14 Tips & Tricks to Fix iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working in iOS 16

User Concern

“Hey, I have an iPhone 12 and I'm trying to use Personal Hotspot with my iPad but it isn't working. How will this get fixed?”

With the feature of Hotspot, your iPhone or iPad can act as a wireless router to share the cellular data connection with other devices nearby via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB.

Nothing is perfect. No matter how convenient it is, it can still come with unexpected problems. Recently, many iOS users compained that iPhone Personal Hotspot is not working after iOS 16 update.

Are you facing the same error on your iPhone? Don't worry. Here we will explain some factors that may affect the Hotpspot on your iPhone along with the solutions to fix iPhone Personal Hotspot not working issue.

Part 1. How to Set Up Personal Hotspot on iPhone

2 points should be noted to set up the personal hotspot on iPhone:

• The iOS version of the device should be iOS 7 or later.
• The cell phone plan should include data for the mobile hotspot.

If you confirm that your iPhone meets the 2 requirements, properly set up the personal hotspot on your iPhone. If the personal hotspot has already set up, and still failed to work, try to follow up the methods below to get this issue resolver.

Part 2. Try Methods to Fix 'iPhone Personal Hotspot Not Working' Issue

1. Enable Personal Hotspot and Cellular Data on iPhone

Before you try other solutions, check whether your phone plan includes data for mobile hotspot and make sure it is enabled through the carrier. Or you'll have to change your phone plan or even phone company.

If you've already enabled Personal Hotspot on your iPhone but it is not working, you can try to restart your Personal Hotspot to fix the problem. To do that, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot and toggle "Allow Others to Join" off and then back to on.

If the device is having problem connecting to the cellular data, Personal Hotspot will not work. So, go to Settings > Celluar to make sure that Cellular Data is turned on. If necessary, you can also toggle Cellular Data off and back on to get Personal Hotspot working again.

2. Don’t Put the Device to Sleep

After turning on the mobile data and hotspot, don’t press the side button to make it sleep. Put the device’s display on until it is successfully connected to the hotspot.

If the device is put to sleep before connected to the hotspot, there is a change that the hotspot may be automatically disabled.

3. Restart Your iPhone

Some minor software glitches may also prevent the Personal Hotspot from working on your iPhone. A simple restart of your iPhone will help to clear these minor software glitches and errors.

For iPhone X or newer:

• Keep pressing the Volume button and the Power button at the same time until the slider to turn off iPhone appears.
• Drag the slider from left to right to turn off the device.
• Then keep pressing the Power button to turn on your iPhone.

For iPhone 8 or earlier:

• Keep pressing the Side or Top button until the slider to turn off iPhone appears.
• Drag the slider from left to right to turn off the device.
• Then keep pressing the Power button to turn on your iPhone.

4. Try Other Hotspot Connection Modes

Personal Hotspot can be connected via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB. Try another one if one of the connection modes doesn't work.

This usually works to fix the Personal Hotspot connection issue. For instance, if you share your Personal Hotspot with iPad via Bluetooth, try to switch it to USB connection.

5. Enable/Disable Maximize Compatibility

By default, iPhone 12 or later models support Personal Hotspot over 5GHz Wi-Fi. However, some older devices can only use a 2.4GHz connection and this could casue compatibility problems.

Luckily, Apple has introduced a new setting named "Maximize Compatibility" for this situation. You can go to Settings > Personal Hotspot to enable or disable Maximize Compatibility depending on the type of devices you want to connect to your iPhone's personal hotspot.

6. Change Your iPhone Name

Other devices will not connect to your iPhone’s hotspot if you accidentally connect your iPhone to a different WiFi network. To resolve this network naming conflicts, you can change your iPhone name from Settings.

• Open the Settings app and click on General.
• Tap on About and edit the name of your iPhone.

7. Log Out of iCloud Account

This method is claimed to be get rid of the hotspot issue. Actually, we are not sure what the reason is for this, but it’s still worth to have a try.

To log out of the iCloud account, you can go to iPhone Setting, click on the username and then "Sign Out".

8. Update Carrier Settings

iPhone arrier providers regularly updates to help users connecting their device to carrer's network. If your iPhone Personal Hotspot is not working, you can update the carrier settings.

Go to Settings > General > About to check if any carrier update available, Wait a moment. If a message popup saying "Carrier Settings Update", click on "Update".

9. Reset Network Settings

The Personal Hotspot will not work if there is an error with the network connection. Thus reset network settings is reported to be another effective solution to fix hotspot not working error as well as any other thorny problems on iPhone.

On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset and tap on "Reset Network Settings". After that, the Wi-Fi passwords and Bluetooth devices will be removed, you have to enter the Wi-Fi password and pair Bluetooth devices again .

10. Reset All Settings

This method is also considered as the feasible option to help in such the situation.

• Click Settings on the Home screen.
• Select General > Reset > Reset all Settings.
• Enter the passcode when asked.

11. Update iOS on iPhone

Outdated version of iOS can also lead to many software errors, so it is important to install the latest version of iOS and check if it can fix the Personal Hotspot not working problem.

Open the Settings app and select "General", then tap on "Software Update". If an update is available, tap on "Download and Install".

12. Restore iPhone with DFU Mode (Data Loss)

If Personal Hotspot is still not working oniPhone after trying all the tips mentioned above, your can restore your iPhone using DFU mode. It is a way to deeply restore your device's system and solve severe problems.

But this method will wipe everything form your iPhone. Before you do so, you should back up your iPhone to avoid permanent data loss. For the detailed steps, please refer to How to Put an iPhone in DFU Mode.

13. Fix Hotspot Not Working on iPhone without Data Loss

If you don't want to restore iPhone with DFU Mode, we suggest you reinstall your iOS using FoneGeek iOS System Recovery to fix the Personal Hotspot not working issue. This professional iOS repair tool can help you fix various iOS-related issues on your iPhone or iPad. No data will be erased during the reparing process with this iOS System Recovery, that's why this software is recommended.

• A repair tool to fix different iPhone issues, like iPhone black screen, app keeps crashing, iPhone keeps restarting, etc.
• It is compatible for all models of iPhone, iPad, iPod touch running the latest iOS 16/15.
• It is reliable, easy-to-use and has been recommended by several popular media sites like Mobile Mall, GetDroidTips, Inspirationfeed, Techjury, Pakainfo

Here's How to Fix Personal Hotspot Not Working on iPhone without data loss:

• Download, install and run this tool on your computer, click on "Standard Mode" and a new interface will launch.
• Click on "Next" and connect your iPhone to this computer with an USB cable.
• Once your iPhone is detected, check the device information and click "Download" to download the latest firmware.
• Finally, click on "Fix Now", the software will immediately begin repair and reinstall iOS on your iPhone.

14. Contact the Wireless Carrier

Sometimes the personal hotspot may not work if there is a problem with the cell phone plan or the hardware issue. Before taking the iPhone to the Apple Store, we highly recommend contacting the wireless carrier first, since the change of the device plan may cause the connection issue of personal hotspot. Here are the phone number of the customer support in the United States:

• AT&T: 1-800-331-0500
• T-Mobile: 1-800-866-2453
• Verizon: 1-800-922-0204

Still Having the Hotspot Issue?

Now you've learned the 13 troubleshooting tips to fix the issue of Personal Hotspot not working on iPhone or iPad. Hope that you have fix the problem and connected to the iPhone Wi-Fi hotspot. If you know any better solutions, share them in the comments section below.