What to do if iPhone shuts off randomly?

One of the main selling points for a variety of Apple devices is their longevity, both in regards to software support and hardware. Unless you damage them somehow, 3 years is definitely a minimum but, for most people, it’s something closer to 5 years. Which is absolutely amazing. However, there are instances when some issues appear and, sometimes, it’s just hardware and sometimes it’s an underlying bug that causes them. Today, we decided to cover reports from users that state that their iPhone shuts off randomly.

If you are among these users, make sure to check the steps we listed below. Hopefully, by the end of the article, you’ll get the problem sorted out.

Table of contents:

1. Check the battery health
2. Update iOS
3. Reset All Settings
4. Restore your device via iTunes

How do I stop my iPhone from turning off randomly?

1. Check the battery health

Random restarts are sometimes related to software but, sadly, the most common culprit is the battery. The battery changes in size over time and old batteries tend to have both charging and discharging issues.

You can learn about battery health from System Settings and see if the replacement is necessary. Using a deteriorated battery for an extended time can lead to further, more critical issues. So have that in mind, too. Here’s how to check battery health on your iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose Battery.
3. Select Battery Health.
4. If the battery’s Maximum Capacity fell under 80%, you should consider replacing it as soon as possible.

On the other hand, if your battery is in a good state but the iPhone shuts off randomly, try updating it.

2. Update iOS

You can also try updating the iOS before going for a reset. Although this happens rarely, iOS has had some major bugs over the years that completely broke devices for some users. These were especially prominent on older devices where the optimization wasn’t exactly done right. And we all remember the underclocking fiasco so there was that as well.

So, before resetting anything (especially restoring your device), try navigating to Settings > General > Software Update and checking for updates. If there is an update available, make sure to download and install it immediately.

If the issue persists, move to the next step where we’ll try with the Reset All Settings option first.

3. Reset All Settings

Any time you get into a major problem with your iPhone, the last option that everyone recommends is restoring it from iTunes or performing an on-device factory reset. However, before doing that, you can just go for the Reset All Settings option which will keep your data but restore all system settings changes to their default values.

Here’s how to Reset All Settings on your iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Scroll down and tap Reset.
4. Tap Reset All Settings and enter your PIN/password when prompted.
5. Confirm so your device can reset all system settings.

4. Restore your device via iTunes

Finally, if none of the previous steps worked and iPhone still shuts off randomly, you can use the iTunes client on your PC or your Mac to reset the device. If the device is responsive you can do it with ease by selecting the Device Summary after connecting it to your PC/Mac. However, if the device is not responsive, you can use a set of button sequences to trigger the DFU/Recovery mode.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Connect your iPhone to a PC via a USB cable.
2. Open the iTunes client on your PC.
3. Select your iPhone.
4. Now, there’s a sequence that’s not the same for all iPhones. For iPhone 8 and later, press the volume down button first and quickly release it. Then, press the Volume down button and release it. Finally, do the same with the Power Button (Sleep/Wake button) but don’t release it. Hold it until the device restarts in Recovery mode. On the iPhone 7 series: press and hold the Volume down and Power button simultaneously until the device restarts. Finally, on iPhone 6 series, press and hold the Power button and Home button until the device restarts.
5. Once your iPhone reboots into Recovery Mode, you should see the prompt on your PC. You can choose between Update or Restore. We suggest going for the Update option first and, only if the issue persists, move to the alternative option which is, basically, deleting and restoring all data to your iPhone via iTunes.
6. So, select Update, and the firmware will be downloaded to your PC and then installed.

Or, if you don’t have access to a computer or Mac, you can still do this on your iPhone. Here’s how to reset your device to factory settings without iTunes:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Select Reset.
4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
5. Make sure to back up everything to iCloud. Navigate to Settings > Your Account at the top > iCloud > iCloud Backup and tap Back up Now.
6. Enter PIN/Password when prompted and confirm.
7. Once your device reboots, choose to Restore from iCloud Backup or set your device as new to play it on the safe side.

If you still experience resets after all these thorough steps, we can only suggest taking your device for a repair as there’s definitely something wrong with its hardware.

That should do it. Thank you for reading and feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you.