How to Fix iPhone 5 Touchscreen not Working

Many factors are the reason your iPhone’s touchscreen to stop working or become unresponsive. And that may be from within the phone’s software or hardware components as well. Unresponsive displays or touchscreen won’t respond problems are mostly occurring among other symptoms of memory problems on early devices. However, may also affect some new devices when triggered by bad apps and damaged system files. In this article, we are going to talk about How to Fix iPhone 5 Touchscreen not Working. Let’s begin!

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What is wrong with your iPhone? | iPhone 5 touchscreen not working

Some folks who replaced the screen on their iPhone found that their screen became unresponsive when they updated to iOS 11.3.

Apparently that issue is linked to the use of non-Apple screens that are installed through third parties. But, it’s also emerged that some iPhones that have repaired with official Apple displays are also experiencing an issue where they are not able to automatically adjust brightness since updating to iOS 11.

This is not actually the first time Apple has stopped the touch functionality working on repaired iPhones. In 2017 notes issued with an iOS update explained that third-party replacement parts may not work correctly. Apple then issued an update a week later that fixed that issue.

With this in mind, it may be that an update to iOS can fix the problem with your screen. Apple has since launched iOS 12, and iOS 13 will be available to all in autumn 2019. But if not, read on for tips on how you can fix it.

There have also reported that the iPhone X can suffer from an unresponsive screen when used in near-freezing temperatures. Apple acknowledged the issue which it state happened after a “rapid change” in temperature. The company then issued a software fix in order to resolve the problem.

Removing causes of iPhone touchscreen not working | iPhone 5 touchscreen not working

Before troubleshooting, make sure that the iPhone screen is free from dust and dirt also. In short, it has to be totally screen actually. If the screen is covered with dust and dirt, then there is a higher chance for the display’s touch sensor to fail to recognize your finger or touch and may result in an iPhone touch screen not responding problem. So you must keep it clear and clean as well. Apart from the screen, also make sure that your fingers are also clean and not wet or oily. If necessary, you should wipe them dry before touching the phone’s screen again.

Also, try to determine whether or not the iPhone not responding problem is only isolated to an app such as when the touchscreen-only becomes unresponsive or stops working when using a specific application. In that case, something must be done in order to fix the app otherwise, delete it. Another important thing that you must look into is the current memory status of your iPhone. iPhone touch screen not working or frozen display is one of the common signs of performance issues in mobile devices that are mostly tied to insufficient memory. Thus, you should consider heading to your iPhone Settings-> General-> iPhone Storage menu. And then see if the available memory is sufficient enough to allocate new apps and processes. If your iPhone’s memory is running low, then that’s when you should consider removing old and unused contents from the system.

Tips & fixes for iPhone screen

We suggest that you run through these steps in order to try and fix the problem with your unresponsive screen.

Is your iPhone screen not working all the time, or only when using one specific app? If it’s the latter, then try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.
Are your fingers wet or dry? Dry off any moisture if you have. Check they are clean, too – anything that could be stopping the touchscreen to make a good connection.
Just to check, that you are not wearing gloves, are you? Some gloves are designed to work with touchscreens, but most of them do not.
Try to remove the screen protector, if you use one.
Then give the screen a wipe with a soft cloth.
Assume that your device has this feature, check the 3D Touch sensitivity settings. Then go to Settings > General > Accessibility > 3D Touch and then adjust the sensitivity slider.

Then | iPhone 5 touchscreen not working

If the screen problem is related to rotation (like refusing to rotate when you want it to, or rotating when you do not), then check Orientation Lock. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up Control Centre, and press the ‘rotating padlock’ icon. And then try fiddling with the side switch on your device, if it has one. (This actually only applies to the iPad Air 1 and earlier. iPhones actually have never had rotation switches.)
Now hold down the circular Home button and the On/Off (Sleep or Wake) button at the same time for around 10 seconds. This will restart the device and it should restore the screen to full working order.
Make sure that there is not a software update to install. Apple has fixed a few issues that were actually causing screens in order to become unresponsive in subsequent updates to iOS.
Has the screen become unresponsive since you had it repaired through a company other than Apple? There have also reported that some third-party replacement screens do not work as well with the iPhone as others. So we suggest you to return to the shop and tell them about this issue you are having.
A more extreme option is to reset the device to factory settings as well.

If still none of these tips work, then it is possible your device has so-called Touch Disease (also known as Touch IC Disease).

What is Touch Disease?

It sounds like a made-up illness or something else from Black Mirror, however, iPhone Touch Disease is real for some iPhone owners. Phones affected show a small flickering grey bar at the top of the iPhone screen about the height of the iOS menu bar. It looks a bit like old-school TV static as well. Plus- or alternatively – the screen may become completely unresponsive to touch.

The problem can be intermittent, along with some users saying that it shows when they first wake their devices but then goes away after a minute or so. Some users say applying pressure to the top screen area can fix the issue, however, others say that twisting the device slightly is also a temporary fix.

