Recover an iPhone or iPad
When a user’s iPhone or iPad experiences a system issue and becomes unresponsive, you can assist by using recovery mode to update the device through the Finder while attempting to preserve user data and settings. This mode establishes communication between the device and a Mac, bypassing normal startup processes to enable software reinstallation or device recovery.
For organizations using a device management service, recovery mode supports supervised device recovery while maintaining enrollment status.
If iPhone or iPad is unresponsive
What to look for:
The device screen is black or frozen.
The Apple logo appears on the screen for several minutes without progress.
The touchscreen or device is unresponsive.
The Mac doesn’t recognize the device.
The device shows “Connect to computer” or the recovery mode screen.
Note: You may be asked on iPhone or iPad to trust the connected Mac, and the Mac may ask you to trust the connected iPhone or iPad. If you are using a Mac laptop you may be asked to allow an accessory to connect and this request may appear several times during at the process.
The following methods reinstall iOS or iPadOS while attempting to preserve user data and settings while in recovery mode.
Recover iPhone or iPad using the Finder
Connect the device and Mac with a supported Thunderbolt or USB cable.
Put the device in recovery mode:
To put iPhone in recovery mode, see If you can’t update or restore your iPhone.
To put iPad in recovery mode, see If you can’t update or restore your iPad.
Open a window in the Finder on the Mac.
Select the device in the sidebar.
When the option to Restore or Update appears, choose Update.
Wait while the Mac downloads the software for the device.
If the download takes more than 15 minutes and the device exits the recovery mode screen, let the download finish, then repeat step 2. The device restarts when the update completes.
If the device doesn’t appear in the Finder
What to look for:
The device doesn’t appear in the Finder.
An error message appears.
The device shows the recovery mode screen, but the Mac shows no response.
Steps to take:
Verify that the device is in recovery mode.
Confirm that Mac is up to date.
Confirm that Mac has a reliable internet connection for iOS or iPadOS firmware downloads.
Restart the Mac, and reconnect the device.
Use a supported Thunderbolt or USB cable and try different ports on the Mac.
Try a different supported Thunderbolt or USB cable.
Attempt a revive.