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FIX for iPod Touch Home Button

Hi Everyone- first post.

I decided to register for this forum after finding a definitive 100% fix for a 1st gen iPod Touch 16gb home button unresponsive or nonfunctional.

1. Place 1 drop of rubbing alcohol on the home button.
2. Press the button repeatedly with pencil eraser making sure to get liquid into area surrounding button.
3. Dry off area with paper towel.
4. Press home button until it works again.

I was ready to buy a new one- and this was my last ditch effort. Now it works like new!

Hope this is helpful- be careful with the amount/type of liquid used- do not use water!!

Powerbook 12" 1.5ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), iPod Touch 16gb 1st gen

Posted on Apr 8, 2009 8:25 AM

Reply
208 replies

Jan 3, 2014 1:00 PM in response to tonybeyondo

My home button was stuck. It started a few days ago. I turned on assisted touch, which worked alright for me. Then I found te alcohol solution on an apple forum and I tried it. The button responded again when pushing hard around the corner of the button. About an hour later, it suddenly was back to normal: it clicked and worked great. But it was temporary.

It got stuck again and after pushing the button around, it sometimes worked great again for a short while.


Then I discovered another solution that worked easier and faster for me than pushing the button around randomly: I bounced the bottom of my ipod on a plastic surface a few times. It works as temporary fix. When the button got stuck again, I bounced the top edge of my ipod, when bouncing the bottom edge did not work anymore.


Why it works, I don't know. Maybe something beneath the button is blocking it from returning to it's normal position. At this moment, my button works fine, and I hope it is not temporary. ButI thought I post my solution, because it may work for others as well or better.

Feb 5, 2014 12:07 PM in response to tonybeyondo

Radio Shack has a product specifically for this. It is a lubricant for electronic devices. It it composed of non conductive materials. It is a tad cold when it comes out, but if something is out of warranty and unusable anyway, it is worth a try if something is "stuck" like a home button. I also wish this button was capacative and not mechanical.

Feb 13, 2014 5:26 AM in response to Bwh1969

I just tried the method mentioned earilier in the post; held down the button and blew into the charging port. I can't believe how simple this was to solve the problem in my case. For weeks I was having to push the button hard several times to get it to work, but now a normal push works every time!

Feb 18, 2014 10:55 AM in response to japanadian

This worked perfectly for me I got scared when it restarted but all is fine. My home button other wouldn't respond or would double click. This worked a treat I read through some of the other ones such as the alcohol one but if your button doesn't feel stuck then I recommend this as it seams like a software problem so this I guess reset or restart fixes it.

Apr 4, 2014 3:54 AM in response to This girl with a Broken Button

Hi, I had tried nail polish remover as it was an oil-free type and others have tried other types. I do recomend you lookng into what actually is working for ppl and how they done it. And defo no oilly, or thick fluids. Do any suggestion at your own risk and good luck. Let us know how you went.









P.S. My issue had only temparily worked. There is so much gunk when the button is even friends can feel itunder it, you know. Thank goodness for the accessabilities 😀

Apr 28, 2014 6:24 AM in response to japanadian

@japanadian - I was skeptical about this fix too at first. But I tried it, and WOW, it really did work!

The method I used was slightly different though. Found it here at OSXDaily.com http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/22/iphone-home-button-not-working-or-unresponsive-fi x/

It said to release the sleep/wake button, and then press/hold the Home button.

In my case it was not a hardware problem, because the button was not stuck and the return spring seems fine. The device just didn't like to respond to clicking the button.


thanks again.

Jun 29, 2014 7:22 AM in response to rarabini

The alcohol trick did not work for me and my ipod 5 ,64 mb is only a lil over a year old. Mine happened overnight.I did not drop it or handle it with dirty hands.Yesterday my home button was working great and woke up this morning to a button that doesn't click at all. It seems like it is stuck.I have to press down on it very hard to get it to work.I don't understand how this can happen overnight like that.

Jul 16, 2014 3:16 PM in response to tonybeyondo

well my iPod home button is broken to the point where I can spin it around. I'm not sure if it's under warranty if it is how much will it cost to fix it and if it's not under warranty how much will it cost ? Will Apple fix it even though it was purchased at a different store ? Is there any place that will fix it for very little money Other than apple because I know there are a lot of places that only fix iPhones and iPads. Thank you

Feb 24, 2015 12:18 PM in response to tonybeyondo

I am not sure how I got these songs on my iPod, my mom also has them on her iPad. They are downloadable songs from icloud match. I am wanting to permanently delete them. I was able to delete them on my ipod, but I tried to slide to the left to delete them on my moms ipad and they wouldn't delete. Again, I have no clue how they got on there, I'm wondering if maybe my nephew accidentally got them on there or something because it seems like they are recent.


I also have had the issue of my home button not working on my iPods. I had an old iPod that I put the touch help thing on there so I don't have to use the home button, but on my new iPod(it's about a year old now), it's broken and now my iPod wont turn on at all. Is there a way to fix this? I've tried to clean it with a q-tip and nail polish remover, I'm worried that if I take it to someone professional that they will charge a lot to fix it. It's an iPod touch, 5th generation and my old one is a 4th generation. My mom has an older iPad, not sure what generation.

Aug 3, 2015 9:21 AM in response to tonybeyondo

hi uhm my ipod touch is 5th gen and I've been using it for a year now. the thing is, awhile ago while i was just watching something on my laptop and decided to check my itouch, it suddenly won't open. the thing is, i can't restart it since my home button's broken. should i do the isopropyl alcohol thing or just take this to apple?? i just dont get it why it suddenly shut down when it had enough battery PLS HELP ME

FIX for iPod Touch Home Button

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