Best 9 ways to Fix iPhone Cellular Data Not Working

sumona chatterjee
4 min readJun 1, 2018

‘I am really upset after upgrading my iPhone 7 to iOS 11 as since then there cellular data is not working on my iPhone. Any solution?’

‘My iPhone was working fine. But suddenly the cellular data is not working! I checked with my Verizon carrier. The issue is not at their end. How to fix the problem now?’

There are flurry of complaints across social media regarding iPhone cellular data not working. There could be several reasons for the issue from software conflict after an update to new iOS or an improper SIM.

If you are also experiencing data connectivity issues with your iPhone, here are the best ways to troubleshoot the problem.

Follow the order as given from simpler ways to serious troubleshooting methods for iPhone cellular data not working.

Ways to fix iPhone cellular data not working

1. Disable and enable cellular data

2. Turn on & off Airplane mode

3. Restart iPhone

4. Reinsert Your SIM Card

5. Check Cellular Carrier Update

6. Reset Network Settings

7. Factory reset your iPhone

8. Update iOS 11

9. Contact your iOS provider

1. Disable and Enable Cellular Data

Try the easiest fix first — disable and enable the cellular data. Go to Settings > Cellular >Cellular Data. Tap the switch to turn it off and again tap to turn it on.

2. Turn On/Off Airplane Mode

Under Settings turn on Airplane Mode. When Airplane Mode is on, the cellular data turns off. Later again turn off the Airplane mode to switch on cellular data.

3. Restart iPhone

Restarting mobile device often resolves many problems including iPhone cellular data not working after iOS update.

Hold the Volume down button and the Power button simultaneously to restart your iPhone. Now check if the iPhone cellular data has started working or not.

4. Reinsert SIM card

Your iPhone SIM connects to your wireless carrier’s network. Sometimes ejecting and reinserting the SIM card helps to connect to cellular data properly.

It is also possible that your SIM card may be damaged. In such a case contact your service provider to replace the SIM.

5. Check Cellular Carrier Update

From time to time iPhone carrier providers like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon etc., release updates. It is important to install these updates to improve your cellular network efficiency.

You may see a message on your iPhone asking for Carrier Settings Update, whenever a new update is available. However you can manually check and install a carrier settings update by following:

· Connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

· Tap Settings > General > About. If an update is available, you’ll see a pop up to update your carrier settings.

· Click on Update. If no pop-up appears, it means there is no carrier settings update available.

6. Reset Network Settings

Move to ‘Reset Network Settings’ method after you have tried above methods to fix not working mobile data. Remember this will clear your saved Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular settings, and VPN and APN settings. To reset network settings on iPhone, follow:

· Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings

· Enter your passcode

· Choose Reset Network Settings and ignore the message that this action will delete all your network settings

Next turn off your iPhone and switch on after few seconds. This should fix the iPhone cellular data issue.

7. Factory reset

If none of the above methods work, opt for factory reset to fix mobile cellular data issue. Since factory reset leads to complete deletion of your iPhone data including contacts, photos, videos, messages, calendar, chat history, WhatsApp, Kik messages etc., so do not forget to backup iPhone in iTunes or iCloud before doing the hard reset.

Unfortunately if you lose any important iPhone videos, photos, contacts, etc., or unable to recover from the backup, seek Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery for iPhone to recover lost data. The advanced software fosters iPhone data recovery from iTunes, iCloud and iPhone.

The Stellar tool supports recovery from iPhone X, 8 Plus, 8, 7 Plus, 7, 6S Plus, 6S, 6 Plus, 6, 5S, 5c, 5, 4S and 4. It supports iOS 11.x (till 11.3), 10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x, 6.x.

8. Update iOS

Updating to new iOS may fix bugs that may disrupt connection to cellular data in iPhone.

But before you update your iPhone, backup your device using iCloud or iTunes. To update iOS, connect to the Internet and follow the below steps:

· Tap Settings > General > Software Update. If a message pops up to ‘remove apps because iOS needs space for the update,’ tap Continue.

· The new iOS update window appears. Tap Download and Install

If asked, enter your passcode. Once done, the iPhone restarts and installs the latest iOS update.

9. Contact your carrier

Sometimes the issue could be at your mobile data carrier end. Contact your carrier to check about proper cellular services or if any outages in your area that might be leading to unresponsive iPhone cellular data.

Conclusion

It is really annoying to see no cellular data service on your iPhone as you are unable to access many of your apps or browse on internet. Try the above ways as one of it is surely going to rescue you from the problem of not working iPhone cellular data.

Do share with us in the comment box below how you were able to fix the cellular data issue in your iPhone.

Till then happy troubleshooting!

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sumona chatterjee

Sumona is a technical blogger and writer. She has over 2 year experience in Photo Recovery technology. On her free time she writes about technical tips and tuto