How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working

By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: September 14, 2020

An iPhone is one of the leading devices which Apple designs and develops. It is a smartphone that operates on iOS. Apple is a leader in technology that develops and sells electronic devices, computer software, and hardware and provides online services.

iPhone is a handy, secured, and valuable device with many useful features great for multi-tasking. It is used for messaging, calling, emails, play music, videos, take photos, and many others. It can also be used for sharing cellular data connection using a personal hotspot which works as a Wi-Fi connection for other devices to connect. There are times that issues occur with your device. One example is the iPhone personal hotspot not working. This article provides several methods on how to resolve the issue.

Part 1: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working Part 2: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with Wi-Fi Part 3: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with Bluetooth Part 4: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with USB Part 5: In Summary

Part 1: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working

This section provides several ways on how to resolve the issue on iPhone Personal Hotspot not working. Several factors may cause the problem hence not some methods may or may not work on your device. Below are the steps per method that you can try to do on resolving the Personal Hotspot problem on your iPhone device.
Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working

Verify your iPhone Cellular Data is Enabled

Cellular data is needed in your iPhone device to enable the Personal Hotspot and other devices will be able to connect to the hotspot. On your iPhone device, turn off the cellular data. Turn on the cellular data again and check to see if the Personal Hotspot is now working on your iPhone. If it does not still work, proceed to the succeeding steps in the next section.

How to turn off and on the cellular data on your iPhone:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Tap on Cellular.
Step 03: Slide the Cellular Data to off (white).
Step 04: Slide the Cellular Data back to on (green).
Step 05: Go back to Settings and check to see if the Personal Hotspot is now shown and working successfully.

Verify the Personal Hotspot on your iPhone Device is Enabled

Most often, it just needs re-enablement of the personal hotspot by turning it off and turning it on again. Make sure also that the connecting devices are within the distance limit to the hotspot, in this case, your iPhone device.

Step 01: On your iPhone device, navigate to Settings.
Step 01: Check that the Personal Hotspot feature is turned on. Turn it off and turn it on again.

Verify the Wireless Carrier Settings:

If you are unable to turn on the Personal Hotspot or unable to see it, confirm if it is supported in your wireless plan or your wireless carrier enabled it. You can contact your wireless carrier to get a confirmation on your cellular plan. You can get the customer support number from the carrier’s website and ask them if the functionality is enabled.

How to confirm the Wireless Carrier settings:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select General.
Step 03: Next, tap on About to check if there are updates to the carrier settings that are available. A prompt will appear if there are new settings updates that are available.

Verify your iPhone Device Runs on the Latest iOS

Make sure also that your iPhone device has the most recent version of iOS installed in order to avoid the issue on iPhone personal hotspot not working.

How to get the most recent updates of iPhone mobile iOS:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select General.
Step 03: Then, tap on Software Update
Step 04: If there are updates available, tap Download and Install.
Step 05: After the install is finished, restart the iPhone device and the ones that connect to it.

Restart your iPhone Device

Most of the time restarting the device will solve most issues. Restarting will refresh or renew the state of your device and your data is still preserved. How to perform iPhone restart:

Step 01: Press the Power button for several seconds until Slide to power off is shown on the screen.
Step 02: Swipe the Power Slide to power off icon to the right to turn off your device.
Step 03: Then press the Power button again to turn on the device.
Step 04: After the restart, on your iPhone device check to see if the Personal Hotspot is now working successfully.

Reset Your Device’s Network Settings

Resetting will not delete data on your iPhone device but will only reset the Wi-Fi passwords, networks, VPN and APN settings, and cellular settings. If you reset the network settings in your iPhone device, it will go back to the original settings.

How to reset the network settings:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select General.
Step 03: Then, tap Reset.
Step 04: Tap on Reset Network Settings. Then confirm to reset the network settings.
Step 05: Check to see if the Personal Hotspot is now working successfully on your iPhone device. Make sure that the connecting devices are within the distance limit to the hotspot, in this case, your iPhone device

Delete the APN Certificates

The installed APN certifications on your iPhone device can sometimes affect the Personal Hotspot. APN certificates make your iPhone device to work with some phone companies. Make a backup of that specific data whenever you delete something on your device.

How to delete APN certificates:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select General.
Step 03: Tap Profiles.
Step 04: Then, select the profile that you wish to delete.
Step 05: Select Delete Profile.
Step 06: A confirmation pop up will appear. Tap on Delete to proceed with the deletion.

Sign Out Your Account from iCloud

Some users resolved the issue by disabling the Personal Hotspot, then signing out from their iCloud account. Next, restarting the iPhone device, then signing in again to their iCloud account and enabling the Personal Hotspot.

How to sign out from the iCloud account:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Click on your Apple ID profile card.
Step 03: Tap on Sign Out located at the bottom part.
Step 04: Then, select the profile that you wish to delete.
Step 05: Select Delete Profile.

