Assistive Touch Not Working on iPhone? Look Here

Updated by Brian Davis on Aug 30, 2022 5:00 PM • Category: iOS & iPhone Tips
6 mins read

No one who is an iPhone user will not know the feature of Assistive Touch which can be a boon in some aspects. It is designed to adjust volume, lock and restart the device, use multi-finger gestures, or replace pressing buttons with only one tap. Normally, when users enable the feature on their iPhones, there will be a button on the Home screen. If you want to see its options, just tap the button.

Nevertheless, the situation may be the opposite. Users think that they turn on the Assistive Touch correctly, but the feature is nowhere to be seen. They are confused that why the error occurs and how to access the feature. Well, if you are reading the tutorial, you are in the right place. As the tutorial will discuss how to fix the Assistive Touch not working on iPhone 11/12/13 issue, you will gain a hint from it.

iphone assistivetouch missing on iphone

How to enable Assistive Touch on iPhone?

In some cases, you actually enable the feature wrongly, so it cannot be shown on the device screen. First, we'd like to talk about how to turn on Assistive Touch on iPhone with different options available. According to the official information of Apple, here are 3 ways. Before you try to resolve the missing Assitive Touch issue, you can check the following 3 options out.

Option 1: in the Settings app

The most common and easy-to-do choice is using the Settings app. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility. When it is done, scroll down and choose the Assistive Touch option. If the option is off, just switch it on.

enable assistive touch in settings

Option 2: via Siri

Utilizing Siri also proves useful. First, open Siri on your device by saying “Hey Siri” or pressing the Side button or Home button (for iPhone with the button). Then, try saying “Turn on Assistive Touch”. By doing so, the feature will occur quickly on your iPhone.

use siri to turn on assistive touch

Option 3: by accessibility shortcut

If the accessibility shortcut for Assistive Touch is enabled, you can use the Home button to open the feature easily. To do this, go to Settings > General > Accessibility and then the Accessibility Shortcut. After this, you will see the page showing the AssistiveTouch, just select it. In this way, by pressing the Home button three times, you can turn on Assistive Touch.

enable accessibility shortcut

If you are sure that you turn on the feature by correct ways, the feature may go wrong. If so, try to use the following solution to fix the Assistive Touch missing on iPhone issue and access the feature again.

Why is my Assistive Touch not working/showing on iPhone

iOS update - In most situations, updating the iOS version will cause the Assistive Touch not working on iPhone 11 issue. When you can't find the Assistive Touch button on your iPhone after updating your iPhone, this is the reason.

Accessibility Shortcut is enabled - If you have enabled the Accessibility Shortcut features on your iPhone, the Assistive Touch button may disappear through your mistake touch. You can disable the Accessibility Shortcut feature and see if the Assistive Touch feature can work properly.

Screen orientation - This Assistive Touch not working on iPhone 11 problem will also appear when users rotate their iPhone screen while opening a game. When you switch to other apps on your iPhone, the Assistive Touch will disappear for no reason.

Top 5 solutions to fix Assistive Touch Not Showing on iPhone

Fix 1: Turn Assistive Touch on and off


If the Assistive Touch disappears, it is always not harmful that you enable and disable the settings several times. Just go to the Settings app > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch. If the option is on, tap it and then the button to turn off the Assistive Touch. Wait for a while. And then enable the feature again to rectify the iPhone Assistive Touch disappears issue.

Fix 2: Adjust Assistive Touch idle capacity


There is an option called Idle Capacity which is used to adjust the visibility of Assistive Touch. If it is not set properly, the Assistive Touch may not be seen clearly. To do this, just go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch. Tap the option, and you will see a new page. Scroll down to choose the Idle Capacity option. After this, you will see a button to change the idle capacity and then drag it.

adjust idle capacity

Fix 3: Restart your iPhone


It is believed that most users tend to restart their devices with the aim to fix minor troubles. And the fact is that by doing this, they let some issues go away. So if you are facing the Assistive Touch not working on iPhone, why not give it a try? To perform a restart of your iPhone, do the things below.

Step 1: Press and hold the Top/Side button (also the Power button). But for iPhone X or later models, you need to press either Volume button and Side button.
Step 2: When the power off slider occurs, release the buttons and then drag the slider. Wait for the iPhone to turn off.
Step 3: To turn on the iPhone again, press and hold the Top/Side button before the Apple logo is shown.

restart iphone

Fix 4: Repair iPhone via iOS system recovery tool


After rebooting your iPhone, the issue still exists which means that you need a more effective way. Sometimes, the faulty system bugs may hinder the iPhone from running well, including the Assistive Touch randomly disappears. If the system glitches are the culprit, an iOS system recovery tool is able to fight against these issues. The TunesKit iOS System Recovery software is a good example.

TunesKit iOS System Recovery stands out from other rivals with its top-notch profession of repair. As a desktop program with both Windows and Mac versions, it can fix more than 50 iOS-associated issues, such as iPhone stuck in Apple logo, boot loop, recovery mode, etc. Of course, the iPhone Assistive Touch disappears issue is also the scope of repair. Fast in repair speed and high in success rate, it always endeavors to provide the best solution. In addition, in the repair process, it will not impinge on any data of your iPhone, if using one of its modes.

tuneskit ios system recovery

Characteristics of TunesKit iOS System Recovery:

  • Fix Assistive Touch missing on iPhone without data loss
  • Repair different tvOS/iOS issues by yourself
  • Provide Standard Mode and Advanced Mode
  • Easy to use with friendly interface
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So let us see together how to use TunesKit to fix the Assistive Touch missing on iPhone issue with no data loss.

Step 1: First, open and launch TunesKit on your computer. Then, by using a USB cable, plug the iPhone with Assistive Touch disappeared to the computer to make a connection. By doing this, TunesKit will detect the device within seconds. After this, click the Start button.

connect iphone to pc

Step 2: Second, a proper repair mode is necessary. Here, the Standard Mode is highly suggested. Be careful that another mode will erase the data. If choosing, click the Next button.

select repair mode

Step 3: Last, you need to download the firmware package. Before downloading, there is a page for you to check device info. If done, click the Download button. Wait for a while. When the firmware is downloaded, click the Repair button to fix the Assistive Touch now showing on iPhone issue.

download firmware and fix assistive not missing on iphone

Fix 5: Reset all settings


Here, there is a final solution to help you get rid of the issue. That is resetting all settings. Doing this means that settings related to the network, the keyboard dictionary, the Home screen layout, location and privacy settings, and Apple Pay cards will be erased to reset to their defaults. But no other data will be removed.

To reset all settings, go to Settings > General > Reset. On the screen showing several options, choose Reset All Settings. The iPhone may ask you to confirm the action and tap Reset All Settings again.

reset all settings

The bottom line

If adjusting the volume via Assistive Touch cannot be achieved, you can do this by pressing the volume button. However, even if the Assistive Touch is not a must-have feature, facing the iPhone Assistive Touch disappears error must be worried. Well, by the 5 ways in the tutorial, you can get out of the issue as soon as possible. If you are still having other iOS problems, please try using TunesKit iOS System Recovery.

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