Upper part of touch screen not working iPhone

You might need to set up service for your device.

If your screen is too sensitive or responds intermittently to touch

1. Restart your iPhone or iPad.
2. Make sure that your screen is clean and free of any debris or water.
3. Disconnect any Lightning or USB-C accessories. If your screen works after removing an accessory, try using a different outlet, cable, or charger.
4. Remove any cases or screen protectors.

Contact Apple Support

If your screen still isn't working, you might need to set up service for your device. Contact Apple Support.

Published Date: June 16, 2022

Many factors can cause your iPhone’s touchscreen to stop working or become unresponsive. Users might be able to resolve the issue with some troubleshooting tips.

By India Today Web Desk: An iPhone or any smartphone is more or less useless without a working touchscreen. If it fails to respond to your touch, it is a problem you need to solve immediately.

Many factors can cause your iPhone’s touchscreen to stop working or become unresponsive. It may be because of the phone's software or hardware components.

Unless there is a fatal hardware problem that can only be fixed at a service center, users might be able to resolve the issue with some troubleshooting tips.

A few troubleshooting tips to fix your iPhone touchscreen:

- Restart your device:

If the touchscreen of your iPhone is not working properly, the first thing you can do is restart your device. However, with an unresponsive screen, you will have to restart your phone by pressing some combination of power and volume buttons.

Restarting an iPhone can wipe out temporary glitches in memory, which might restore an unresponsive screen.

- Properly clean the screen:

Dirt, moisture or dampness can affect the way your screen works. The iPhone uses a capacitive touchscreen that senses your fingertips using electrical conductance.

Thoroughly clean and dry your iPhone's screen and then try using it again.

- Disconnect any accessories from the Lightning port:

In some instances, something plugged into the Lightning port of your phone - like a charger or power bank - could interfere with the proper functioning of your touchscreen.

Unplug any such accessory. If the issue gets resolved, then that particular accessory or cable might be incompatible with the iPhone.

- Remove phone cover and screen guard:

The touchscreen of an iPhone can stop working properly if you use a screen guard that is too thick, making it impossible for the screen to sense the electrical capacitance in your fingers.

Try removing anything on or around the screen, including the phone case. If the screen starts working properly, get a different case and use a thinner screen guard.

- Try Factory reset:

If your iPhone has recently stopped responding to your touch and nothing else has worked so far, you might want to 'Factory Reset' your phone. This will reset the phone back to the state it was in when you first bought it.

All your installed apps, software updates and personal data will be wiped off, so maintain a proper backup of your data.

Without the ability to use the iPhone's touchscreen, you will need to start the factory reset on a computer. Here is how you can do it:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to a computer.

Step 2: Start iTunes (if you are using a Mac running on macOS 10.15 or higher). In other cases, start Finder.

Step 3: If you are using an iPhone 8 or higher, press Volume Up, Volume Down and the Side buttons, one after the other. For an iPhone 7, press the Volume Down and Side buttons simultaneously.

Step 4: Now, you will see an option to restore or update the iPhone on the computer screen. On a Mac, click 'Restore' and follow the directions to perform a factory reset. On a Windows PC, click the 'Device' button in the top left of iTunes. Then select 'Summary', then 'Restore' and follow the onscreen instructions.

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Published On:

Nov 19, 2021

• If your iPhone's touchscreen is not working, first try to force-restart the phone. 
• Next, make sure your touchscreen is clean and dry so it can sense your fingertips. 
• Then remove cases or screen protectors that may be interfering with the touchscreen.

Your iPhone's touchscreen is its defining feature. In fact, an iPhone is essentially useless without a working touchscreen, so if it fails to respond to your touch, it's a problem you need to solve — immediately.

The good news, though, is that unless there's a fatal hardware problem that requires a trip to an Apple store to get the entire phone repaired or replaced, you may be able to get up and running again with a few simple fixes. 

What to do if your iPhone touchscreen isn't working 

If your iPhone's touchscreen is not working, try each of these troubleshooting tips. Hopefully, one of these will get you up and running. If not, it's likely you have a hardware problem that may only be fixable by contacting Apple customer service to repair or replace your phone. 

Force your iPhone to restart

If your iPhone has gone completely haywire, the first thing you should do is restart it — turn it off completely, wait a minute or two, and then turn it on again. Restarting an iPhone can wipe out temporary glitches in memory, which can  restore, for example, an unresponsive screen. 

Of course, if the touchscreen is not working, you can't shut down the phone in the usual way using the Settings menu; you'll need to force the phone to restart by pressing some combination of power and volume buttons. 

Clean and dry the screen

The iPhone uses a capacitive touchscreen that senses your fingertips using electrical conductance. That means various things can interfere with the way your screen works — dirt and grime can affect it, but a much larger problem is moisture and liquid. If the screen is wet or even just damp, dry it thoroughly and try again. 

It's also worth noting that you can't use the touchscreen if your fingers are covered with most kinds of gloves or mittens. If you're wearing something, take it off. That said, there are specialized gloves with capacitive fingertips which let you use an iPhone outdoors in very cold weather.  

Disconnect any accessories from the Lightning port

On rare occasions, an accessory plugged into the phone's Lightning port could interfere with the touchscreen. If anything is plugged into the port — including a power bank or charger — unplug it. If that solves your problem, the accessory or cable might be incompatible with the iPhone. 

Remove your case and screen protector

The iPhone's touchscreen may seem robust enough to work flawlessly virtually all the time, but it only works properly in a surprisingly narrow set of conditions. For example, the touchscreen can stop working if you apply a screen protector that's too thick, making it impossible for the screen to sense the electrical capacitance in your fingers. 

If the touchscreen isn't working — or is working intermittently — remove anything on or around the screen, including the phone case and any screen protector that's keeping the screen from getting scratched. If it works after removing those accessories, get a different case and/or look for a thinner screen protector. 

Factory reset your iPhone

If your iPhone has recently stopped responding to your touch and nothing else so far has worked, it's possible there's a serious hardware issue and the phone needs to be repaired or replaced. 

But before you investigate that drastic option, you might want to perform a factory reset. This will reset the phone back to the state it was in when you first took it out of the box — it'll wipe out all software updates, installed apps, and your personal data. That's not a problem if you have your phone set to perform regular cloud backups, but beware that this could result in the permanent loss of any data since the last backup. Even so, at this point you might not have a lot to lose.    

Without the ability to use the iPhone's touchscreen, you'll need to start the factory reset on a computer:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer.

2. Start iTunes (if you are on a Mac running MacOS 10.15 or higher, start Finder instead). 

3. If you have an iPhone 8 or later, quickly press these buttons, one after the other: Volume Up, Volume Down, and the Side button. For an iPhone 7, press the Volume Down and Side buttons simultaneously. For older models, simultaneously press and hold the Home and Side buttons. 

4. On a Mac, you should see the option to restore or update your iPhone. Click Restore and follow the directions to perform a factory reset. On a PC, click the Device button in the top left of iTunes. Then select Summary, then Restore, and follow the onscreen instructions. 

Contact Apple customer support

If you still have no luck getting the touchscreen to respond, it's almost certain that you have a hardware problem with your iPhone and it needs professional help. Contact Apple's customer support to see if it is eligible for repair or replacement. 

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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