Delete Old Passwords

This will need your Mac computer which has an enabled iCloud Keychain so that passwords will sync with iCloud.

Step 01: On your Mac computer, launch the Network Preferences.
Step 02: Go to Wi-Fi.
Step 03: Click Advanced.
Step 04: Delete all the old Wi-Fi hotspot entries.
Step 05: Launch the Keychain Access app.
Step 06: Delete all the old passwords related to iPhone Hotspot from iCloud. These are listed as Application Password in the iCloud Keychain. For a faster way, you can type in iPhone on the search field or search for the Date Modified.

Contact Apple Support

If still the issue is not resolved, it is possible due to a hardware problem on your iPhone device which affects the Personal Hotspot feature that you need to contact the Apple Support online or you can go visit an Apple Store near your area.

Restore your iPhone in DFU Mode

A DFU mode or known as Device Firmware Update is a deep restore of your iPhone device, deeper than the recovery mode. This mode will erase everything on your device and restores it to a new one. It is highly recommended to create a backup of the important data from your iPhone device before doing the DFU restore.

Part 2: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with Wi-Fi

This section provides simple information that will teach you how to connect properly to Personal Hotspot via the Wi-Fi connection for both the iPhone device running the Personal Hotspot and the connecting devices and avoid the problem on iPhone Personal Hotspot not working.

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select Personal Hotspot. Make sure that Personal Hotspot is turned on.
Step 03: Remember the Wi-Fi network name and password on your iPhone device. The instructions are provided below on how to change the device name should you need to.
Step 04: Stay on the screen while the other device connects.
Step 05: Turn on the Wi-Fi of the other connecting device.
Step 06: Connect the device to the right Wi-Fi network which is the same network as in the above step.
Step 07: Make sure that the Wi-Fi password is correct. It should be the same as the Wi-Fi password from the iPhone device.

How to Change The Name of Your Device

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select General.
Step 03: Tap About.
Step 04: Click the first line that displays your device name.
Step 05: Edit the name of your iPhone device.
Step 06: Tap Done.

Part 3: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with Bluetooth

How do I fix my personal hotspot? This section provides a basic method that will teach you how to connect properly to Personal Hotspot using the Bluetooth connection and prevent the issue on iPhone Personal Hotspot not working.

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select Personal Hotspot. Make sure that Personal Hotspot is turned on.
Step 03: Go back to Settings then go to Bluetooth.
Step 04: Make sure that Bluetooth is turned on.
Step 05: Stay on the screen while the other devices connect.
Step 05: Turn on the Bluetooth of the other connecting device.
Step 06: Confirm the code. Select the option Pair on both devices.

If Personal Hotspot is still not working, turn the Bluetooth off and turn it on again. You can first un-pair your devices, and restart them. Next pair the devices again.

How to Un-pair The Devices:

Step 01: Navigate to Settings on your mobile device.
Step 02: Select
Step 03: Tap the blue letter information icon beside the iPhone device name.
Step 04: Select Forget this Device.

Part 4: How to Resolve iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working with USB

How do you enable Personal Hotspot on the iPhone? This section provides a basic process that will guide you on how to connect properly to Personal Hotspot using the USB cable connection and prevent the issue on iPhone Personal Hotspot not working. First, update your iTunes to the latest version.

How to download the latest updates of iTunes:

Step 01: Launch iTunes on your computer.
Step 02: iTunes will automatically prompt if there are new updates. If not prompted, click the iTunes or help menu and select Check for Updates.
Step 03: iTunes will check for the recent updates and will notify you to download and install. Follow the next steps to proceed until installation is successful.

How to Connect Your Computer to The Personal Hotspot via USB

Step 01: Connect your computer to the iPhone device using a USB cable.
Step 02: Verify that your iPhone device is recognized in iTunes. You will be able to view or find your iPhone in iTunes.
Step 03: If your iPhone is not recognized, use a different USB cable.
Step 04: For connection issues in Windows, try to run the Network Troubleshooter.
For Mac, go to System Preferences.
Step 05: Select Networkand click iPhone USB. If it is not shown, add it.
Step 06: Click on the Settingsgear icon, select Make Service Inactive
Step 07: Click Apply.
Step 08: Click on the Settings gearicon, select Make Service Active
Step 09: Click Apply.

Part 5: In Summary

An iPhone is an iOS device that can handle many useful tasks that enables you to manage various applications, messages, contacts, emails, files, and even share personal hotspot for other devices to connect to. A personal hotspot can be shared via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB connections. However, there are times that a problem will occur such as iPhone personal hotspot not working. There are multiple methods presented in this article that can help you on how to resolve the problem. Most of the time some of the issues can be resolved by just a restart of your device which you might want to consider.

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