What can you do when your iPhone doesn’t charge the battery? There are a lot of possible solutions to this problem, from restarting your cell phone to changing the Lightning cable. As we show in this article, all these solutions are easy to test, and in the vast majority of cases, they manage to fix the problem.
Check, change or replace Lightning cable
Your iPhone charges when receiving electricity through the Lightning cable. If it is not charging, there may be a problem with this cable. Here, there are a number of things you can try:
- Make sure your cable is connected properly. This means making sure it’s plugged into your iPhone and into the wall charger, computer, or USB hub. Also, you should check anything that may be in the cable connector or the Lightning port of the cell phone, such as lint or excess dust.
- Try a different cable, if you have one. If other cables work, it is clear that the first cable was the problem.
- If it doesn’t work with another cable, something else is likely causing the problem. With that said, the cables you’ve tested may be faulty, so you may need to purchase a new cable (after trying other things suggested in this article).
Restart your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone is one of the safest and most reliable solutions for virtually any problem. The same applies when your cell phone does not charge. There are two types of restarts, the normal reset and the forced reset, and it also depends on the model of your cell phone.
On the iPhone X, XS, or iPhone 11 series, press and hold one of the Volume buttons and the Side button simultaneously until the power sliders appear. With iPhone SE (2020) through iPhone 6, press and hold the Side button. If you have an iPhone 5 or earlier, press and hold the Top button.
Apple also recommends trying a forced restart . This is similar to a normal restart, but works even when your iPhone is frozen.
For iPhone 8 or later, do the following: press and release the Volume Up button, press and release the Volume Down button, and then press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.
If you have an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, press and hold the Side button and the Volume Down button simultaneously until the phone restarts.
For iPhone 6S or earlier, press and hold the Side (or Top ) button and the Home button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears.
Check your power source
Similar to checking or changing your cable, your iPhone may not be charging due to its power source.
If you are using a power adapter, try a different one. Also, you can try connecting your Lightning cable to a compatible USB 2.0 or 3.0 port on your computer (or a USB hub or docking station ).
If you are connecting your iPhone to a computer (or docking station ), make sure that the port you are using is really compatible with your Lightning cable. This means that it must be a USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 version. Do not use the USB ports on a keyboard as these will not work.
Similarly, if you are using a wireless charger, try charging with a Lightning cable. If this works, you may need to replace your wireless charger.
Cool your iPhone
In cases where your iPhone does not charge more than 80%, Apple recommends moving your phone to a cooler location. Why? The latest versions of iOS (iOS 13 and later) contain a function that prevents your iPhone’s battery from getting too hot, something that can reduce its duration.
If it’s already hot, charging it can cause the temperature to rise even higher, so the iPhone will simply charge up to 80%. Again, if it stops at 80%, take your phone to a cooler place and keep it away from sunlight.
Also, if you have iOS 13, you can go to Settings> Battery> Battery Status and click on Optimized Battery Charge , so that your slider moves to the off position. This is not recommended as you can speed up battery aging, but it will prevent your iPhone from charging up to 80% only, in some cases.
Take your iPhone to Apple
If you’ve tried all of the above and your iPhone still doesn’t charge, you may have a faulty battery. In this case, you should go to the Apple page and make arrangements to have the battery replaced or you can take your cell phone to your nearest Apple Store, which you can also locate online .
