Here's how you can fix Personal Hotspot issues in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 running on iPhone and iPad and get things running again.
Fix Personal Hotspot Issues and Get Online Again Immediately
There you are. Minding your own business, decide to go online and Personal Hotspot is refusing to play nice with you. You try turning everything on and off again but nothing works. Don't panic, take a deep breath and follow the steps outlined below to fix Personal Hotspot issues in iOS 13 / iPadOS 13 and get online again.
Check APN Settings Right Now
If you have noticed that your iPhone or iPad is not even showing you the Personal Hotspot entry in Settings, then it's highly likely that your APN settings are not in place. You can get the APN settings for internet straight from your carrier or directly from their website. There is also a possibility that your carrier might ask you to pay up in order to use Personal Hotspot.
On iPhone:
- Launch Settings
- Select Cellular / Mobile Data
- Select Cellular Data Network
- Under Personal Hotspot fill in the entries for APN, Username, Password
On iPad:
- Launch Settings
- Select Cellular / Mobile Data
- Select APN Settings
- Fill in the required Personal Hotspot entries
If you entered everything correctly, then the Personal Hotspot option should show right up in the Settings app.
Rest Your Network Settings
Botched or old network settings can cause Personal Hotspot to not work at all. It's a good idea to reset your network settings in order to bring everything back to normalcy. It might even fix Personal Hotspot issues once and for all. Here's how you do it:
Note: You will lose all your remembered WiFi and Bluetooth devices once you do this. This cannot be undone.
- Launch Settings
- Scroll down and select General
- Scroll all the way down and select Reset
- Tap on Reset Network Settings
Make Sure WiFi and Bluetooth are Both Turned on
Though this is an obvious one, but if you are accessing the Personal Hotspot feature using the Handoff features in iOS or macOS then you have to make sure that Bluetooth and WiFi is enabled on both devices. If it's not, then your iPhone or iPad might not even show up in the WiFi option in the menu bar on your Mac.
Make Sure the Personal Hotspot Toggle Switch in ON
On your iPhone or iPad, make sure that the Personal Hotspot toggle switch is turned on. Furthermore, you need to be on the Personal Hotspot screen in order to make your device discoverable. Here's what you need to do:
- Launch Settings
- Tap on Personal Hotspot
- Turn on the Allow Others to Join toggle switch
Reset Your iPhone or iPad
Sometimes a good old reset fixes a lot of accumulated problems. If you have an iPhone, then you may want to check out the guide posted here on how to do that. iPad Pro users can follow this guide.
Update to the Latest Version of iOS / iPadOS
Face it, old software can be super buggy at times. Update to the latest release and see many issues resolve themselves. Follow the steps below on how to do that:
- Launch Settings
- Tap on General
- Select Software Update
- Install the available update by tapping on Download and Install
Perform a Clean Install if All Else Fails
Nothing works and your settings are just fine? Then you might want to perform a clean install of iOS or iPadOS. Follow the guides posted below for details:
Looking for more tutorials? Make sure to check out the following:
