How to Fix iPhone Quick Start not Working Issue

You may be ready to get a new iPhone 15, and want to transfer data from the old iPhone to the new one. Quick Start is a feature offered by Apple to help you set up your new iOS device using your current iOS device. The only requirement to use the feature is that both of your devices need to be running iOS 11 or later. As long as you meet the requirements, you can use your current device to easily set up the new device. While that sounds all good and smooth, the Quick Start is not working that well for some users and they complain:

I would like to use the Quick Start to transfer my data from old iphone to the new iphone 15 but FAIL! The two iPhone must be iOS 17?

If you’re one of the users not being able to get the Quick Start feature to work on your iPhone, don’t worry. Here we will introduce the Quick Start and some useful ways to fix the iOS Quick Start not working issue on your device. Hope it can help you sort out the issue. Let’s check it out.

How to Use Quick Start on iPhone

Firstly, here are the steps that you can quick start your iPhone:

1. Turn on your new device and place it near the old one. The QuickStart screen appears on your old iPhone, and choose the option to set up the new iPhone using your Apple ID.
2. Then tap Continue. An animation will appear on your new iPhone, center the animation in the viewfinder. Wait for a message that says Finish on New [Device] and enter your password.
3. Next, follow the instructions to set up Face ID or Touch ID on the new iPhone. After this process, you can choose to restore apps, data, and settings from your iCloud backup, or update your old iPhone’s backup and then restore it.

Ensure Both of Your iPhones Working on iOS 11 or Later

As we mentioned at the beginning of the post, both of your iPhones must be using iOS 11 or later. If your device happens to be on iOS 10 or any older version, you will face the Apple QuickStart not working issue on your device.

To overcome the issue, you need to do nothing but just update the iOS version on your iPhone. Head to Settings > General > Software Update and tap on Download and Install to install the latest iOS version on your device.

Once your device is updated with the latest version of iOS, try using the QuickStart feature and it should work this time.

Enable Bluetooth on Your iPhones

The QuickStart feature uses Bluetooth to allow transmission of your contents and if Bluetooth is turned off on your device, the feature will not work. The easiest way to get around the issue is to simply enable Bluetooth on your devices and you will be good to go.

1. Turn on Bluetooth by heading to Settings
2. Bluetooth and turning the toggle to the ON position.

You will see the Bluetooth icon on your device confirming it has been successfully enabled on your device.

After enabling Bluetooth, try setting up your new device using QuickStart and it should work this time.

Restart Both of Your iPhones

If your iPhone Quick Start is still not working, you may want to try restarting both of your devices to see if that helps resolve the issue. Restarting your device helps resolve many other issues and should help with your issue, too.

• For iPhone X and newest: Hold the Side button and either volume button> A slider appears > Drag the slider to turn off your device > Hold the Side button again to turn it on.
• For iPhone 8 or earlier: Hold the Top (or Side) button> A slider appears > Drag the slider to turn off your device > Hold the Top (or Side) button again until it turns on.

Your iPhones have all started and you should be able to use the QuickStart feature now.

Try Quick Start Alternatives to Transfer Data to New iPhone

If you need to find an easier and more useful way to fix Quick Start Not Working, here we recommend transfer tools to help you out. In this part, 2 easy-to-use iPhone transfer utilities are recommended. You can pick up one of them to give it a try.

#1. AnyTrans – Quickly Transfer All You Need Between iPhones

AnyTrans can help you transfer data selectively or wholly from the old iPhone to the new iPhone. Here are some features of AnyTrans:

• No need to use iTunes or iCloud, saving you from many troubles.
• One-click to transfer all data from an old iPhone to a new iPhone.
• Super fast transferring speed, greatly save your time.
• Unlike iTunes or iCloud, no data loss risk.

Now, Free Download AnyTrans, and then follow the steps below to transfer everything from iPhone to iPhone wholly or selectively.

Step 1. Install AnyTrans on your computer > Open it and connect your iPhones to the computer via USB cables > Choose “Phone Switcher” > Click on “Phone to iPhone” mode.

Step 2. Select the source device and target device > Click the “Next” button to continue.

Step 3. Select the file categories you want to transfer > Click the “Next” button to start transferring data from the old iPhone to the new iPhone.

#2. PhoneTrans – The Most Effective Quick Start Alternative

For most iPhone users, PhoneTrans would be the best iPhone switcher. It offers 3 iPhone-to-iPhone migration options to transfer data directly from iPhone to iPhone.

• No matter transferring all the stuff in one click or choose some of them to move, PhoneTrans can make it really well with Quick Transfer.
• Also, it supports a 1:1 clone from the old iPhone to the new iPhone without any changes.
• To merge the content of two iPhones with Phone Merge will skip duplicates and have no data loss at all.

Now, let’s check out how to transfer iPhone to iPhone with PhoneTrans.

Step 1.  Go get the latest version of PhoneTrans and install it on your computer. Meanwhile, you need to connect both of your iPhones to the computer.

Step 2. Choose Phone to Phone and click on Quick Transfer which supports transfer data from iPhone to iPhone selectively. Go on tapping on Start Transfer to the next step.

Step 3. Follow the instruction on the screen and you will see there are some data categories listing. You can pick some to transfer or just select all to migrate.

Minutes later, you will see there is a Successfully Transferred note on the screen which means the iPhone to iPhone transfer has been completed.

Quick Fix iPhone Quick Start Feature Not Working via AnyFix

QuickStart stops working is really annoying. Fortunately, it can be fixed through the methods mentioned above. However, some iPhone users have reported they were still stuck in the Not Working problem even following the solutions above. Well, it happens sometimes. In the following section, we’ll introduce a specialized iOS issue troubleshooting tool, AnyFix – iOS System Recovery, which commits to solving Apple system & iTunes problems. It supports fixing over 130 system problems as over 200 iTunes issues can be solved as well. QuickStart issue is included. The following steps lead to a clear tutorial to solve this typical problem.

Step 1. Download AnyFix and open it on your computer > Click on the System Repair on the top.

Step 2. On the top section you can choose the 50+ iPhone Problems > and then click on the Start Now to go on.

Step 3.  Even there are 3 repair modes you can choose from, we recommend the Standard Repair to start the fix which won’t risk data loss.

Step 4.  Click on Fix Now to continue after it finishes the firmware download. Also, you need to put your iOS device into Recovery Mode.

Step 5. Once the repair journey is finished, you will get out of the QuickStart Not Working issue on your iPhone.

Contact Apple Support to Get Help

If none of the above methods worked for you, you are advised to reach out to Apple Support and let them figure out the issue for you. Maybe there’s something wrong with your device and the Apple representatives will be able to help you out.

More information about how you can reach out to the Apple Support team and how they can help you is available on their official website so make sure to check it out. If none of the above methods worked for you, you are advised to reach out to

The Bottom Line

Quick Start is indeed a nice feature and helps quickly set up your new device. The problem arises when it stops working but our methods above should help you get rid of the issue on your device and you will be able to use the feature smoothly.