Mobile Hotspot Not Working ? Checkout Our Blog

Restart your iPhone XS to fix mobile hotspot not working issue. You might also need to restart the WiFi-enabled devices that will be connecting to your iPhone’s hotspot. For a step-by-step guide in fixing this issue on your iPhone device, read further.

In this post, we will troubleshoot your iPhone XS that has some issues enabling this feature. We will consider every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can determine the reason why this problem happens. Mobile hotspot not working?

Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our iPhone XS Help Guides page to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds.

Troubleshooting iPhone XS with Mobile Hotspot not working

With Personal Hotspot, you can share your Internet connection from your iPhone to other Internet-enabled devices within range. Most Personal Hotspot is created through Wi-Fi, allowing your iOS device to create a wireless network that is encrypted with a password. Using the iOS device’s data connection, other devices like laptops and tablets can then connect to the wireless network and connect to the Internet. To set up Personal Hotspot on your iPhone XS or other iOS device running on iOS 12 or later platform, simply go to Settings-> Cellular or Personal Hotspot menu, then tap Personal Hotspot and toggle the switch to turn the feature ON.

If you don’t see Personal Hotspot from the menu options, contact your Internet service provider/carrier to verify and confirm if Personal Hotspot is supported or included in your plan.

There are many ways to connect to a Personal Hotspot. You can use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB (tethering). In case you’re having trouble using Personal Hotspot on your iPhone XS, I’ve lined up some helpful procedures that will help rule out common culprits. Just keep reading for more information.

First solution: Toggle the Cellular Data and Personal Hotspot off and on again.

Personal Hotspot on your iPhone will not work without turning the cellular data or Wi-Fi on. So start by verifying your iPhone settings and make sure that data is enabled. Here is how:

From the Home screen, go to Settings.
Select Cellular.
Then tap the Cellular Data menu.
If the Cellular Data switch is disabled, toggle the switch to turn the feature ON.

If the feature is currently on, toggle the switch to turn the Cellular Data off shortly and then tap it again to re-enable the feature.

Afterwards, check your phone’s Personal Hotspot to make sure that it is also enabled. If it happens to be enabled but it’s still not working, toggle the Personal Hotspot switch off and then turn it back on again. Doing so can help eliminate minor glitches that might have prevented the feature from working. Here’s what you should do then:

Go to Settings from the Home screen.
Scroll down to and select Personal Hotspot.
If the Personal Hotspot is currently disabled, tap the switch to turn the feature ON.
If the WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) is disabled, a command prompt to turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will appear. Otherwise, you will be prompted to select Wi-Fi and USB only when WLAN is activated.
Then tap on Wi-Fi password and enter the correct password for your Personal Hotspot.
Be sure to remember the password and then tap Done to save the changes.
Go back to the Home screen by sliding your finger upward starting from the bottom.

After the process, Personal Hotspot should now be enabled on your iPhone XS and you are all ready to share your internet connection with other devices.

Another tweak you can try if the above solutions don’t work is the Cellular data toggle. Here’s how it’s done:

From the Home screen, go to Settings.
Select Cellular.
Toggle the switch to enable the Cellular Data if it is currently turned off. Then tap on Cellular Data Network.
Scroll down to the Personal Hotspot section and enter the same APN as that on the Cellular data APN settings on your iPhone.
After configuring necessary settings, head back to Settings-> Cellular Data menu.

After the APN settings update, restart (soft reset) your iPhone and check if the Personal Hotspot is already working. If it still fails, proceed to the next solution.

ALSO READ: How to fix an iPhone XS that keeps disconnecting from WiFi network

Second solution: Restart (soft reset) your iPhone XS and your other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Clearing out cached files saved on your phone’s memory and refreshing its system can rectify various types of software issues inflicted by random system errors and app glitches. If the problem with Personal Hotspot on your iPhone XS is attributed to any of these factors, then performing a soft reset or rebooting your iOS device will likely fix it. To restart (soft reset) your iPhone, refer to the steps below:

Press and hold the Side/Power button and either Volume buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
When the Slide to Power Off command appears, release the buttons.
Then drag the power off slider to the right to completely turn off the device.
Leave it off for at least 30 seconds. Then press and hold the Side/Power button again until the Apple logo appears.

