10 Easy Fixes for iPhone Ghost Touch: Solve It from Your Couch

Is your iPhone acting like it’s possessed? One moment you’re swiping through emails, the next an app flings itself open, your messages morph into gibberish, or taps simply vanish into thin air – it’s called “iPhone Ghost Touch”, and it can turn your day upside down. In this guide, we’ll show you How To Fix iPhone Ghost Touch right from home, no tech degree required.

I’ve been down this rabbit hole myself. A few years back, my trusty iPhone 12 Mini went rogue right in the middle of sealing a big client deal: untimely ghost taps cost me partnerships and sanity. My local repair shop slapped on a screen replacement and charged me a hefty fee, no tips or tricks – just business! 

If only I’d known about Apple Gadgets Care’s free over-the-phone DIY help! They’d walk me through smart fixes before ever suggesting I send in my device for a repair. Today, armed with their expert tips, I’ll share ten simple home remedies to exorcise that phantom touch. Let’s dive in.

Clean iPhone Screen

A very simple yet effective defence against phantom touch on an iPhone can be just wiping clean the screen. In many cases, it’s dust, oil, or crumbs on your glass fooling the touchscreen into thinking you’re tapping when you’re not. Here’s how you do it – 

• Power off your iPhone to avoid accidental taps
• Grab a clean microfiber or lint free cloth (even a soft cotton tee should suffice)
• Lightly dampen the cloth with distilled water, No Window Cleaners!
• Wipe the screen from edge to edge in gentle, linear strokes
• Focus on each corner by angling your cloth to reach debris trapped there
• Let it air-dry completely, then power back on

Remove / Replace Screen Protector

iPhone scenes are pretty tough, but many iPhone owners attach a thin layer of glass or plastic that adds an extra layer of protection against accidental scratches or cracks of the actual screen. However, misalignment, crack, or bubbling under the very protector can pinch the main screen and introduce the extra hassle of random inputs, resulting in unwanted touch. You should, therefore, see if removing or replacing the screen solves the ghost touch on your iPhone. Let’s see how to do that – 

• First, power off the iPhone with a ghost touch issue
• Find a loose corner of the protector and peel gently
• If it’s stubborn, use something similar to a credit card that has smooth edges but is flexible and sturdy at the same time
• Lift it slowly to avoid glass shards if cracked
• Wipe the bare screen again to remove any residue
• Check if the issue has been solved
• Reapply a high-quality, case-friendly screen protector if you want

Remove Third-party Case, Charger, and Accessories

Non-Apple chargers often cause grounding issues, leading to inconsistent power through the screen. Also, subpar iPhone cases usually don’t precisely fit your iPhone’s shape and get easily worn out. This causes the screen to twist or bend, and ghost touch on the iPhone occurs. Here’s what to do –

• Take off any case and remove all Lightning cables or dongles
  
• Plug in your original Apple charger into a known-good outlet
  
• Test touch behavior for a minute
  
• If ghost touch disappears, swap in accessories one at a time to isolate the culprit
  
• Replace any accessory that consistently re-triggers the issue

Calibrate Touch via Accessibility Settings

Touch Accommodation is a great suit to tinker with, customizing how your screen responds to taps, swipes, and touch-and-hold gestures just for you. This is highly beneficial for users with fine-motor challenges, the can lengthen or shorten the required time for the finger to stay on screen, instruct iOS to ignore rapid or repeated taps, and block unintended swipes, instruct iOS to ignore rapid or repeated taps, and block unintended swipes.

When Touch Accommodation settings (like Hold Duration or Ignore Repeat) are misconfigured, the phone can mistake genuine touches for extra inputs, leading to “ghost” taps or inconsistent response. Tweaking or disabling these options restores normal sensitivity, eliminating errant touches and giving you a reliable experience. Do the following – 

• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Touch Accommodations
• Toggle Hold Duration and Ignore Repeat off if they’re on
• Back up one screen and tap Back Tap, then set both Double and Triple Tap to None
• Return to the Home screen and test
• Adjust Haptic Touch duration if taps still feel off

Free Up iPhone Storage

When your iPhone’s storage gets critically full (especially below 10%), the internal storage that’s normally used to run the operating system and apps gets squeezed. This leaves little room for essential cache data and temporary files to keep things running flawlessly, leading the system to slow down and misinterpret your touch interactions. That’s when ghost touch symptoms kick in, as the screen is not registering your input accurately.

