The term Touch ID on iPhone is a fingerprint recognition technology used to unlock devices, verify Apple Pay, and so forth. Touch ID has been widely used. It can identify multiple fingerprints and read from 360 degrees. Since the iPhone 5s, Apple's Touch ID has provided convenient services for Apple users, especially after integrating payment functions including WeChat and Apple Pay. And for the devices released after the iPhone X, the Touch ID is replaced by Face ID.

However, you may find your iPhone quit accepting your fingerprint occasionally and gives an error on the iPhone if you try to set it up again. That means the iPhone doesn't recognize your prints and you won't turn on the iPhone in that case. Why does the iPhone says unable to activate Touch ID? And what can you do when you're unable to activate Touch ID on this iPhone quickly? Without further ado, let's dive into more details.

• Part 1. Why Does My iPhone Say Unable to Activate Touch ID?
• Part 2. How to Enable Touch ID on iPhone for the First Time
• Part 3. How to Fix Unable to Activate Touch ID on This iPhone [Software-Related]
  • Method 1. Clean Touch ID Sensor and Fingers
  • Method 2. Remove and Re-add Fingerprints
  • Method 3. Turn Passcode off and on
  • Method 4. Hard Reboot the iPhone
  • Method 5. Sign out and into Apple ID
  • Method 6. Update the iPhone System
  • Method 7. Reset All Settings
  • Method 8. Use an iOS Repairing Tool [100% Work]
  • Method 9. Restore iPhone with iTunes
• Part 4. How to Fix Cannot Activate Touch ID on This iPhone [Hardware-Related]
  • Method 1. Check for Physical Damage to the Sensor
  • Method 2. Inspect Your iPhone for Water Damage
  • Method 3. Consult with Apple Support
• Part 5. Conclusion

---

Part 1. Why Does My iPhone Say Unable to Activate Touch ID?

Usually, we cannot activate the Touch ID because of the dirty hands and the unclean home button, we can simply clean both of them to fix this issue. Apart from this, there are other four reasons possibly leading to Activate Touch ID failure.

Reason 1. Wrong settings: You've turned off iPhone Unlock or iTunes & App Store in Settings. And that setting prevents you from using Touch ID when you want to unlock your iPhone and buy some apps.

Reason 2. Systematic issues: When Apple releases the new version of the iOS system, the outdated system definitely occurs some bugs or more new features are planned to be added. If one of the bugs lies in Touch ID, then it may affect your user experience.

Reason 3. External barriers: Whether your iPhone has been bumped and you can see a flaw in it, if it is, just bring your iPhone to an Apple repair store to fix the home button.

Reason 4. Incorrect recognition: If it's the first time you enter your fingerprints, but it fails. It's likely that you don't enter your finger correctly and the iPhone is unable to read all of your fingerprints. You just need to move your finger slightly and retry it.

In the following text, we'll tell you how to correctly enable Touch ID on your iPhone in Part 2. And if your iPhone has software issues, you can find answers in Part 3, while for the iPhones with hardware problems, you can directly head to Part 4 to choose an appropriate solution.

---

Part 2. How to Enable Touch ID on iPhone for the First Time

For some of you who don't know how to turn on the Touch ID, here is a simple guide to teach you how to enable Touch ID for your iPhone, apps, and the App Store.

How to Enable Touch ID on iPhone

Touch ID is a simple and convenient way for us to unlock our iPhone. If you want to unlock your iPhone by using Touch ID, just follow the next steps.

Step 1. Launch Settings.

Step 2. Hit Touch ID & Passcode.

Step 3. Choose Add a Fingerprint and then follow the instructions on screen to enter your print.

How to Enable Touch ID for Apple Pay

Perhaps you just want to open the Touch ID when you pay something. Here's a guide to teach you only to enable Touch ID in Apple Pay.

Step 1. Access Settings.

Step 2. Press Touch ID & Passcode.

Step 3. Turn on Apple Pay option.

How to Enable Touch ID for App Store

If you want to use Touch ID to purchase and download applications without entering your Apple ID password, then you can open the Touch ID authority for the App Store.

Step 1. Open Settings.

Step 2. Enter Touch ID & Passcode.

Step 3. Turn on iTunes & App Store option.

---

Part 3. How to Fix Unable to Activate Touch ID on This iPhone [Software-Related]

What we mentioned about this part is software-related issues, including incorrect settings and systematic glitches. The methods are listed based on the order from easy to difficult.

Method 1. Clean Touch ID Sensor and Fingers

Are you trying to unlock your iPhone using Touch ID after washing your hands but unsuccessful? The iPhone can't recognize your finger by the reason of your wet fingers. Therefore, you should ensure your hands aren't wet and dirty when you unlock the iPhone via Touch ID.

Method 2. Remove and Re-add Fingerprints

What if your hands are clean but you still cannot activate the Touch ID? Actually, if you just put part of your finger on the home button, the iPhone may find it difficult to identify your print. So the corresponding solution is to remove your finger and try again. Or you can choose to turn off the Touch ID and then on like this.

Step 1. Get into Settings.

Step 2. Press Touch ID & Passcode.

Step 3. Disable the options in Use Touch ID For part, then enable them.

Method 3. Turn Passcode off and on

The setting of the passcode may have a negative impact on your use of Touch ID, so you can also try shutting off the passcode and turning it on one more time to see if your Touch ID works now.

