Service errors are among the most common and frustrating problems iPhone users will encounter. Not only do they prevent you from using your phone, but much like a check engine light, there’s often quite confusing.
Thankfully, it turns out that service errors are usually pretty easy to fix. Most service problems can be traced back to a series of basic issues that you can easily resolve via basic troubleshooting steps.
So here are a few common methods to fix most no service and searching for service errors on your iPhone.
Make Sure You’re in A Cellular Area
Before you go any further, you need to make sure you can receive cell data in the first place. Being out of a cellular area is actually one of the most common causes of service errors, and it’s also one of the easiest problems to fix.
To see if that’s what’s causing your connection problems, be sure to follow these steps.
- Open “Settings” and choose Cellular or Mobile Data. This may also just say Cellular Data.
That should ensure that data reception is enabled. If you’re in an international area, you may have to turn on roaming in order to receive a signal. You can do that by following these steps:
- Open “Settings”
- Choose “Cellular” and “Cellular Data Options”
- From there, enable “Data Roaming”
There’s a strong chance that one of the above methods will fix your service errors. If they don’t proceed to one of the other troubleshooting solutions we’ve listed below.
Restart Your Device
You’re probably tired of hearing this advice again and again, but the simplest solution is sometimes the right one.
If you’ve been experiencing service errors, you might just need to restart your iPhone. Just manually restart it by holding your volume button until the power option appears.
After you’ve restarted your phone, wait to see if you’re now able to automatically connect to a network or try to manually connect to a new network.
Search for Carrier Updates For Service Errors
Failing to download updates is another fairly common cause of service errors (and most other errors for that matter). To see if your errors are caused by outdated software, follow these steps:
- Be sure that you have a connection to either WiFi or cellular data. This is why you may want to try this troubleshooting method before you encounter service errors.
- Go to Settings and select General then About. Here, you should be notified if an update is available. If it is available, download it. If it’s not available, then you should have the most up-to-date version of the software.
Remove Your SIM Card
This is something of a last-ditch effort to fix service errors, but it might just be the one that will work for you.
Many service error messages are simply the result of a loose SIM card. While the safest way to remove your SIM card is to take it to the Apple Store, it’s actually pretty easy to do yourself if you just follow these steps:
- Locate the SIM tray. On newer iPhones, it should be on the right side of the device. The SIM trays of some older models may be located on the bottom, though.
- Find a paper clip or SIM ejection tool.
- Insert the pointed end of a paper clip or SIM tool into the hole on the side of the SIM tray. This should pop the tray out of your phone.
- Re-adjust the SIM card to ensure that it’s not loose or preventing the tray from closing. You want to make sure it’s secure, but don’t put too much pressure on it.
- Push the tray back into your iPhone. Again, don’t be too forceful as you might end up damaging the tray or knocking the card loose.
Reset Your Network Settings
Again, this is kind of an extreme solution so far as troubleshooting goes, but it tends to get the job done if you need to turn to it.
Resetting your iPhone’s network settings will cause you to lose saved information like Wi-Fi networks, cellular information, and some network related passwords. You won’t permanently lose any of this information, but you may need to enter some passwords or network information again.
As long as you’re ok with that, then you just need to follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Choose General and Reset
- Select Reset Network Settings
Once you’ve finished, wait for your iPhone to automatically connect to a cellular network or try connecting manually to a known Wi-Fi network. You may also want to try some of the above troubleshooting solutions again in order to see if they work for you now.
Leave a Reply