Airplane mode is undoubtedly handy, especially when you’re busy, but things can go south when your phone goes airplane mode without your consent. Suddenly missing out on calls, messages, and social media updates can be quite disconcerting, right?
So in this post, we’ll help you out by exploring why your phone may be automatically activating airplane mode. Most importantly, we’ll give you six recommended troubleshooting tricks to get you out of such a pickle.
Why is my phone’s airplane mode feature turning on by itself?
Multiple factors can cause your phone to turn on its airplane mode feature by itself. We’ve created a quick rundown below that lists all the most common reasons why the automatic airplane mode issue might occur on your phone.
- Some minor errors or bugs are causing your phone to turn on its airplane mode feature.
- A virus or malware has infected your phone, causing it to suffer from software-related issues that make it turn on airplane mode by itself.
- A shady app has been recently installed on your phone, which causes various errors to occur.
- Your phone’s power-saving feature is enabled, and its functions are limited.
- The network connection on your phone is faulty due to your location or the weather conditions.
How to Fix the Issue With Airplane Mode Activating Automatically
Below are the most trusted fixes every time your phone switches to airplane mode by itself. We recommend you apply these tried-and-tested solutions in the order they are presented for the best results.
FIX 1. Force your phone to restart
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone |
For the most common minor errors that can occur on any smartphone, performing a force-restart procedure is a good way to start the troubleshooting process. This is a handy fix if your phone is misbehaving and currently unresponsive to touch inputs.
You can count on this solution whenever your phone switches to airplane mode during use. With the restart, you can refresh your phone’s problematic system memory to improve its performance and correct the errors after it reboots.
Plus, this method is quick and easy to execute, which makes it the ideal solution to try first. It also won’t mess with your phone’s saved data and installed apps since all it does is shut down the device and reset its system’s running instance.
Please note that the process for forcing your phone to restart may vary between phone models. Thus, we suggest checking your phone’s user manual if the steps below do not work for your model.
Step 1: Single-press the volume-up button.
Step 2: Single-press the volume-down button.
Step 3: Press and hold the power button to shut down the phone and wait until a logo appears.
Step 4: Wait for the phone to boot up its system.
FIX 2. Update your phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 9 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 5 minutes |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone • A working internet connection |
If the reason your phone switches to airplane mode by itself is a grave software
error, a simple restart procedure won’t suffice as a fix. Therefore, your next step should be downloading and installing the latest system software on your phone.
You can overwrite the problematic system software on your phone with a newer, more stable version. Also, most software updates carry bug fixes for all known recurring issues that plague the older versions of a device’s operating system.
We recommend this solution for software-related problems on your phone. In general, performing a software update will enhance the performance of your phone, which is always a welcome change even if it doesn’t fix the actual problem.
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Go to General.
Step 3: Click Software Update.
Step 4: Click Download and Install.
Step 5: Enter your passcode.
Step 6: Agree to the terms and conditions set by your phone’s manufacturer.
Step 7: Click Agree again.
Step 8: Select “Use Cellular Data” to initiate the download.
Step 9: Click Install Now when the download is complete to apply your phone’s update.
FIX 3. Delete suspicious apps
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 5 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 20 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone |
Believe it or not, some phone errors can be traced back to a recently installed app that’s causing the system to misbehave or malfunction. It’s likely to occur if you don’t limit your app downloads to those available on your phone’s built-in app store.
After all, some third-party apps may carry malware that can cause your phone to switch to airplane mode by itself all of a sudden. You can tell if it’s the case on your phone when the automatic airplane mode issue emerges after installing a new app.
In such cases, our immediate suggestion is to uninstall the culprit app from your phone so it doesn’t inflict further damage. If you’re lucky, this action should be enough to fix the issue right away.
Unfortunately, you might need to follow this method with a factory reset if there’s malware or virus involved. You can check out the steps for performing a factory reset in the following sections after you remove the problem app from your phone.
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Go to General.
Step 3: Click iPhone Storage.
Step 4: Select your target app.
Step 5: Click Delete App.
FIX 4. Disable your phone’s power-saving feature
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 15 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone |
Using a power-saving feature can often lead your phone to switch to airplane mode to cut down on power usage. As such, you must ensure that power-saving features such as battery-saver and adaptive battery aren’t enabled on your phone.
These features will temporarily limit the functions and programs running on your phone to extend its battery life. This may turn on the airplane mode feature on your phone automatically since an active network connection will draw a lot of power.
To address this issue, you can turn off the power-saving feature on your phone to stop the automatic airplane mode issue. Doing so will restore your phone’s regular power usage in exchange for gaining full access to all its functions and features.
Step 1: Go to the quick settings panel and open Settings.
Step 2: Scroll down and open the “Battery and device care” menu.
