Your iPhone randomly restarting can have a wide range of causes, like battery degradation, lack of storage space, buggy apps, faulty SIM card, invalid settings, and hardware damage.
Hi, I’m Devansh. My iPhone 13 once started rebooting randomly. I realized that the cause was a buggy app and uninstalled it immediately. For you, the reason might be something else, like a bad battery or lack of storage space.
In this article, I’ll go through five main causes and fixes that may cause your iPhone to restart randomly. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to restore your iPhone to normal if you apply these fixes! I’ll also discuss some common questions.
If your iPhone is shutting down and starting up randomly, and you don’t know why keep reading!
Contents
First Steps
Before discussing the five possible reasons and fixes, here are three quick steps you should follow.
- Shutdown and restart your iPhone (you can also try a force restart)
- Update iOS
- Backup data on iCloud, Mac, or PC
If your iPhone is stuck in a boot loop that blocks you from accessing the Home screen, I recommend you contact Apple Support. However, if your iPhone randomly restarts once every few hours or so, then read on.
Possible Reason #1: Battery Degradation
Often, an iPhone randomly restarting comes down to a faulty battery. The battery is essential for optimal operations; when it degrades, many problems can pop up.
To check this, open Settings, Battery, and tap on Battery Health. On this page, there are two main factors you should keep an eye on. Is the Maximum Capacity at 80% or lower? Plus, are there any alerts related to servicing your battery?
If you answered ‘Yes’ to both of these questions, then the battery might be causing your iPhone to restart randomly. Aside from enabling Optimized Battery Charging, there isn’t much you can do here. I recommend you contact Apple Support and get a battery replacement.
Possible Reason #2: Lack of Storage Space
These days, with the amount of storage packed into most iPhones, it’s hard to use it all. However, if you own an older iPhone with less storage, you may have used almost all of it. This might cause software bugs or conflicts, leading to the random restarts issue.
To fix this, open Settings, go to General, and iPhone Storage. Here, you’ll be presented with an intuitive menu to free up storage space by deleting unused apps. Hopefully, if you create some leeway for iOS by freeing up a gigabyte or so, the restarting issue will go away.
Possible Reason #3: Buggy Apps
Apps. They’re awesome, right? We all have at least a dozen of them in our iPhones. Although Apple does a great job at gatekeeping the App Store and keeping apps with malware at bay, a few manage to slither in. If downloaded, these can cause issues like random restarts.
Unless you’re sure which app might be causing your iPhone to restart randomly, there is a great way to spot the culprit. Open Settings, go to Privacy, scroll down to Analytics and Improvements, and tap on Analytics Data.
I know you might not be able to make heads or tails of this data, but just try scrolling through it and finding a pattern. Is there an app that pops up way too often? If so, that app might be the one to blame.
Plus, apps with malware might also consume more power than usual. To check it, open Settings and Battery. Scroll down, and you’ll see a neat battery usage breakdown by all apps. Keep an eye out for an app that might consume an unusual amount of power.
Once you’re sure that you’ve found the culprit, you have two options. You can remove it and then reinstall it. To check if an update is available, open the App Store, tap on your profile picture, and scroll down to the Updates section.
Possible Reason #4: Faulty SIM Card
It only measures a few millimeters, but your iPhone’s SIM card may be causing your restarting issue! Perhaps your iPhone is having a hard time connecting to your carrier’s wireless network, so it keeps restarting.
The only way to test this is to remove and reinsert the SIM card. You can check this Support page for instructions. Once you’ve shut down your iPhone, grab the SIM-eject tool to pop out the sim tray. After removing the SIM card, switch on your iPhone and just browse around.
If it doesn’t restart for a while (in the period that it usually does), then the cause lies with the SIM card, and I recommend you contact your service provider. If it still persists, switch off your iPhone again and reinsert the SIM card. If you have an iPhone 14 from the US, this doesn’t apply since it has an eSIM. But for the rest, it’s worth giving it a shot.
Possible Reason #5: Invalid or Conflicting Settings
Apple allows you to change the settings of many features on your iPhone. There might be some change you’ve made that leads to your iPhone restarting randomly. It could also be because of an update that might override existing settings. Nevertheless, it’s possible to reset all settings.
To do this, open Settings, go to General, scroll down to Transfer or Reset iPhone, select Reset, and tap on Reset All Settings. Rest assured, this won’t erase the contents of your iPhone. It’ll only reset the personalized settings, like the keyboard dictionary, back to default.
What if Your iPhone Still Randomly Restarts?
If the random restarts issue is still persisting on your iPhone even after following and applying the five above fixes, there’s one last fix you can still apply: a factory reset. There’s no better way to rule out software-based errors.
To do this, open Settings, General, and Transfer or Reset iPhone. Double-check if you have made a backup (I asked you to do it previously). Once you’re sure, tap on Erase All Content and Settings. You’ll be asked to enter your passcode and then confirm it.
Unfortunately, if this doesn’t get your iPhone back to normal, you can be sure it’s due to hardware damage. It can be anything from a faulty battery, liquid corrosion, or damage from a drop. For this, getting in touch with Apple Support is your best bet.
FAQs
Here are some useful questions related to the iPhone random restarts issue.
What if the Random Restarts Issue Happens After Screen or Battery Replacement?
If the random restarts issue popped up after you made some repairs to your iPhone, it’s possible that an error was made in the process. So, you might want to check with the technician who repaired it. Most likely, some damage was done to the hardware by mistake.
What if Your iPhone Restarts While Charging?
Many users have recently experienced restart issues with the iPhone 14 when charging it. If you own an older model, consider replacing the charging cable and power adapter. In addition, ensure that the Lightning port is clean. You can use a dry brush to remove dust or debris. As always, keep iOS updated as well.
Conclusion
As I said before, the iPhone randomly restarts issue can have a wide range of causes. The five main ones are battery degradation, lack of storage space, buggy apps, faulty SIM card, and invalid or conflicting settings.
In most cases, just rebooting your iPhone and updating iOS should resolve the random restart issue. If not, go through the five reasons mentioned above. Hopefully, implementing these fixes will get your iPhone working as normal again! If the issue persists, consider contacting Apple Support to get it serviced before the situation worsens.
Which of the above reasons was behind the random restarts issue in your iPhone? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
