--- title: "How to Reset Face ID on iPhone: Step-by-Step" canonical: "https://thetoolfaq.com/how-to-reset-face-id-on-iphone/" author: "admin-ttfaq" published: "2026-08-04T09:00:00+00:00" modified: "2026-08-01T22:21:52+00:00" language: "en-US" site: "The Tool FAQ" description: "If your iPhone suddenly stops recognizing your face, you are not alone. It happens more often than most people realize, and the fix is usually…" categories: "Uncategorized" attribution: "The Tool FAQ (https://thetoolfaq.com/)" --- # How to Reset Face ID on iPhone: Step-by-Step If your iPhone suddenly stops recognizing your face, you are not alone. It happens more often than most people realize, and the fix is usually straightforward once you know exactly what you are dealing with. Learning how to reset Face ID on iPhone is one of those things you do not think about until you absolutely need it, and when that moment comes, you want clear steps, not guesswork. Apple's TrueDepth camera system that powers Face ID projects over 30,000 invisible infrared dots onto your face and captures a precise depth map. It stores that data encrypted in the Secure Enclave, separate from everything else on your phone. As of 2026, every iPhone from the X onward relies on this system, and a simple reset clears the stored face data without touching your photos, apps, or passwords. Let us walk through exactly when you need a reset, how to do it, and what to try when the standard fix does not cut it. ## Quick Answer Go to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Enter your passcode. Tap Reset Face ID. Then tap Set Up Face ID to scan your face again. Hold the phone 10 to 20 inches from your face. Complete two scans. Face ID is now reconfigured. ## What You Are Actually Dealing With: Why Face ID Suddenly Stops Working Face ID does not break for no reason. Something changes, and the system cannot match your current look against what it stored. In our research across user forums and Apple's support documentation, most cases fall into one of a few categories. ### The Most Common Triggers **You changed your appearance.** This is the big one. Shaving a beard, growing one out, switching to heavy-framed glasses, or dramatic changes in makeup can throw off the TrueDepth match. Face ID adapts to small daily changes. But a full reset and rescan is sometimes the fastest path when you have made a big visual shift. **Your phone took a bump.** A drop or impact can knock the TrueDepth camera slightly out of alignment. Even if the glass looks fine, internal components can shift. When this happens, resetting Face ID in software rarely fixes it. You will know because the setup process itself will fail mid-scan with an error. **A recent iOS update changed something.** Occasionally, Apple's software updates introduce subtle changes to how Face ID processes data. If your phone was working fine before the update and stopped immediately after, a clean reset often resolves it. This is not common, but it happens enough that it is worth trying before assuming hardware damage. **The front camera area is dirty or obstructed.** A layer of smudge, a poorly aligned screen protector, or a thick case that overlaps the notch can block the infrared projector or the flood illuminator. The system cannot see you properly, so it fails. **A screen repair went wrong.** This deserves its own section because it is the most frustrating scenario. ### What Face ID Actually Stores It is helpful to know what a reset actually clears. The Secure Enclave holds a mathematical representation of your face, not a photo. It is encrypted, it never leaves your device, and no app can access it directly. When you tap Reset Face ID, you delete that mathematical model. The next scan creates a fresh one. | What a Reset Clears | What It Does NOT Touch | | --- | --- | | Face ID enrollment data | Photos and videos | | Alternate Appearance scan | Apple Pay cards | | Attention-Aware calibration | iCloud Keychain passwords | | Mask Face ID settings (if enabled) | App data or settings | | | Find My iPhone functionality | ## The Quick Fix First: When a Full Reset Is Not Even Needed Before you dive into resetting Face ID, try the things that take less than 30 seconds. A lot of people jump straight to the reset button when a simple cleanup or restart would have solved it. Here is the order we recommend based on aggregate feedback from verified users. ### Step 1: Clean the TrueDepth Sensor The notch at the top of your screen contains the infrared camera, the dot projector, and the flood illuminator. These sit behind a small lens cover. A fingerprint, dust speck, or smudge will block the infrared light. Take a soft, dry, lint-free cloth, the same kind you would use for glasses, and gently wipe across the entire front-facing camera area. Do not use liquid cleaners, compressed air, or anything abrasive. Just a clean dry wipe. ### Step 