Step 3: Click on Battery.
Step 4: Scroll down and turn off Power Saving.
FIX 5. Factory reset your problematic phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 7 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 3 minutes |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone • A USB cable |
When it comes to software-related errors that a restart, software update, or app uninstallation can’t fix, a factory reset is your alternative solution. It’s most useful on a phone that switches to airplane mode by itself due to malware or viruses.
It’s because the factory reset will delete everything on your phone, which includes any malware or virus lurking inside. It’s your only option for removing these malicious programs on your phone and fixing the recurring automatic airplane mode issue.
WARNING: Bak up your essential files before doing a factory reset as the process will delete them. After the factory reset, you end up having a new phone and will have to start from scratch.
Unfortunately, since this method deletes everything, that means your important files and data will have to go as well. Normally, you can backup your data on a computer or a cloud service, but it’s not a good idea if they’re infected with malware or virus.
After all, the virus will carry over to the backup file and be present after you restore it on your phone. As such, it’s ideal to remove everything and start over, as it’s the guaranteed way to ensure you won’t have to deal with the virus again for good.
Step 1: Go to the power menu by pressing and holding the phone’s power button.
Step 2: Click on Power Off to shut down the phone and use a compatible USB cable to link it to a PC.
Step 3: Access the recovery mode by pressing and holding the phone’s volume-up and power buttons simultaneously.
Step 4: Select the option to Wipe Data/Factory Reset.
Step 5: Select the option to Factory Data Reset.
Step 6: Check the bottom corner of the screen for confirmation that the reset was successful.
Step 7: Select the option to Reboot System Now and set up your phone once it powers on.
FIX 6. Double-check your phone’s network connection
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 to 60 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone • A compatible network connection |
If you’re in an area without good network coverage, no amount of troubleshooting will fix the automatic airplane mode issue on your phone. This is because some phones are designed to enter airplane mode when a network connection is unavailable.
For instance, traveling abroad may cause this problem to occur since your phone won’t receive a signal reception from your network operator. Therefore, you need to ensure that you’re using a compatible network connection that works in your current location.
Doing so is your only option to fix the issue with your phone that switches to airplane mode by itself. Alternatively, you can also try moving around to find a spot that provides a decent signal reception so you can perform basic tasks on your phone.
How to Stop My Phone From Turning On Airplane Mode Automatically
Here are some tips and tricks for stopping your phone from turning on its airplane mode automatically. You can use these methods if you find yourself accidentally causing your phone to trigger its airplane mode feature without meaning to.
FIX 1. Remove Airplane mode from the quick settings panel
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 10 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any Android phone |
As its name suggests, the quick settings panel on smartphones is a fast way to access various features and options without having to navigate the main menu. This provides a quick way of turning on or off widely-used features (e.g., airplane mode).
Unfortunately, this improved accessibility also increases the likelihood of turning airplane mode on by accident. This can happen when you sleep next to your phone and your skin comes in contact with the touchscreen, triggering touch inputs.
Other possible situations where this can happen include placing your phone in your pockets, which may also come in contact with some skin if the cloth is thin enough.
Step 1: Access the quick settings panel by pulling down your phone’s notification bar twice.
Step 2: Click the edit icon.
Step 3: Press and hold the airplane mode icon and drag it down to the bottom section to remove it.
FIX 2. Turn off your iPhone’s control center menu
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 15 seconds |
| Things Needed | • An iPhone |
If you’re using an iPhone, you might encounter the same issues with its control center menu. As such, it might be better to have it turned off so you can stop your phone from switching to airplane mode due to your accidental touch inputs.
Plus, even if this wasn’t the problem’s actual root cause, a preventive measure like this will help narrow down the possible culprit. This way, you can target the root cause of the problem more effectively and fix it.
Step 1: Go to Settings.
Step 2: Scroll down and go to Face ID & Passcode.
Step 3: Enter your passcode.
Step 4: Scroll down and turn off the Control Center switch.
FIX 3. Clean your phone’s touchscreen
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 1 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 to 60 seconds |
| Things Needed | • Any smartphone • A microfiber cleaning cloth |
Aside from accidental touch inputs, another possibility is that your phone is suffering from a ghost touch issue. This causes your phone’s faulty touchscreen to trigger some touch inputs even without contacting your finger or skin.
You must always ensure that your phone’s touchscreen is dirt-free as it’s a known cause of ghost touch. Use a lint-free microfiber cleaning cloth when cleaning a phone screen so you don’t accidentally cause any physical damage.
Damage to the touchscreen can also cause the ghost touch issue to emerge. In such cases, the only solution is to have your phone’s touchscreen repaired or replaced by a certified technician unless you’re skilled enough to do it yourself.
