iPhone 17 Pro Face ID not working, stuck in authentication loop

Hi everyone,

I’m having an issue with Face ID on my iPhone 17 Pro and I seem to be completely stuck.

Face ID suddenly stopped recognising me after I shaved. It doesn’t say that Face ID is unavailable — it simply says that my face is not recognised.

So far, I’ve tried:

• Cleaning the TrueDepth camera area several times
• Restarting my iPhone
• Updating iOS
• Trying to change the Stolen Device Protection setting, but it requires Face ID authentication
• Trying to set up an Alternative Appearance, but again it requires Face ID
• Trying to reset Face ID, but this also requires Face ID authentication

Because Face ID won’t recognise me, I can’t change or reset any of the settings that could potentially fix the problem. I know my passcode and can still access my phone normally, but there doesn’t appear to be a passcode fallback for these particular security settings.

It feels like I’m trapped in a loop where I need Face ID to fix Face ID.

Has anyone experienced this before, particularly with Stolen Device Protection enabled? Is there any way to reset or re-enrol Face ID using my passcode, or another solution that doesn’t involve completely erasing the iPhone?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.