Having trouble with your iPhone Siri not working after updating to iOS 13? If that is so, then this post is for you. Read on and find out what to do if Siri stops working on your iPhone after updating to iOS 13.
Apple’s very own voice-controlled personal assistant, Siri can be used as an easier alternative way to control many iOS features and system functions such as opening apps, carrying out keyword searches online, open email inbox, send messages and more. To get all these done, Siri must be enabled on your iOS device. By default, Siri is already enabled on all iOS devices that support the feature. With that said, it’s all set for use by uttering the trigger phrase “Hey Siri” or pressing and holding the Home button on iOS devices with a physical Home button. But just like other iOS features, Siri can also give in to random issues due to minor system errors, update bugs and other attributes.
Other common instances when Siri may not be able to work or respond properly:
- When your phone is facing down.
- When your iPhone case cover is closed.
- When your iPhone is set to Low Power Mode.
You can refer to the outlined solutions below whenever you need more inputs when attempting to resolve an issue with your iPhone Siri not working on iOS 13. Don’t forget to activate Siri on your iPhone after performing each solution to determine if Siri is already working properly again. If it doesn’t, then proceed to the next applicable solution.
For smartphone owners who found our site while trying to find a solution, try to see if your phone is one of the devices we support. If it is, then visit the troubleshooting page for that device, browse through it to find issues that are similar to yours and feel free to use our solutions and workarounds. However, if you still need our help after that, then fill up our iOS issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.
How to Troubleshoot iPhone with Siri not working problem
Before troubleshooting, verify and ensure that Siri is available or supported in your region or country. Also make sure that your iPhone microphone is working. This is a must-do if Siri does not respond to any of your input commands and queries. If you have installed screen protectors, films or cases on your phone, remove them to ensure that they don’t cover the microphones. Then retry asking Siri a question after removing those accessories. You can also try to connect a headset with a microphone such as AirPods or EarPods to your iPhone and see if Siri is able to respond. If the problem on iPhone Siri not working continues, then you can go ahead and rule out common triggers.
First solution: Refresh your Internet connection.
Siri can execute offline and online requests. To carry out the latter, your iPhone must have a stable Internet access. Hence, there’s a tendency for your iPhone Siri not working as intended if random Internet problems are present. To clear this out, try to refresh your iPhone’s internet connection. There are many different ways to get this done. You can use the Wi-Fi toggle, the Airplane Mode toggle, and the so-called power cycle on the modem/wireless router in use.
- To refresh the Internet connection through the Wi-Fi toggle, simply head on to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu then toggle the Wi-Fi switch to turn the feature OFF for a few seconds and toggle the switch to turn Wi-Fi back on again.
To refresh the Internet connection through the Airplane Mode toggle, just follow these steps:
- Go to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode on. Doing so simultaneously disables the phone’s wireless radios and so Wi-Fi, cellular and Bluetooth connections are turned off.
- After a few seconds, toggle the switch again to turn Airplane Mode off again.
Wait for your iPhone to re-establish cellular and wireless signal. Then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network to get back online and use Internet services.
If the problem with your iPhone Siri not working on iOS 13 continues after rebooting, then there must be some other triggers that you should rule out.
Second solution: Reboot to fix Siri not working issue
Performing a soft reset or reboot on the iPhone can help get rid of various issues including minor symptoms that transpire after installing firmware updates. This is also a way to clear cache, to refresh apps and system functions after the recent platform transition. Post-update bugs affecting Siri are likewise cleared out through restarting. If you haven’t already, then soft reset your iPhone with these steps:
- Press and hold down the Power/Top button for a few seconds until the Power off slider appears.
- Drag the slider to power off your device.
- After a few seconds, press and hold the Power/Top button until the Apple logo appears.
If the previous steps aren’t applicable to your iPhone, then follow these steps instead:
- Press and hold the Top button and either Volume button until the Power Off slider appears.
- Drag the slider to power off your device completely.
- After 30 seconds, press and hold the Top button again until the Apple logo appears
If Siri stops working and that it seemed to be stuck, then performing a forced restart on your iPhone is recommended. This is likely what your iPhone needs if the Touch ID isn’t working because the phone got stuck after the iOS 13 update implementation. Here’s how it’s done:
- Simultaneously press and hold the Power button and Home button until the device shuts down and reboots.
- When the Apple logo appears, release both the Power and Home buttons.
On iPhones 8 and later models, a forced restart is carried out through these steps:
- Quickly press and release the Volume Up button.
- Quickly press and release the Volume Down button.
- Then, press and hold the Power button until the Apple logo appears.
