Face ID Not Working 2023: Why and How to Fix It?

Almost all iPhone and iPad users are proud of the new iOS technology that allows them to use facial recognition to confirm their identity and unlock their phones. If you are among this group, you should know how bad it is to see that your face id not working. But do not worry because we are here to help you learn how to solve face id is not available error.

Face ID not working, Why?

Are you an iPhone user searching for why your face id not working? The best news for you is that most of the time this is not a complicated issue, let’s go deeper and find the reasons that might cause the “face id is not available” error, such as:

1. The first point you should be careful about is that this technology is only available for iPhone X and later models users. So, face id is not available if you have an old iPhone.
2. Also, you should check your iOS update because you might find your face id not working due to an old system.
3. Check to see if some time is blocking your face or is in front of your camera lens.
4. If you make five unsuccessful attempts, you will see the “face id is not available” error.
5. 48 hours have passed since the last time you unlocked your phone., more than six and a half days by passcode, and four hours by Face ID.
6. Your iPhone has been remotely locked.
7. Also, your “face id not available” error might be due to pressing and holding either the Volume button or the Side button simultaneously for two seconds and opening the power off/Emergency SOS screen.

How to fix face id not working?

Now that you know the possible reasons that might cause you to see the “face id not working” error, it is not hard to solve this case. Read the below points and choose the one you think is the best.

• Restart your iPhone: 

Like almost all other iPhone errors, the first suggestion is to restart your device and see if it solves your problem.

• Update your phone system to the newest version:

Also, it might be useful to check your iOS system version, and if it is an old one, you should update it to the latest through the below steps:

1. First, fully charge your phone.
2. Connect to a stable network connection.
3. Go to Settings > General and choose Software Update.
4. Using an old iPhone system means you will see software updates available.
5. Choose Install Now.

Pay attention, you can choose the Install Tonight option, connect your device to Wi-Fi before going to bed and install the operating system overnight.

• Check the Face ID settings:

When you update your system but still face id is not available, you should check its settings like this:

1. Go to your phone Settings.
2. Choose Face ID & Passcode. Sometimes, you should enter the passcode at this level, so do it.
3. Now check the FaceID settings and make sure it is on.

• Check if something is blocking the True Depth camera:

Pay attention that the Face ID feature needs the TrueDepth®camera access to work properly. So, if a phone cover or a piece of something covers it, your face id not working.

• Is your face properly in front of the True Depth camera?

If you see that the face id is not available and does not work on your phone, try again, and take the phone vertically and less than 20 inches from your face, directly in front of the TrueDepth camera.

• Face id not working if you hide your face:

FaceID needs to clearly recognize your eyes, nose, and mouth to work properly. So never try to use this feature and unlock your iPhone if you have face masks or sunglasses because it will not be successful.

• Add an alternate look:

Have you changed your look and after that your face id not working? If so, you can simply solve this case by setting up an alternate appearance.

1. Go to your phone Settings and choose Face ID & Passcode. 
2. Select Set Up an Alternate Appearance.
3. Vertically and directly look at your iPhone with a face positioned inside the frame.
4. Choose Accessibility Options to finish the scan.
5. Move your head and complete the circle, then choose Done.

• Reset your Face ID:

If none of the above-mentioned items solved your “face id not working” issue, try the below steps and reset it.

1. Go to the Settings and Face ID & Passcode.
2. Choose Reset Face ID.

1. Select Set Up Face ID.
2. Set your phone camera in a portrait position and tap Get Started.
3. Move your head and complete the scan.
4. Tap Done to restart everything.

• Try factory reset:

And the final solution might be to factory reset your iPhone settings. But be careful that this action will cause all your data to be removed, so we suggest you take a backup on iTunes® or iCloud® at first. Then you can follow the below steps and factory reset your phone:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Choose General > Reset.
3. Tap on Erase All Content & Settings.
4. Confirm it, and that is done.

Once your iPhone is restored to its factory settings, you can set up the Face ID feature again.

Face ID not available

If you see face id is not available, this means the same as the face id not working issue, and the reason might be one of the options I have mentioned above. The only point that I have to emphasize here is that the possibility that your phone does not support this feature by default because it is an old version is higher than in other cases.

Which phones face the error “face ID not available”?

No matter what series of iPhone or iPad you are using, you might see the “face id not available” error. But be careful that while sometimes it is due to an internal or external issue, in some cases, you will find the “face id not working” error because your phone does support this feature, and that case will only happen for iPhone users whose phone is lower than iPhone X.

 FAQ:

• face id with mask not showing up in settings

As I have mentioned above, if you wear a mask or sunglasses, you can not use the Face ID feature and you will most probably find that your face id is not available. 

Conclusion:

If you are an iPhone user, who chooses to set Face ID to protect your phone, finding your face id not working would be the worst event. But do not worry because most of the time, you can easily solve this issue by simple methods, like restarting your phone, updating your iOS system, cleaning the True Depth camera, removing your sunglasses, and so this. To know more about the details of the “face id not available” error and how to solve it, read the above text carefully.