Phone or tablet frozen or showing a black screen?
Try a safe restart for your model, then work out whether it needs charging or service.
A forced restart is different from a factory reset. It can lose unsaved work but is not intended to erase your files. Do not choose Erase, Restore or factory reset as a first step.
Try these steps in order
After each step, check whether the problem is fixed. You can stop as soon as it works.
Check for damage before charging
If the device or battery is swollen, damaged or unusually hot, stop using it and contact the manufacturer. If it is wet, follow its liquid-damage instructions before connecting a charger.
Try charging if the screen is black
Use an undamaged, compatible cable and charger. Apple advises allowing up to an hour for an iPhone or iPad that will not turn on, then trying again. For another brand, check its model instructions.
iPhone with Face ID
Quickly press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down. Hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears; this may take longer than 10 seconds. For a Home-button iPhone, use Apple’s linked guide: the button combination depends on the model.
iPad
Without a Home button: quickly press and release the volume button nearest the Top button, then the other volume button. Hold the Top button until the Apple logo appears. With a Home button: hold Home and Top together until the logo appears.
Samsung Galaxy phone
For a frozen Galaxy phone, Samsung advises holding Power/Side and Volume Down together for more than seven seconds to restart it. Check your model guide if the buttons differ. Other Android brands may use a different method.
If it starts again
Back up important files while you can. Note whether one app, low storage or a recent change triggers the freeze. Use the manufacturer’s further troubleshooting if it keeps happening.
Still not working?
If the device makes sounds or receives calls but stays black, mention that when asking for service. If charging and the correct restart do not work, use manufacturer support before trying a recovery procedure.
Have the exact model and a description of what happens during charging or restart. Ask how a proposed repair could affect your data before agreeing to it.
Official instructions
Use the instructions for your exact model and software version. These links open in a new tab.
How we chose these topics
These are five common problem areas highlighted in Which?’s August/September 2026 tech support report (opens in a new tab). We reviewed evidence published during 1 April–30 September 2026. We could not verify a complete UK search-volume ranking for that period, so these pages are an editorial selection, not a measured top five. Troubleshooting steps were checked against the official sources above.