable into your iPhone, but not into the computer yet;
- This step depends on your model:
- iPhone 6s and earlier: press and hold the Home button while you connect the cable to the computer;
- iPhone 7 and 7 Plus: press and hold the Volume Down button while you connect the cable to the computer;
- iPhone 8, X, XS, XR and later: press and hold the side button while you connect the cable to the computer.
- Whichever button you hold, keep it pressed until the recovery mode screen appears;
- When the screen shows a computer and a cable, the iPhone is in recovery mode. From here, follow the instructions in iTunes or Finder, choosing Update first.
DFU mode
DFU mode reinstalls the iPhone’s firmware and operating system from scratch. It is a little more complex than the previous tips, but it can still be done at home. Keep in mind that a DFU restore erases all the data on the iPhone, so only use it if you have a backup or don’t need the data.
Here’s how it works: in DFU mode, the iPhone is switched on but doesn’t load its operating system, so the computer can rewrite the system directly.
Before you start, connect your iPhone to the computer and open iTunes (or Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later). Then turn off your iPhone.
The next step depends on the model you have:
- iPhone 6s and earlier: press and hold the Power button and the Home button together;
- iPhone 7 and later: press and hold the side button and the Volume Down button together. (On the iPhone 8 and later, first press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down, then hold the side button until the screen goes black, and only then press the side button and Volume Down together.)
From here, the process is the same for all models:
- Hold the buttons for about 8 to 10 seconds, no longer. If the Apple logo appears, you held them too long and need to start again;
- After those seconds, release only the side (or Power) button and keep holding the other one for about 5 more seconds;
- If the iPhone screen stays black, you’ve done everything right and the iPhone is in DFU mode. If the recovery mode screen (computer and cable) appears instead, start again.
Then simply follow the instructions in iTunes or Finder to restore the iPhone.
Need help? Count on Bot
If the white screen won’t go away and you need the data on your iPhone, Bot is here to help. Just get in touch with us.
If the device is still stuck, avoid restoring it or resetting it to factory settings: that can erase the data. To recover it, see Bot’s phone data recovery.
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Need to recover the files? Bot runs a free diagnosis in its lab: see our smartphone and tablet recovery service.
