How to fix an iPhone 8 that keeps freezing [troubleshooting guide]

This day’s troubleshooting answers the question, what you can do to fix a freezing #iPhone8 device. Like with other troubleshooting guides we’ve created in the past, this one’s short and only covers stuff that an end-user can do. This does not cover hardware repair or diagnostics.

Before we proceed let us remind you that you can contact us by using the link provided at the bottom of this page. When describing your issue, please be as detailed as possible so we can easily pinpoint a relevant solution. If you can, kindly include the exact error messages you are getting to give us an idea where to start. If you have already tried some troubleshooting steps before emailing us, make sure to mention them so we can skip them in our answers.

How to fix an iPhone 8 that keeps freezing

Majority of cases where an iPhone (from old models to 8 and X) freezes are caused by a app or software. This is both good news and bad news for you. For the good news, well, you can certainly hope that the issue is user-fixable. The bad news is that you’ll most probably need to do some drastic steps to return your iPhone 8 to normal.

In some rare cases, iPhone freezing issues are due to hardware malfunction or even failure. Cases that fall under this category are usually those where the device has suffered hardware damage after a drop or exposure to water or elements. These are usually hopeless cases that end up with costly repair or replacement. We can’t help users of these cases of course so they’ll most likely contact Apple or third party service centers for assistance. Physical damage to an iPhone following, say, a water exposure, can’t be undone by tweaking the software. A water damaged component can only be fixed by repair or replacement. If your iPhone started freezing immediately after you dropped it to a hard surface, or after swimming with it in a pool, forget about the solutions in this post. Just send the phone in to save you time.

To fix your iPhone 8, go ahead and check the steps below.

Solution #1: Force reboot your iPhone 8

A freezing iPhone may be a symptom of a developing app or software bug so it’s good if you refresh the system by doing a restart. In a lot of cases, restarting a device fixes minor bugs and issues so doing it in your iPhone 8 may have a fair chance of actually solving the issue. If your iPhone happens to have stopped responding at all, or has become hopelessly slow, it’s a good idea to force reboot it, as the regular restart may not work at all. To do this, simply press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Then, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo.

Solution #2: Charge the device

Some users were able to temporarily fix freezing issues by charging their iPhone 8. This is most probably due to the fact that there’s an unknown battery issue or the phone’s power management. We haven’t validated this claim ourselves but it’s worth a try, especially if you intend to create a backup of your important files.

Solution #3: Create a backup

And speaking of backups, yes, make sure that you do have one since there’s a fair chance that you may need to do a factory reset or restore later on. Freezing issues can be intermittent so it’s always good to save those irreplaceable photos and videos before your iPhone freezes up for good.

If you have a computer, we highly recommend that you create an iTunes backup since it will be easier to restore your previous iPhone state thru a computer.

Solution #4: Determine if an app is behind the trouble

Installed an app lately? That could the problem. While majority of iOS apps are decent or good, some publishers may not have the resources or expertise to do the standard stuff. If you noticed that your iPhone 8 started freezing after you installed that productivity app, try removing it from the system to see if that will make a difference. You can also uninstall apps you don’t need, or those that you have added during the last few weeks.

Unlike Android devices, iPhones can’t be put to a diagnostic mode called safe mode so there’s no easy way to test our suspicion. For this to be successful, you must invest some time to uninstall and observe the phone. This is going to get tedious if you have lots of installed apps but it’s the best thing that you can do short of actually wiping the phone clean and starting from scratch.

Solution #5: Reset all settings

Another good possible solution that you can try is to reset all settings in your iPhone. This one will return all settings in the system to their defaults but it will not delete your personal data. Basically, all the customizations, network setup and other changes will all be reverted to the way they were originally. This means that you’ll need to re-enter your wifi passwords, set your apps up again, and redo whatever preferences you did to your device before. To do this procedure, follow the steps below:

  1. From the Home screen, go to Settings>General>Reset.
  2. Tap Reset All Settings.
  3. If presented, enter the passcode.
  4. Tap Reset All Settings to confirm.

Solution #6: Restore from an old backup

If your iPhone 8 still freezes randomly or all the time at this point, we recommend that you factory reset it, then restore it from an old backup (or start it as a new device). This is a drastic solution that involves wiping data up so we assume you can straight away do it now since you’ve already created a backup early on.

If your device is now ready for factory reset, follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings app.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap Reset.
  4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
  5. If prompted, enter your passcode.
  6. Tap Erase iPhone.

Once your device has been factory reset, you can then begin the Restore process. At this point, we want you to use an older backup (not the one you recently created). Doing so will allow to notice a difference. There’s a chance that the newer apps you install maybe problematic so using an older backup where these apps were still not added to the system may actually prevent the bug that caused the freezing issue to return. Once you’ve restored your device, try to observe it for at least 24 hours before adding anything to it.

Solution #7: Get Apple’s help to fix a hardware malfunction

As mentioned earlier, freezing problems are mostly caused by software but if nothing fixes this issue on your iPhone, there may be an unknown hardware error behind it. We know that an iPhone 8 device is water resistant but this protection can be compromised rather easily. If you regularly exposed the device to water or liquid splashes, or if you bring to the beach and take a swim with it, it may water damaged. Even a tiny amount of liquid can seriously cause hardware damage so you’ll need to have the phone fixed to get it working normally again.


Engage with us

If you happen to have a problem with your own iPhone, let us know about it and we will do our best to post them and their solutions  in our upcoming articles. You can use this link to contact us for assistance. We can’t guarantee an answer to every question but rest assured that we will exhaust everything on our end to help you.

Be as detailed as possible when describing your problem to help us diagnose your issue easily. If you can include error messages, popups, attempted troubleshooting steps, and circumstances leading to the problem, that would be very helpful.

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