How to Fix iPhone Stuck on Attempting Data Recovery

By ErrorFix · Updated October 15, 2026 · 6 min read

What "Attempting data recovery" means

This screen appears when your iPhone encounters a problem in the middle of an iOS update — typically right after the phone restarts to install the new software. Instead of booting into your home screen, the phone displays "Attempting data recovery" and tries to rebuild whatever the interrupted update left in an inconsistent state. On a healthy phone with a complete update, this screen either never appears or flashes by in seconds.

The reason it shows up at all is that iOS guards your data during updates: your photos, messages, and app data are stored in a database-like structure, and a failed update can leave pieces of it half-written. When the phone notices the inconsistency, it starts a verification and rebuild pass — the "attempting data recovery" phase. On phones packed with years of messages and a large photo library, this pass can legitimately take a long time. The problem is when it never finishes: the screen just sits there, sometimes for hours, and every restart lands you back on the same message. That is the loop this guide fixes.

Common causes

• Interrupted iOS update: the battery died, the connection dropped, or the phone was restarted while the update was installing.
• Corrupted update file: the iOS download itself contained damaged data, so the install fails midway and the rebuild stalls.
• Nearly full storage: a phone with almost no free space may not be able to stage the update or complete the data rebuild.
• Failed or stalled verification: the phone's attempt to rebuild the data hits an error it cannot recover from on its own, and it keeps retrying the same failed pass.
• Aging storage hardware: on older iPhones, worn flash storage can develop bad blocks that make the update install or data rebuild unreliable.

How to fix "Attempting data recovery" — step by step

Work through these in order. The first two steps fix the problem for most people without touching their data.

1. Give the recovery process time while plugged into power. Plug the iPhone into a wall charger and leave it on the "Attempting data recovery" screen for at least 30 to 60 minutes without touching it. On phones with a lot of photos, messages, and app data, the process can genuinely take a long time to rebuild everything. If the screen changes or the phone reboots on its own during this wait, let it finish — interrupting a working recovery is what causes damage.
2. Force restart the iPhone to break the loop. If the screen has not moved after an hour, perform a force restart. On iPhone 8 and later, press and quickly release Volume Up, press and quickly release Volume Down, then press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears. On iPhone 7, hold Volume Down and the Side button together; on iPhone 6s and earlier, hold Home and the Top or Side button together. Release as soon as the Apple logo shows and see whether the phone boots normally.
3. Update iOS through a computer without erasing data. Connect the iPhone to a Mac with a cable and open Finder, or to a Windows PC and open iTunes or the Apple Devices app. Select the iPhone, then choose Update rather than Restore. This downloads a fresh copy of iOS and reinstalls the system files while trying to keep your data intact, which often repairs the broken update that caused the recovery loop in the first place.
4. Put the phone into recovery mode and update from there. If the computer does not offer the update cleanly, put the iPhone into recovery mode manually. Connect it to the computer, then run the force-restart button sequence for your model but keep holding the Side button past the Apple logo until the recovery-mode screen with the computer icon appears. On the computer, choose Update when prompted — this is your last chance to repair iOS without wiping the phone.
5. Restore the iPhone and reload your backup. When update attempts fail and the loop continues, choose Restore on the computer while the phone is in recovery mode. This erases the phone and installs a clean iOS. After the restore finishes, follow setup and choose Restore from iCloud Backup or Restore from Computer to bring back your data. This is why keeping an up-to-date backup matters: without one, personal data is lost at this step.
6. Try a DFU restore or contact Apple Support. As a final measure before professional help, a DFU (Device Firmware Update) restore reloads the firmware as well as iOS: connect the phone, press and quickly release Volume Up and Volume Down, then hold the Side button for ten seconds and, while still holding it, hold Volume Down for five more seconds, then release the Side button but keep holding Volume Down until the computer detects the phone with a black screen. If even DFU mode fails or the screen never goes black, book a visit at an Apple Store or authorized service provider — persistent recovery loops can point to failing storage hardware.

Did this fix it? Quick checklist

• The iPhone boots to the lock screen instead of the "Attempting data recovery" message
• Your photos, messages, and apps are present after the repair
• Settings, then General, then Software Update shows the iOS version installed correctly
• The phone no longer reboots itself into the recovery loop after restarting

If you end up doing a full restore, resist restoring from a backup made while the update was mid-failure — it can carry the corruption right back. Restore from your most recent clean backup instead. And once the phone is healthy, keep at least 5 GB of free space before running the next iOS update; full storage is the single most common reason updates fail in the first place.