We actually do not recommend you try either of these techniques because you could make the problem worse or break the phone entirely.

Reboot or Forced Restart.

The first recommended solution to software-related symptoms that includes random screen freezes is to reboot the system. Since your iPhone touchscreen is not responding, you will need to carry out a forced restart rather than the usual reboot or soft reset. If you are using iPhone 8, 8 Plus or later iPhones, then here is what you should do then:

Click and release the Volume Up button.
Then tap and release the Volume Down button.
Finally, tap and hold the Side button and then release it when the Apple logo appears.

In iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, we can do a forced restart this way:

Click and hold the Volume Down button and the Power (Sleep or Wake) button simultaneously and then release both buttons with the Apple logo appears.

For older versions from iPhone 6 below, let’s see what you should do to force it to restart:

Click and hold both the Power (Sleep/Wake) button and the Home button for a few seconds and then release both buttons when the Apple logo is displayed on the screen.

If your iPhone touchscreen is responding again after performing a forced restart or reboot as well. Then you may have to consider performing these subsequent procedures in order to get rid of the triggers. If it is not the hardware, then something within the software aspect must be the offender. In order to avoid the problem from coming back, you must eliminate the trigger. Among the common variables are bad apps, malware, and bugs, corrupt data, or broken files as well. Performing the following procedures can help clear out these factors and thereby halts the unresponsive screen symptom or the touch screen not working the problem from recurring.

Restore the iPhone in iTunes.

If your iPhone’s touchscreen is still not working after a forced restart, then performing iOS restore would be necessary. Some system errors are tough enough to withstand the initial procedures that include a factory reset. In order to deal with such a burden, you may opt to carry out a recovery mode restore on your iPhone. Or put your iPhone in a DFU state so any huge system damage or data corruption can be rectified via iTunes. You may refer to the following steps if you wish to proceed with these system restores.

1) Recovery Mode restore

This puts your device in a recovery state that allows iTunes in order to access the operating system even when the touchscreen is not working or unresponsive. To start this, you will need to secure a computer either Windows or Mac with the latest version of iTunes software installed. Then connect your iPhone to the computer using the supplied USB or Lightning cable. When connected, then enter recovery mode with these steps:

Click and quickly release the Volume Up button.
Next, tap and quickly release the Volume Down button.
Then, tap and hold the Side or Power button unless you see the Connect to iTunes screen. This means that your iPhone has entered recovery mode as well.
When you see the option to Update or Restore, then select Update if you want to restore without removing files.
In order to restore your iPhone from a previous iOS backup, then tap the option to Restore then follow the onscreen instructions to choose the backup that you want to restore from.

Do not disconnect your iPhone from the computer unless iTunes tells you to do so. Otherwise, you might end up having a totally corrupted and also dysfunctional iOS.

2) DFU Mode restore to fix iPhone touch screen not working

If a recovery mode restores doesn’t yield a positive result and your iPhone touchscreen is still not working or not responding to touch inputs. Then this is where DFU mode restore you can apply. When your iPhone enters a DFU state, it’s still possible for iTunes to access and sync with iOS even if the bootloader is not activated. Thus, there’s a higher chance for iTunes to repair any damaged system component that actually caused the touch screen to stop working.

But before you do, then make sure that your phone didn’t obtain some sort of physical or liquid damage. Performing a DFU mode restore on a liquid damaged iPhone could brick the phone actually. If that happens, then you would no longer be able to use your device. If you are certain that your iPhone is free from hardware damage and that you’re willing to take the risks, then you may proceed to that. To start this, connect your iPhone to the computer through USB/Lightning cable. When it’s connected, continue with these steps to put your device in a DFU or Device Firmware Update mode:

Steps

Quickly tap and release the Volume Up button, then quickly click and release the Volume Down button. Finally, click and hold the Side/Power button until the screen turns completely black.
As soon as the screen turns goes black, click and hold the Volume Down button while you keep holding the Side/Power button.
After 5 seconds, release the Side/Power button, however, continue to hold the Volume Down button until your iPhone shows up in iTunes on your computer.
When your iPhone appears in iTunes and prompts you to restore your device, now you can release the Volume button.
Then follow the onscreen commands to begin repairing and restoring your phone’s operating system in DFU mode via iTunes.

Further

Just wait for iTunes to finish restoring and repairing the damage system components and then see if the iPhone touch screen not working issue is indeed resolved or not.

You may have to consider using third-party iOS repair software if iTunes failed in order to fix your iPhone touchscreen that is not working or not responding. There are actually a lot of reliable alternative tools that you can use whenever you run out of options. Just choose the most trusted and effective software that’s compatible with your iPhone and works with the current iOS platform your device is running on.

Conclusion

Alright, That was all Folks! I hope you guys like this iPhone 5 touchscreen not working article and also find it helpful to you. Give us your feedback on it. Also if you guys have further queries related to this article. Then let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you shortly.

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