How to shut down an iphone xr when frozen

An application that uses a lot of memory may cause your iPhone to freeze. A simple restart will force the phone and its applications to reboot. If restarting your iPhone is not possible, use the reset process to reboot your phone.

1. Hold down the "On/Off" button at the top of your iPhone for three seconds, until the red slider appears along the top of the device's screen.

2. Put your finger on the arrow and slide it to the right to turn off your device. Leave your phone off for 10 seconds, then hold down the "On/Off" button until it comes back on.

3. Reset your phone if the device does not respond to a power-off procedure. Hold down the "On/Off" button and the home button on your iPhone at the same time. Continue to hold down both buttons until the Apple logo appears on your phone and it reboots.

Your iPhone XR may be frozen because of a software problem. Having run a tech review site, I've handled several Apple devices throughout the years. I've dealt with my fair share of frozen iPhones. Below, I’ve discussed the best troubleshooting tips to help you out.

• Solution 1 : Hard Reset
• Solution 2: Update iOS
• Solution 3: Rollback IOS
• Solution 3: Reset Settings
• Solution 5: Uninstall Apps
• Solution 6 : Device Firmware Update Mode
• Solution 7: Third-Party Management Software
• Solution 8: Apple Support
• FAQ
• Why Is My iPhone XR Frozen and Won't Turn Off?
• Final Thoughts

Solution 1 : Hard Reset

Your device may have glitches. A force restart would clear any glitch causing unresponsiveness.

Here’s how you can do a force restart:

• Press and release the Volume Up Button
• Press and release the Volume Down button
• Press the Power/side button and release it when the Apple logo appears

Solution 2: Update iOS

Your iPhone XR may be getting stuck if there is an iOS patch. The good news is that if your device keeps freezing because of a patch, Apple is probably already working on a fix. You would receive this through a firmware update in a short time.

First do a hard reset if you’re stuck on the starting sequence. Then, follow the below points to update the OS:

• Go to Settings app > General > Software Update
• Click on the update that’s available

Solution 3: Rollback IOS

Alternatively, your iPhone may have gotten stuck once you updated to a newer IOS version. Apple may have released it without checking for any problems. You can restore the older iOS version you were using.

• Open iTunes on your computer
• Connect your iPhone into the PC with a lightning cable (a prompt might appear asking you to enter your device passcode)
• Select your phone when it appears on iTunes
• Click Summary and then click Restore iPhone

Keep your handset connected to iTunes until it has finished rebooting and syncing with your computer.

Solution 3: Reset Settings

There is a chance that you accidentally meddled with your device's system settings. Your customized iPhone settings may be causing the unresponsiveness. To fix this, you can either reset your system settings or factory reset your mobile.

To reset settings on iOS 14:

• Go to Settings > General > Reset
• Choose Reset all settings
• Enter your device’s passcode
• Accept the confirmation

on iOS 15 and later:

• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset
• Choose Reset all settings
• Enter your device’s passcode
• Accept the confirmation

To factory reset:

• Go to Settings > General > Reset (or Transfer or Reset iPhone)
• Choose Erase all content and settings
• Enter your device's passcode
• Accept the confirmation

Just know that when you do a factory reset, all the data on your XR would be lost. Store all the files you would need on iCloud.

Solution 5: Uninstall Apps

Apple is strict about the apps they allow on the App Store. However, you might have downloaded a buggy application that got past them. This may be the reason why your iPhone XR has been freezing.

Right before your iPhone gets stuck, figure out if you installed any new application. If you did, uninstall it. If your handset doesn’t freeze anymore, you’ll know that this was the culprit.

Here’s how to uninstall apps:

• Press the app icon
• Tap the X or (-) on the upper left corner that appears
• Click Delete

Solution 6 : Device Firmware Update Mode

If you're dealing with something more serious like system corruption, you can try completely restoring your device. You do this by entering Device Firmware Update Mode (DFU mode). This would reset your operating system.

This will erase all data on your device so proceed with caution:

• Plug your lightning cable into your iPhone XR and connect it to a computer
• Press and quickly release the Volume Up button, then press and let go of the Volume Down button
• Press and hold the Side and volume Buttons until your phone screen is black
• After 5 seconds, release the Side button. Keep holding Volume Down (This would cause the recovery mode screen to appear)
•  Quickly release the Volume Down button when iTunes appears

When this happens, you would officially be in DFU mode. You will be asked whether you want to restore your iPhone. The data on your handset would be deleted once you click restore.

Solution 7: Third-Party Management Software

You can also fix a corrupted OS with a third-party tool. This software can be installed on Windows and Mac computers. 

Run the third-party software and connect your iPhone XR via a lightning cable into your computer. Follow the instructions that appear. The specific steps that you have to follow would vary depending on the software you’re using.

Solution 8: Apple Support

At least one of the above points should help. If not, get in touch with your local Apple store. They will fix the unresponsiveness for free or get you a replacement phone.

It's possible that you have purchased a faulty iPhone. This could have caused it to freeze during its manufacturing process. There is a chance that the other XRs in its batch are getting stuck as well.

None of our troubleshooting methods would work if water has gotten inside your device. You'll have to get in touch with Apple if this is the case.

FAQ

Let’s answer some burning questions you may have.

Why Is My iPhone XR Frozen and Won't Turn Off?

Your handset may be frozen due to three reasons. There may be a software glitch/problem, water damage, or a manufacturing issue. Most likely, you're dealing with a frozen iPhone because of a software glitch. Hard resetting the mobile should turn it off.

Related Reading

• 7 Fixes to Try If Your iPhone Won’t Turn Off
• 8 Easy Ways to Deal with iPhone Home Button Stuck Issue
• iPhone 12 Stuck on Apple Logo? - Here's The Fix!
• iPhone X Won't Turn Off: 7 Quick Solutions

Final Thoughts

You may be considering getting a new iPhone not because the XR is bad, but because its screen turn blacks when you turn it on. As discussed, there are many ways to restore your iPhone XR. If a soft reset (normal restart) doesn't work, a hard reset would most likely do the trick.

You can also reset your device's factory settings. This would take it back to its factory defaults, so any freezing due to customized settings would be removed.

My solutions will not only work with the XR, but any other iPhone like the iPhone SE. If you have tried all of our troubleshooting solutions and none of them worked, get in touch with your local Apple store. They will fix the problem for free or give you a replacement.