How to Put iPhone 7 Into DFU Mode

Need to place an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus into DFU mode? Now that the iPhone no longer includes a clickable Home button, you might be wondering how to place the iPhone 7 models into DFU mode, and that’s exactly what we’ll show you how to do.

For some quick background, DFU Mode is an advanced recovery and restore mode you can place an iPhone into, which is sometimes necessary for troubleshooting, restoring, or for using IPSW files to update the device. If you’re interested, you can learn more about what DFU mode is here. Typically using DFU mode is only necessary for troubleshooting if a device is not responding or restoring properly when in Recovery Mode for whatever reason, and it is rarely necessary for the average user to access.

To use DFU mode with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, you must have a USB iPhone charging cable, a computer – it can be a Mac or Windows PC – and a new updated version of iTunes to restore or interact with the iPhone.

How to Use DFU Mode on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

This applies to iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and future model iPhones without a clickable Home button. This approach will not work on older iPhone models, if necessary you can learn how to enter DFU mode on iPhone models with a clickable Home button here, which uses a completely different method.

1. Launch iTunes on the computer if you have not done so already
2. Connect the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus to the computer with iTunes
3. Turn off the iPhone 7 by holding down the Power button and then swiping to power off, wait until the iPhone is completely turned off with a black screen
4. Now press and hold the Power button on the right-side of the iPhone for about 3 seconds
5. While still holding the Power button, now also press and hold the Volume Down button on the left side of the iPhone 7
6. Continue to hold both the Power button and Volume Down button for about 10 seconds
7. Release the power button but continue to hold the Volume Down button for about 5 seconds
8. The iPhone 7 screen should stay black, while iTunes should pop-up an alert message saying an iPhone has been detected
9. The device can now be restored while in DFU mode

Once the iPhone 7 has properly entered into DFU mode you can perform a low level restore or update as needed to the device.

4 Ways to Know iPhone Did NOT Enter DFU Mode Properly

1) If the iPhone screen shows an Apple logo, you did the process wrong and the iPhone rebooted instead. Start over.

2) If the iPhone screen shows an iTunes logo, you did the process wrong and instead entered into Recovery Mode, which is different from DFU mode. Start over.

3) If iTunes does not show a message stating that an iPhone was detected and can be restored, the device did not properly enter DFU mode. Start over.

4) If the iPhone screen is not black, the iPhone 7 is not in DFU mode. The iPhone display is always black and off when in DFU mode.

If you have any difficulties entering DFU mode, or you wind up in Recovery Mode instead of DFU mode, you can simply restart the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus to begin the process again.

How to Exit DFU Mode on iPhone 7

Keep in mind that after an iPhone has been successfully restored, it will exit DFU mode on it’s own.

If you entered DFU mode on iPhone 7 / 7 Plus and now need to exit DFU mode, simply restart the iPhone 7 by holding down the Power button and Volume Down button concurrently until you see the Apple logo. The iPhone will restart as usual and boot up as it normally would.