You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iPhone 5 Stuck on slide to upgrade after iOS 9 update..

Hi all,

I was rather happy with iOS 7 so never upgraded to 8 - but then 9 has just come out so I decided I would finally update my iPhone for the battery enhancements. Updated it via iTunes and the install seemed to go well, however, I'm now stuck on the slide to upgrade screen and my phone is just unresponsive - it won't slide!

It comes up the first time and it works, I enable location services and Wi-Fi, but then the slide message comes up again and it doesn't work.

I've hard to reboot the iPhone with the Sleep and Home button, but get stuck on the same part again.

Anyone else struggling?

iPhone 5, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 16, 2015 5:35 PM

137 replies

Sep 17, 2015 5:09 PM in response to Falaarh

Check iTunes for the back up.

iTunes > Preferences > Devices.. and right click the appropriate back up and select Open in Finder (If on a Mac) or Open in explorer if on Windows.

Hope this helps..

Sep 17, 2015 5:17 PM in response to harpreet0singh

can you explain step number 4?

Sep 17, 2015 5:45 PM in response to harpreet0singh

I get the iphone could not be stored bc the firmware file is not compatable

Sep 17, 2015 6:11 PM in response to jem92xx

You are a lifesaver! Thank you so much!

Sep 17, 2015 7:13 PM in response to chase martin

You need to download the correct firmware for your device's model number. Which one did you download? GSM or Global? Whichever one didn't work, it's most likely going to be the other one..

Check here: http://ios8release.com/check-iphone-gsm-or-global-model/

Sep 17, 2015 7:19 PM in response to sarathmam

Are you using iTunes in OS X or Windows?

If Windows, then press and hold the shift key whilst using the mouse to click on the restore button. This will open up Windows Explorer and allow you to point to the .ipsw file you just downloaded.

If on OS X, then hold then press and hold the option (alt) key whilst using the mouse to click on the restore button. This will open Finder and allow you to do the same.

Sep 17, 2015 8:04 PM in response to harpreet0singh

Thanks I got it to work.

Sep 17, 2015 8:14 PM in response to harpreet0singh

I keep getting the phone cannot be restored error because find my iPhone must be turned off. But I can't get to my settings in my phone to turn off the find my iPhone and I tried to delete the device on iCloud.com but it isn't working. Any suggestions?

Thank you

mh434

Level 1

24 points

Sep 17, 2015 9:00 PM in response to jcarr1987

harpreetOsingh's solution WORKED!!! ALL my apps, music, photos, etc. came back...only my contacts remain elusive (they're shared on my iPad mini, though, so there must be a way to get them to copy to my iPhone...then I'll be in business, on IOS 8.4.1 (I'm NOT going to try 9.0 again until it's fixed!!).

MANY, MANY THANKS TO HARPREETOSINGH FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!

It shouldn't be up to Apple users to fix Apple's mistakes, though. Where are the Apple Reps in this discussion?

By the way - for anyone who hasn't backed up recently - your photos ARE accessible in your phone, even when you're at the dreaded "Slide to update" screen. Windows 10, at least, finds the iPhone when connected to it by wire, even in that state, and considers it an external drive.

All your photos are there, and accessible. I just created a new folder on my desktop {"iPhone backup photos Sep 17 2015") and copied all 1100 pictures to the new folder. No matter what, I'd still have my pictures. As it turns out, when iTunes finished installing ios 8.4.1 on my phone, it asked if I wanted to do a restore from backup (my last one was last November, but I hadn't made a lot of changes in that time) or as a new phone. I opted for the restore-from-last-backup, and the phone is pretty much back to normal, including every one of my pictures (I'm not sure how that was possible, as a lot of them were taken since my last backup...how did they get back on the phone??? I don't care...they're there!!).

BTW, I followed harpreetOsingh's solution to the letter, and it worked perfectly.

Best of luck to all!!

Sep 17, 2015 9:35 PM in response to harpreet0singh

when you said you downloaded it with mega, how did you do that?? I'm trying but it just downloads this megasync app to my computer that isn't available to select when I browse to restore the iphone. Please help!

awiggans

Level 1

0 points

Sep 17, 2015 10:08 PM in response to mh434

I agree --- where are the apple reps?

Maybe everybody should call the 1-800 support line to get some Apple help?

blutzski

Level 1

0 points

Sep 17, 2015 10:25 PM in response to harpreet0singh

When I do Step 2 (Download IOS 8.4.1 for your iPhone or iPad from this site --> https://ipsw.me/8.4.1) I get a zip file that needs to be extracted, which I did. However, there is no .IPSW file there. What is the file name that I should have iTunes browse for? I checked and made sure I was downloading the right GSM vs. Global file for my phone.

Thanks. This is a nightmare. I've spent an entire day on this.

jbates2

Level 1

0 points

Sep 17, 2015 11:29 PM in response to jem92xx

Thank you so much for posting this - it worked but holy cow - there's 5 hours of my life I'll never see again as I tried to fix this BRUTAL. Shame on Apple for not letting users know about this glitch. Got most everything back, but it wasn't easy. Biggest problem is that if you have the Find My iPhone app enabled, iTunes will not let you do a full restore. To disable the app, you have to go into iCloud and remove your phone from the device list. Easier than it sounds - just saying - b/c when your phone is stuck on "slide to update," it isn't really powering off - even though it sort of looks like it is - and you can't remove the device from the app's list if it is still on.

Thanks again, jem92xx - your advice totally worked and thank you for stepping in where Apple didn't.

Sep 17, 2015 11:51 PM in response to harpreet0singh

Hello,

I did exactly what you have said but im stuck when i want to restore it says to turn off my find my iphone i did that using icloud on my computer but it still says turn off find my iphone.

thank you in advance

Sep 18, 2015 12:08 AM in response to jbates2

jbates2

how do you remove your phone from the device list?

iPhone 5 Stuck on slide to upgrade after iOS 9 update..