4 Ways to Fix Swipe Up Not Working on iPhone

Quick Tips

• If you can’t swipe up and unlock your iPhone, force restart it. Contact Apple Support if you can’t access your device.
• However, if you can unlock the device but can’t swipe up, disable Accessibility features like VoiceOver, Touch Accommodations, and Reduce Motion.
• You can also employ AssistiveTouch as an interim workaround for the swipe-up gesture.

If You’re Unable to Unlock iPhone

• Force restart iPhone: The first thing you must do if you can’t swipe up on your iPhone is restart it. This could reset the glitches causing the issue.
• Remove the cover or screen protector: If you’ve recently changed your cover or screen protector, they might be the culprit. Take them off and try swiping again.
• Update iOS: If you can’t unlock your phone, use a trusted Mac or computer to update your iPhone via Finder or iTunes.
• Contact Apple Support or a certified technician: If the touchscreen is not responding, take it for repairs.

If You Can Unlock iPhone But Not Swipe Up

Fix 1. Turn Off VoiceOver

The VoiceOver Accessibility setting changes certain gestures on your iPhone. If enabled, you might not be able to use swipe gestures. So, try turning it off.

Step 1: Go to Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2: Tap Accessibility > select VoiceOver.

Step 3: If VoiceOver is enabled, tap the VoiceOver option once to select it and then double-tap to turn it off.

Fix 2. Turn Off Touch Accommodations

Apple offers many accessibility features to enhance the working of your iPhone. One of them is the Touch Accommodation feature. If enabled, it may hinder the swipe-up functionality. Toggle it off to resolve the issue.

Step 1: Go to Settings, followed by Accessibility.

Step 2: Select Touch > Touch Accommodations and disable it.

Fix 3. Turn Off Reduce Motion

Another accessibility setting that can cause the swipe gestures to not work on the iPhone is reduced motion.

Step 1: Go to iPhone Settings > Accessibility > tap Motion.

Step 2: Turn off the toggle for Reduce Motion.

Fix 4. Reset iPhone Settings

Last but not least, if the above solutions do not help, you must reset your iPhone settings. Doing so will restore all the settings to their default values. Thus, fixing the issue of swipe up not working on iPhone, if caused by a setting.

Step 1: Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.

Step 2: Tap Reset > Reset All Settings.

If the swipe-up action is still not working on your iPhone, you can do two things. First, contact Apple support or certified technicians to have the hardware issue fixed.

Secondly, you can enable AssistiveTouch in place of the swipe-up action as a workaround for the time being.