Quick fixes (30 seconds or less)
If you’ve been staring at the spinning wheel under Settings > General > Software Update for more than a minute, stop waiting. It’s not going to resolve itself. I’ve seen clients leave this screen for three hours thinking it’ll pop. It doesn’t.
First, toggle Airplane Mode on and off. Swipe into Control Center, tap the airplane icon, wait 5 seconds, tap it off. Then go back to the Software Update screen. Nine times out of ten, this forces the phone to re-establish its connection to Apple’s update servers cleanly.
Still stuck? Force-close Settings and retry. Swipe up from the bottom (or double-click the Home button on older iPhones) to bring up the app switcher. Swipe Settings off the screen. Open Settings fresh, tap General, then Software Update. This clears any half-baked session that got hung up on a handshake.
Had a client last month whose iPhone 12 was stuck for two days on this. Airplane Mode toggle fixed it in ten seconds. Don’t skip this step just because it seems too simple.
Moderate fixes (5 minutes)
If toggling Airplane Mode didn’t work, the problem is usually your Wi-Fi connection or the DNS server your phone’s using. Apple’s update servers are picky about stable connections. Here’s what to try:
Switch to cellular data (or a different Wi-Fi network)
Open Settings > Wi-Fi and turn it off. Then go back to Software Update. If your phone starts checking on cellular, your Wi-Fi was the bottleneck. If cellular also fails, move closer to your router or try a different network (like a neighbor’s or a coffee shop’s). I’ve had cases where a corporate Wi-Fi block on port 443 (HTTPS) silently kills the update check.
Change your DNS
This one sounds geeky but takes 30 seconds:
- Go to Settings > Wi-Fi.
- Tap the blue (i) next to your connected network.
- Scroll down to Configure DNS, tap Manual.
- Delete any existing DNS servers, add
8.8.8.8(Google’s DNS). - Tap Save.
Go back to Software Update. Google’s DNS is faster and more reliable than most ISP defaults. I’ve fixed countless stuck update checks this way on iOS 17 and 18.
Restart your iPhone
Yes, the classic. But do it hard — not just a power-off. On an iPhone with Face ID: press Volume Up, press Volume Down, hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears, then release. This clears deeper caches than a normal restart. On older iPhones with a Home button: hold both the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons until you see the Apple logo.
If you’re on an iPhone 15 or later, also check Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This wipes saved Wi-Fi passwords, so have them handy. I’ve seen this fix a corrupted Wi-Fi profile that blocked update checks entirely.
Advanced fixes (15+ minutes)
None of the above work? Now we’re in rare territory. The issue is likely a deeper software glitch or a partial update that never completed. Here’s the playbook:
Check Apple’s system status
Before you reinstall anything, make sure Apple’s servers aren’t down. Go to Apple’s System Status page. If the green dot next to “iOS Software Update Server” is anything but green, stop troubleshooting. Wait two hours and try again. I’ve wasted 45 minutes reinstalling iOS only to find the servers were down.
Update via a Mac or PC
When your iPhone can’t talk to Apple’s servers directly, a tethered update often bypasses the stuck check:
- Connect your iPhone to a Mac (with Finder) or a PC (with iTunes).
- Trust the computer if prompted.
- Click the device icon, then click Check for Update.
- If it prompts you to download and install, do it. This downloads the update to your computer first, then pushes it to the phone.
This works because your computer handles the DNS resolution and connection, not your phone’s sometimes-flaky network stack. I’ve pulled this off for clients whose iPhones were stuck for weeks.
Factory reset (last resort, full wipe)
If nothing else works, you’re dealing with a corrupted system partition. A factory reset from a computer is the nuclear option:
- On your computer, put your iPhone into Recovery Mode:
- iPhone 8 or later: Press Volume Up, press Volume Down, hold Side button until Recovery Mode screen appears.
- iPhone 7: Hold Volume Down and Sleep/Wake buttons.
- Older iPhones: Hold Home and Sleep/Wake buttons.
- In Finder or iTunes, you’ll see an option to Restore (wipes everything) or Update (keeps your data). Try Update first — it reinstalls iOS without erasing your content.
- If Update fails or the phone remains stuck, click Restore. This wipes your phone and installs the latest iOS from scratch.
Back up your photos and data before this step. I’ve had clients forget, and those photos of their dog aren’t coming back.
One weird trick: change the date
This sounds dumb but works occasionally: go to Settings > General > Date & Time, turn off “Set Automatically,” manually set the date to tomorrow, then switch it back to automatic. This can reset the SSL certificate check that sometimes hangs. Takes 20 seconds.
If you’ve tried all this and your iPhone still won’t check for updates, your phone’s NAND flash might have a hardware issue — specifically a failing storage controller. You’ll see this more often on older models (iPhone 8, X, XS) that have been heavily used. At that point, it’s cheaper to replace the phone than to fix it.
Bottom line: start with Airplane Mode toggle, then DNS change, then tethered update. Skip the rest until those fail. Most people fix this in under two minutes.