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iPad home button not working

There does seem to be a systemic problem with the iPad home button. There are countless reports on the net of people who are experiencing problems with the button not working, and I'm now onto my second iPad in a row that's experiencing the same issue - when my first one stopped working I brought it to the Apple Store, who instantly replaced it without question, even though it wouldn't behave badly for me in the store. But now that new iPad is doing exactly the same thing. Symptoms are that the button works very erratically, and often not at all. It's hard to figure out if it's a hardware problem or something else. There are countless solutions proposed on the net, most of which amount to shaking a bag of bat's teeth over it. Anyone had any real success with any technique? It really seems like it's an iOS problem rather than a hardware problem, as iPhones and iPad Touches are also reporting it?

Posted on Jun 3, 2012 5:04 PM

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Posted on Aug 31, 2012 3:40 AM

I was having problems with my iPad2 home button not working, or more often, working erratically. I tried Ram4Kid's fix and it worked perfectly, first time! Give it a try. I don't know how, but it solved my problem. Thanks!

78 replies

Jun 6, 2013 12:48 PM in response to Maxplanar

This problem just started for me on my iPad 3 about two weeks ago (just about the time my warranty expired). I googled the problem, found the "rotation" solution and had good results for a while but, as many others have experienced, the button began misbehaving again within a week. I then tried the "home button calibration" method Pfeasant described and, once again, I got temporary button functionality.


Today I called Apple support. A pleasant technician (who said the same thing happened with his iPhone) informed me that the fix for the problem is for me to replace the device, and unfortunately this will cost $299 since my warranty was approx. two weeks past its expiration date. Since I had paid just under $900 for the device last year, I certainly resent having to shell out $299 more to get a device that works correctly for longer than one year. And after reading through this entire thread, I'm not convinced that the replacement device would be any more dependable.


Shame on Apple for not addressing such a widespread problem! I had been seriously considering replacing one of my HP desktops with an Apple. Not now.


P.S. I don't use a Smart Cover and never have. My cover doesn't have any magnetic parts.

Here's my cover.

Aug 4, 2013 11:08 AM in response to Maxplanar

I have a 1st gen iPad, and the Home button recently started giving me problems. After trying some of the remedies here without success, I blew some air from my garage compressor into the connector at the bottom of the iPad, and it fixed the problem. I guess some debris had gotten into the area from the connector hole and was causing the problem.

Aug 24, 2013 4:59 AM in response to Maxplanar

After finding that my iPhone power button was a rocker switch, or was made up of two switches, a left and a right, and only one was bad (the Genius pointed this out and they did replace the phone), I approached my intermittent mini's home button the same way. I assumed that there may be more than one switch or contact (up, down, left, right, and center seems logical) and tested accordingly.


First I focused pressure on the top edge of the home button using my fingernail. Repeatedly feeling the button click as I pressed, so I know the button was 'working', I got no response. I repeated this around the button and found that right and down always work, but left and up never do. Attempts to press directly down (center) were intermittent, so I assume the button actually rocks towards one of the sides.


I did some digging for photos of the back of the switch and a few did seem to show a bent metal setup suggested earlier, but there are also images of a home button cable that show a round contact. This may be what the metal contacts against, but I couldn't see why the setup would work directionally. It's odd too that the mini seems to be to focus of all these failures, when I assume all of the iOS devices would use the same switching method behind the home button. Maybe they tried to do something new and it didn't work. Guess we'll have to wait and see if the mini 2 has the problem too.


I'm hoping with this info, and an ability to show that two of four directions of the button are not working consistently, it will make it easy for the Genius to give me a replacement.

Aug 31, 2013 5:28 PM in response to Maxplanar

I have had my iPad for a year and I never had a problem with the home button until I bought a knew magnetic cover for it on Tuesday. By Wednesday the home button started to not work. The ram4kid solution mentioned worked but came back again. So I decided to not use the new magnetic cover ( the only thing i had done different) and go back to my old one and the problem hasn't come back. Just to see if the cover really effected the issue I tried to put the new cover on again and problem happened again. I think the problem could be somehow effected by certain magnetic covers. Incidentally my first cover also was magnetic but didn't effect my iPad the same way. If you think back, has anyone else noticed that they had changed their magnetic cover just before the problem appeared?

Sep 1, 2013 10:13 PM in response to Maxplanar

Call it the "Rotate and Blow" solution.


I tried all 3 fixes suggested in this amazing thread and my non-responsive home button is now super sensitive again and working great. Personally I think blowing into the charger port (right below the home button) is what ultimately fixed it. No compressor necessary or canned air. Just blow!


Thanks for posting these fixes!

Sep 23, 2013 2:59 PM in response to Johnsdm

I had same problem on iPad and iPhone, tried this little fix now working as it should be.


Launch any standard app on your tablet ( for example Notes).

Press down Power Button and keep it until the red “slide to power off” slider will appear.

Release Power Button and immediately press Home Button.

Keep it pressed until the red “slide to power off” slider will disappear. (It may be as long as 30 - 40 sec.)

Check if the Home button works; if not repeat above procedure once more. (You may try several times.)

That is all. The Home Button symptoms should be relieved.

Oct 3, 2013 10:29 AM in response to nikthegreek

This thread is great. I noticed after the IOS7 update my home button seemed to work less. Thought I was going nuts. Then this morning I was having a hard time getting out of apps and was worried the button had just died. Tried a reboot and that didn't seem to work. Google showed this thread and I tried the hold home while in portrait, rotate to landscape, rotate to portrait and let go. That worked great. It's responsive again!


It has to be some apps not behaving properly munging up the system, and it keeps persistant through the entire OS in the background until you do this or whatever other trick and it resets whatever is munged up. An ongoing variable, or a setting or something that never truely gets cleared out between restarts.


It also seems like maybe its easy for dust to get up in there too since people blowing has helped them also. What a weird error, but I'm happy this thread exists. Any ideas how much something like this would cost to be fixed out of warranty?

iPad home button not working

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