Recently, multiple iPhone users complained about their Home Button not working or getting unresponsive. It’s one of the most common issues faced by old gen iPhone (iPhone 7 or older) users. This can happen due to a hard drop on the floor or a bang on the walls, water damage or clogging of dust (which is very rare). Well if your iPhone’s Home button is not working because of some Water Damage, then we have a separate article for you.
When the iPhone’s home button stops working, the popup error message shows up and an On-Screen Home Button has turned on automatically to keep the device in working condition and avoid any inconvenience to the user.
But what if your iPhone is unable to detect the error with your Home button? Well in such a case, you’ll have to manually enable the On-Screen home button or What iPhone Calls it ‘ Assistive Touch’ from the settings. Goto Settings > General > Accessibility > Enable Assistive Touch. If not, then you can also give the command to Siri to enable Assistive Touch.
The iPhone’s home button does break from time to time and it’s mostly after your 1 Year Warranty is over. And you know how expensive it can be to get it repaired from Apple’s Service Center. So worry not because we have multiple solutions that can save a lot of your money which you can spend upon an entirely new device. So let’s get going!
Hardware Look Around
Lets first discuss the Hardware aspect of your iPhone. If the Home Button on your iPhone is not working because of some hardware issue, then its really difficult to repair it yourself. If you try to break open your iPhone without any professional experience, then you may end up damaging a Delicate part of your iPhone permanently and your warranty will be voided.
So if your iPhone is still under warranty, then rush to your nearest Apple Service Center because if the home button stopped working due to manufacturing Defect, then your iPhone will be repaired for free, without any extra charges. But if you accidentally dropped your iPhone in water or On floor after which the home button on your iPhone stopped working then your iPhone’s Warranty is set to be invalid.
Let’s look at what happened when the iPhone 5 was launched. When iPhone 5 was launched in the market, 70% of users complained about a defect in their power Button which made it unresponsive just after 2-3 months of purchase. So iPhone started a Free Repair Programme for the Faulty power button on iPhone 5, 5S & 5C where they would repair the Unresponsive power Button without any charges even if their warranty is over as it was a mass-defect in manufacturing of Power button on iPhone.
But sadly, even after a lot of complaints about the unresponsive Home button on iPhones, Apple has not set a Free Repair Programme for this and is really unlikely to see one in the future. And by my personal experience, iPhone’s Home buttons are quite reliable unless its a manufacturing error. And if it’s a manufacturing error, then there’s nothing to worry about because your iPhone’s warranty will cover it.
Software Look Around
If your iPhone’s Home Screen Button is not working because of some Software Glitch or bug, then that’s easy to work with as it wouldn’t void any warranty and doesn’t require any professional skillset, just follow the steps and you’ll be good to go. Sometimes, some internal glitches or bugs may un-calibrate the home button which might become unresponsive. So if your iPhone’s Home Button is not working because of some software glitch, then you’ll have to calibrate your home screen button to fix this.
1. Calibrate Home Screen Button: To calibrate your home screen button, you need to open the Stock app (Like the Clock App) and follow these steps:
- Click and hold the Sleep Button until ‘Slide To Power Off’ Shows Up
- After that, tap and hold the Home button down for 10 seconds after which the application will close.
- Check your Home Button
If your Home Screen Button is now working, then celebrate as this saved you from a big hit on Your Wallet!
2. Cleaning the Home Button: Sometimes, your home screen button might stop working due to dust clogging from dust & Dirt at the bottom of your purse or pocket, Due to spillage of liquids like cold Drinks, oil from food, etc, Or due to using your phone with your dirty hands while eating food, etc. If your Home Screen Button is not working due to such reasons, then its time that you clean your iPhone’s home screen button. Things Required in cleaning: Narrow Blunt Object, Cotton Swab/Eye Dropper, Tissue paper & 99-98 Percent Isopropyl Alcohol. Now follow these steps clearly and carefully:
- Turn Off your Mobile before applying the solution.
- Clean your Home button externally with a tissue paper and wipe out all the dust from the surface.
- Take a Cotton Swab and dip it in 99-98 Percent Isopropyl Alcohol or take a dropper and fill it with 99-98 Percent Isopropyl Alcohol.
- Now very Carefully, With the help of the Cotton swab, apply the Alcohol on the Home Screen button or Apply 2-3 Drops of Alcohol If you’re using a Dropper.
- Now with the help of Narrow blunt object (Pencil, Scale, etc) tap the home screen button slowly but continuously so that the Alcohol flows in.
- With the help of tissue, carefully clean the extra alcohol on the button and wait for 10-15 mins.
- Now after 15 mins, check whether the Home Button is working or not.
Note*: a) Turn Off your iPhone before applying the liquid because, as the name says ‘99-98 Percent Isopropyl Alcohol’ contains a high amount of alcohol which is highly inflammable
b) If you perform step 2 ‘Cleaning the Home Button’ improperly and it damages your iPhone, then we don’t take responsibility.
3. Enable On-Screen Home Button: Well, if nothing works, then you can enable the On-Screen home button temporarily. When the iPhone’s home button stops working, a popup error message shows up and an On-Screen Home Button gets turned on automatically to keep the device in working condition and avoid any inconvenience to the user. But what if your iPhone couldn’t detect the error? Well in such case, you can enable it manually from the settings:
- Open the Settings app
- Select General
- Goto Accessibility
- Now enable Assistive Touch.
Or you can also simply ask Siri to ‘enable Assistive Touch’
4. Get it Repaired: If nothing is working for you, then you can temporarily use the on-screen home button. But you should get your Home screen button repaired from an apple service center if your device is under warranty. If your warranty has expired or your Home button stopped working due to some external or physical damage, then it’ll cost you some big bucks as you know how much apple charges for repairs. Or if you can use the On-Screen Home button on a daily basis, then you can save a lot of money and use it in buying a new iPhone.
I hope this article helped you with the ‘iPhone Home Button Not Working’ issue. If yes, then do let us know which one of these methods worked for you in the comments section. If you have queries related to this or any other related topic, then do let me know in the comments down below. Visit Support.apple.com for more info.