Both a soft reset and forced restart are deemed safe solutions as they don’t affect any saved data on the phone.
Third solution: Check and manage Siri settings.
Some iOS updates override settings on your device automatically. When this happens, there’s a chance that some options and configurations would result in some conflicts and system errors. And the iOS 13 Siri not working problem could be among the adverse symptoms. To clear this out, check and ensure that your iPhone Siri settings are still configured correctly. Here’s how:
- From the Home screen, tap Settings.
- Select Siri & Search.
- Then make sure that Listen for “Hey Siri,” Press Home for Siri, and Press Side Button for Siri (iPhone XS or later) options are turned on or enabled. If they’re not, then toggle their respective switches or buttons to enable/turn them on.
After making necessary changes, give your iPhone another restart to clear and refresh its memory and then test to see if Siri is working properly now.
Fourth solution: Make sure that Restrictions are not enabled for Siri.
Another possible reason as to why you ended up facing a problem with iOS 13 Siri not working on your iPhone is that the restrictions feature was automatically turned on by the update. If Siri functions are restricted, they won’t be able to work as intended. Thus, you can’t use Siri on your device. To correct the problem, manage your iPhone restrictions through these steps:
- Tap Settings, from your Home screen.
- Select Screen Time.
- Select Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Navigate to Allowed Apps and then make sure that Siri & Dictation isn’t turned off. Toggle the switch to turn Siri & Dictation on, if necessary.
See if that fixes your iPhone iOS 13 problem on Siri not working.
Fifth solution: Check and ensure Voice Feedback is enabled.
There’s a tendency for Siri not responding verbally if your iPhone is muted. The same thing can happen if the Voice Feedback feature is turned off. To make sure this isn’t causing the problem on your iPhone Siri not working after iOS 13 update, check and manage Voice Feedback Settings on your iPhone with these steps:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Select Siri & Search.
- Tap on Voice Feedback.
- Then change how Siri responds.
Among the choices to select from are Always Respond or Only when using Hands-Free setting.
Sixth solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone.
To rule out invalid settings and erratic configurations that might have caused your iPhone Siri not working after iOS 13, resetting all settings can be considered as the next possible solution to try on. This will erase all customized settings and iOS 13 overrides that might have caused a problem with Siri not working on your iPhone. This reset can be carried out without backing up files because it doesn’t affect any saved data on the iPhone storage. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen.
- Tap General.
- Scroll down and tap on Reset.
- Choose Reset all settings from the given options.
- Enter your passcode when asked to proceed.
- Finally, tap the option to confirm all settings reset.
Your iPhone should restart automatically when the reset is finished. By then you can start enabling necessary features including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other functions so you can use them again on your phone. Don’t forget to activate Siri and see if it’s already working properly afterwards.
Last resort: Erase your iPhone and restore its default settings (factory reset).
You may have to consider resorting to a full system reset if you still ended up having the same problem on your iPhone Siri not working after exhausting all prior solutions. There might be some complex system errors that need to be rectified to fix Siri and get it back up and able to work again. But you have to note though that this reset wipes everything out from your iPhone including all critical files stored on the memory. Thus, don’t forget to create backups if you wish to proceed. Once you’re all set, follow these steps to start erasing your iPhone through settings:
- From the Home screen, tap on Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Reset.
- Select the option to Erase all content and settings.
- Enter your passcode to proceed.
- Tap the option to confirm full system reset or factory reset.
After the reset, set up your device as new using the start-up wizard. Enable all features that you want to use and then see if that solves the problem with your iPhone iOS 13 Siri
Is your iPhone Siri not working on iOS 13?
If the problem on your iPhone Siri not working continues even after performing a factory reset, there’s a tendency that the iOS voice system has obtained some fatal errors from the recent iOS transition and therefore requires more advanced system repair procedures. Should you wish to troubleshoot further, then your next option would be a recovery mode restore or a DFU mode restore. These methods are carried out through iTunes on Windows or Mac computer. Prevailing symptoms that are attributed to complex iOS bugs are usually remedied through these methods but may also result in permanent data loss. So if possible, try to back up files from your iPhone to iTunes before you carry out a recovery mode restore or DFU mode restore. A more detailed walkthrough on how these iOS restore methods are carried can be found on this site’s tutorials section.
For more recommendations and advanced solutions to iPhone Siri not working on iOS 13, report the problem to Apple Support. Be sure to provide all necessary information as to how you ended up having Siri that’s not working on your iPhone as well as the solutions and workarounds you’ve tried as you tried to fix the problem on your end.
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