To avoid this mess, ideally keep 10% of your total storage empty. For example, if you’re using a 128 GB iPhone, maintaining 12 – 13 GB of space free can help keep your phone’s touch response and overall performance in check. Here’s how you can free up space to accommodate those must run files instantly.

• Open Settings > General > iPhone Storage
• Scroll to see which apps take the most space
• Tap unused apps and select Offload App (keeps data) or Delete App
• Remove old photos or videos, or back them up to iCloud/Photos
• Enable Offload Unused Apps at the bottom for automatic housekeeping

Restart / Force Restart iPhone

Restarting your iPhone clears up memory leaks, background bugs, and system hiccups that are often the cause of a ghost touch on the iPhone. This works like giving your phone a much needed power nap to reset itself. But if things become completely haywire or the screen is unresponsive, your regular soft restart might not cut it and you have to resort to force restart. Force restarting, likewise the name, forces the system to reboot even when it’s stuck. Here are the steps to restart / force restart your iPhone – 

Restart

• Hold Power + Volume Up (or just Power on older models), then slide to power 
• Wait 10 seconds, then hold Power to turn on
  

Force Restart (if frozen)

• iPhone 8 & later: Volume Up, Volume Down, then hold Power until you see the Apple logo
• iPhone 7/7 Plus: Hold Power + Volume Down until you see the Apple logo
• iPhone 6s & earlier: Hold Power + Home until the Apple logo appears

Update to the Latest iOS Version

At this point you should update your operating system to the latest version if the aforementioned ways didn’t fix your iPhone ghost touch. Apple often fixes bugs on the iOS that may mitigate any ghost touch problem so this is worth giving a shot. Follow the steps below to do so – 

• Connect to Wi-Fi and a charger
• Go to Settings > General > Software Update
• If an update’s available, tap Download and Install
• Wait for the update to finish and your iPhone to reboot
• Test touch behavior immediately after

Update All Apps

If your apps aren’t updated to their latest version, the outdated apps can send weird signals to the screen driver, that may be a cause for apps to misbehave. Here’s how to update them – 

• Open the App Store and tap your profile icon
• Scroll to Available Updates
• Tap Update All (or individual apps you suspect)
• Wait for installs to complete
• Relaunch the problematic apps to confirm the fix

Reset All Settings

Sometimes the phantom taps are just stubborn software gremlins hiding in your custom preferences. Hitting Reset All Settings wipes out any corrupted toggles such as funky keyboard tweaks to rogue Accessibility calibrations. So, your iPhone goes back to its factory touch calibration without deleting your data. It also clears away any app-specific quirks that might be misfiring on the screen. Here’s how to reset the iPhone’s settings – 

• Backup your device
• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings
• Enter your passcode and confirm
• Your iPhone will reboot with defaults restored
• Re-enter Wi-Fi passwords and check if ghost touch is gone

Perform Factory Reset

When every tweak and reboot has failed, a full factory reset is the nuclear option for software g;itches. It wipes every file, setting, and corrupted bit of code that could be tricking your touchscreen into phantom taps. But don’t even think of hitting Erase until you’ve BACKED UP EVERYTHING. Use iTunes or iCloud to save your photos, messages, and contacts first!

• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone
• Tap and Erase All Content and Settings
  
• Follow the prompts to confirm with your Passcode / Apple Password
  
• After erasing, restore from your backup or set up as new
  
• Test touch before reinstalling all your apps

When DIY Fixes Fail: Trust the Pros at Apple Gadgets Care

If ghost touches still haunt you, you’ve likely got a hardware culprit on your hands. That’s where Apple Gadgets Care steps in like your personal tech buddy. With over 20 years under their belt, they’ve seen it all – from dealing with waterlogged iPhones to cracked screens and MagSafe connector glitches. 

Their certified Apple techies handle everything with surgical precision, diagnosing issues that DIY can’t touch and swapping parts faster than you can say “ghost tap.” Plus, they wrap it all up in same-day service and transparent pricing, so you won’t be left ghosting your own wallet. When home fixes run out of tricks, they’re the pros you want on speed dial.

Wrapping Up

If you’ve stuck this far, give yourself a high-five because you’re a tinkerer at heart. I hope I’ve armed you with the know-how to banish that pesky ghost touch right from home. With a little explorer’s mindset and a can-do attitude, many iPhone hiccups can be solved without leaving your couch. 

Big thanks to the techies at Apple Gadgets Care for sharing these easy fixes. And when DIY runs out of steam, they’ve got your back. That’s all for now, but we’ll meet again in the realm of tech tinkering very soon. Take great care, and happy ghost-busting!