Step 1. Run Settings.

Step 2. Scroll down and touch on Touch ID & Passcode.

Step 2. Select Turn Passcode Off, then turn it on.

Method 4. Hard Reboot the iPhone

Minor issues can be fixed by rebooting your iPhone. So hard Restarting your iPhone has a greater chance of repairing the unable to activate Touch ID issue and making the Touch ID work normally again. Here's how to.

For iPhone 5s and earlier modes: Keep the Home and Power buttons holding at the same time until you see the Apple logo appear.

For iPhone 6, 7, and 8: Holding the Power button while pressing the Volume Down button. Then you can release these buttons when the iPhone powers on.

For iPhone X and later modes: Press and release the Volume Up button, and then do the same operation to the Volume Down button. And next, you should hold down the Side button after the iPhone restarts.

Method 5. Sign out and into Apple ID

The next method you can use to back your Touch ID to normal is to sign out and into your Apple ID. When the above methods don't fit you, re-entering the Apple ID in Settings is worth a try.

Step 1. Fire up Settings.

Step 2. Touch on Apple ID.

Step 3. Swipe down the screen and enter your Apple ID password to Sign Out.

Step 4. Then input your Apple ID password to sign in again.

Method 6. Update the iPhone System

As we said before, the glitches in the outdated iOS system may bring some barriers to the use of Touch ID. Check if your iPhone is the newest version. If it's not, update it as soon as possible. The steps are below.

Step 1. Enter Settings.

Step 2. Tap on Settings > Software Update.

Step 3. Choose Update Now to update your iPhone in time.

Method 7. Reset All Settings

We won't know how many settings we did if the iPhone has been used for a long time. So the method we can use next is to reset all settings on your iPhone.

Step 1. Start Settings.

Step 2. Choose General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.

Step 3. Press Reset and then choose Reset All Settings.

Method 8. Use an iOS Repairing Tool [100% Work]

After using the above methods, we bet the common Touch ID unable to activate issues are solved successfully. However, several users still cannot re-access their iPhones properly. There is still one helpful way to repair the "unable to activate Touch ID on this iPhone" error by employing an iOS system restore tool. One of the trustful iOS system restore programs is MagFone iOS System Recovery, a powerful tool that can help you fix over 150 kinds of issues on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. More than that, you can repair your iPhone with no data loss at all under the Standard Repair Mode. If you want to use the Touch ID on your iPhone again, you can try this software with just a few clicks.

Step 1 Link the iPhone to Your Computer

To start with, you should link your iPhone to a computer through a USB cable. Then on the main interface of this program, you need to click the iOS System Recovery button and then click Start.

Step 2 Put iPhone into Recovery Mode

Then when you choose the repair mode, select the Standard Mode to avoid data loss. After that, proceed to put your iPhone into recovery mode based on the onscreen instructions.

Step 3 Download the Firmware Package

Check the information of your iPhone on the software. You can check if it's right, and correct it if it's not. Then continue to verify and download the firmware package on your computer.

Step 4 Fix the iPhone Touch ID Error

Once completed the download, you can click Start to fix the Touch ID issue on your iPhone. Please be patient and keep your device connected to the computer. After the whole process, the issue of not activating Touch ID on this iPhone issue is fixed.

Method 9. Restore iPhone with iTunes

iTunes is the common software used to restore Apple devices. So you can try solving this problem through iTunes. It's a little bit difficult to finish the whole process, so we offer you some instructions below.

Step 1. Connect the iPhone to your computer first and launch the newest version of iTunes.

Step 2. Next, click your iPhone icon at the top left in iTunes.

Step 3. Enter a new Apple ID password and input it again to confirm.

Step 4. Click Summary in the sidebar and select Restore in the right place.

---

Part 4. How to Fix Cannot Activate Touch ID on This iPhone [Hardware-Related]

It's tricky when your iPhone falls into hardware-related situations. It may require you to soend some money to alter parts of your iPhone. Here are three methods for you.

Method 1. Check for Physical Damage to the Sensor

Has your iPhone been dropped or bumped into any hard objects recently? Please carefully observe your phone. If there are obvious cracks or breakages here, it is normal that you cannot activate it. Because it can not sense your fingerprint. It's time for you to find a reliable repair shop to fix your phone's Home button at that moment.

Method 2. Inspect Your iPhone for Water Damage

Sometimes, if your phone accidentally falls into water or comes into water, you may think it's a small matter. But if water invades the internal parts of the phone, especially when the Home button is damaged by water, you can no longer use Touch ID. Perhaps you should contact an Apple repair shop.

Method 3. Consult with Apple Support

Apple Support is mainly used to provide technical support and help solve problems encountered when using Apple devices. It aims to assist users and businesses in managing Apple devices. According to Apple's warranty policy, the warranty period for the entire iPhone and its accessories is one year. You can provide a detailed description of the current condition of your iPhone to the Apple customer service center and inquire about it. However, it should be noted that human damages are not covered by Apple's warranty.

---

Part 5. Conclusion

The article focuses on how to fix the unable to activate Touch ID on this iPhone issue. It may seem like a difficult task, but due to some technical skills in this article, it is possible now. Using iTunes to restore your Touch ID issue is supported and feasible, but not always work for every device. The more secure and simple way is to stand by the professional software MagFone iOS System Recovery. It can assist you in multiple system issues including the iPhone Touch ID cannot be activated.