Quick fixes: how to fix a MagSafe that isn’t charging your phone

Your MagSafe charger suddenly isn’t, well, charging.

Wireless charging is great, but it quickly becomes a confusing mess if you plop down your phone for some juice and notice nothing happens after a few minutes. If your iPhone 12, 13, or 14 is suddenly not charging with a proper Apple MagSafe charger or compatible third-party charger but still charges fine with a wired Lightning connection, it’s possible there’s something going on in the MagSafe software handshake within iOS. 

I’ve had this same scenario happen to my iPhone 12 Pro Max, where MagSafe was working normally but then began acting up. It seemed to be recharging when dropped on a charger, but after just a moment, it would mysteriously stop. (Oddly enough, cheaper non-MagSafe magnetic wireless chargers continued working just fine while I experienced such woes with proper MagSafe pucks and stands.) 

Thankfully, there’s an easy troubleshooting step you should try before contacting Apple support or worrying your fancy charger has gone kaput. You need to try a force restart of your iPhone — and before you freak out, you can rest assured that this is not a factory reset that wipes any of your data. It’s just a full reboot that’s akin to force closing an app on macOS or power cycling your home router when things go awry. 

The steps are easy and painless. Just keep in mind that you need to do them in quick succession.

Now, try that same MagSafe charger that was acting up. See if it starts charging, and make sure it continues to charge after a few minutes. If it does, you should be in the clear. Otherwise, it may be time to consult Apple customer support.