After restarting the iPhone, reboot your other devices that you want to connect to the Internet via Personal Hotspot on our iPhone XS. Doing so will help eliminate minor software flaws that might have prevented them from connecting.

Third solution: Reset network settings to fix mobile hotspot not working on iPhone XS

Network-related issues including errant wireless connections on your iPhone device can also be corrected by doing network settings reset. The process will erase your current network settings configurations restoring them to its default values and options. All saved Wi-Fi networks and network settings on your phone will also be deleted. Personal Hotspot errors attributed to invalid network customizations are likewise rectified in the process. If you wish to try it, then here’s how it’s done:

Go to Settings from the Home screen.
Then select General.
Scroll down to and tap on Reset.
Select the Reset network settings option.
When prompted, enter your device passcode to continue.
Then tap Reset network settings again to confirm the reset.

Your phone will restart automatically after the reset. Once it is back on, set up and enable the features that you will be using on your phone like Wi-Fi, cellular data and Personal Hotspot and then reconnect.

ALSO READ: How to fix Apple iPhone XS that has no WiFi Internet

Fourth solution: Download and install the latest OS version available.

Complex bugs and system data corruption that might have ruined the phone’s Personal Hotspot function can also be fixed by installing new iOS update. Software updates rolled out by Apple periodically not only introduce new features but also provide fix patches to correct multiple device issues including those affecting wireless functions. To get started, connect your iPhone to your wireless network to go online and then proceed to these steps to check for and download over-the-air updates:

From the Home screen, go to Settings.
Select General.
Then tap Software Update.

An update notification with its details will appear if a new iPhone software version is available. After reading the update information, follow the onscreen prompts to download and install the iOS update.

Aside from iOS update, installing the new carrier updates for your iPhone can also remedy any existing problems on the phone’s network functions including Personal Hotspot issues. Like Apple, carriers also roll out periodic updates to enhance carrier services and to resolve widespread network issues among supported devices. To check for latest carrier settings update, check out the steps below:

Go to Settings from the Home screen.
Select General.
The tap About menu.

Wait for a few seconds for the carrier settings update notification to pop-up if a new update is available. Follow the onscreen commands to update the carrier settings on your iPhone XS.

After installing updates, reboot the phone to implement the recent changes and to refresh the network system and associated features.

ALSO READ: How to fix an iPhone XS that keeps lagging and freezing

Fifth solution: Reset all settings on your iPhone XS.

Deleting all customized settings from your iPhone including those that caused the Personal Hotspot feature to fail can be deemed as the next option if none of the given solutions produced positive results. There’s no need to create backups beforehand as this process does not affect any saved information on the internal memory. Just proceed to these steps whenever you’re ready:

From the Home screen, go to Settings.
Select General.
Scroll down to and tap on Reset.
Select Reset all settings option.
Enter your device passcode when asked to continue.
Then tap Reset all settings option again to confirm the reset.

Your iPhone will then reboot itself after the reset. Then start to enable individual options and features on your iPhone including cellular data, Wi-Fi and Personal Hotspot. Then try to share your internet connection to other Wi-Fi enabled devices and see if it works.

Is Your Mobile Hotspot still not working on your iPhone XS?

If none of the given solutions is able to fix the problem and mobile Hotspot is still not working, contact your Internet service provider to ask further assistance in figuring out what went wrong and what needs to be done to get things to work as they should. There might be some advanced settings that need to be applied so that your Personal Hotspot works on your iOS device.

For further recommendations and more advanced solutions, you can also escalate the problem to Apple Support. Reporting the issue to the Support team is recommended if the problem instigated from an iOS update and none of the workarounds is able to fix it. For issues like this, a dedicated fix patch is usually needed.

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We are committed to helping our readers fix the problems with their phones as well as learn how to properly use their devices. So, if you have other issues, you may visit our Help Guides page so you can check by yourself the articles we’ve already published that contain solutions to common problems. Also, we do create videos to demonstrate how things are done on your phone. Visit our Youtube Channel and please subscribe to it. Thanks.