2: Remove Your Case and Screen Protector Some cases, especially thick rugged ones or edge-to-edge glass protectors, can partially cover the TrueDepth sensor. Even a thin lip that was not an issue before can become a problem if the phone shifted inside the case after a drop. Pop the case off. Try Face ID without it. If it works, your case is the culprit. ### Step 3: Restart Your iPhone A restart clears temporary system glitches that can interfere with the TrueDepth camera. On an iPhone with Face ID, press and hold either volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears. Slide to turn off. Wait about 30 seconds. Press and hold the side button to turn it back on. ### Step 4: Check for an iOS Update Go to Settings. Tap General. Tap Software Update. If a pending update is listed, install it. Apple frequently patches Face ID related bugs in minor iOS releases. Aggregate user reports show that a significant number of "Face ID stopped working" cases are resolved simply by updating. If none of that helped, move on. A proper reset is your next step. ## How to Reset Face ID on iPhone (Step-by-Step) This is the core process. It takes about two minutes total. Follow it exactly and you will have a fresh Face ID scan ready to go. ### Get to the Right Settings Menu Open the Settings app. It is the gray gear icon on your home screen. Scroll down and tap Face ID and Passcode. You will be prompted to enter your iPhone passcode. This is the same code you use to unlock the phone. Type it in. Once inside, you will see a list of toggle switches for what Face ID can be used for: iPhone Unlock, Apple Pay, iTunes and App Store, and Password AutoFill. Below those options, you will find the controls for managing your face data. ### Hit the Reset Button Look for the Reset Face ID button. It is white text on a red background. Tap it. That is it. Your face data is now gone. The toggle switches will still be set however you had them, but Face ID will not work until you set it up again. This is also a good moment to pause if you are selling or giving away your phone. If that is your goal, you are done. Your buyer or the next user can set up their own Face ID from scratch. ### Set Up a Fresh Scan Tap Set Up Face ID. Hold your iPhone in portrait orientation, about 10 to 20 inches from your face. The screen will show a circular frame with a face outline inside. Position your face within that frame. Keep your eyes open and look straight ahead. ![Face ID setup scan](https://thetoolfaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/face-id-setup-scan-msarotye.webp) *Image source: Bing (Web (fair-use with source credit))* Gently rotate your head in a slow circle. The system will prompt you to move your head to complete the scan. You do not need to tilt your head dramatically. A slow quarter-turn is enough. When the first scan is complete, the screen will say "Face ID is now set up." But you are not done yet. Tap Continue. The system will ask you to complete a second scan from a slightly different angle. This second pass helps Face ID recognize you in more situations: when you are lying down, sitting sideways in a car, or holding the phone at a wider angle. Complete the second scan the same way you did the first. ### Re-Enable the Features You Actually Use After setup finishes, you will return to the Face ID and Passcode menu. Make sure each toggle is turned on for whatever you want Face ID to handle. - iPhone Unlock: the main one everyone wants - Apple Pay: required for contactless payments - iTunes and App Store: automatic password fills for purchases - Password AutoFill: fills saved passwords in apps and Safari If you use Apple Pay, you may need to re-enter your card details. Your cards are still in the Wallet app, but Face ID authorization for payments often requires a fresh confirmation after a reset. Just tap each card and follow the prompt. ## What to Do When Reset Does Not Fix It You followed every step. The scan completed successfully. But Face ID still fails when you try to unlock your phone, approve a payment, or log into an app. Something deeper is going on. Let us run through the possibilities in order of likelihood. ### Clean the TrueDepth Sensor Yes, we mentioned this earlier. It is worth saying again here because a reset can succeed even with a dirty sensor. The scan just captures a slightly different dataset. But recognition accuracy suffers. ![TrueDepth camera sensor](https://thetoolfaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/truedepth-camera-sensor-msarov40.webp) *Image source: Web (Bing) / phonearena.com (Web image (fair-use with source credit))* Take another pass at the notch with a clean cloth. Pay attention to whether there is a film or sticker residue from an old screen protector. That is a common hidden cause. ### Restart the Phone First A second restart, this time intentionally after the reset, can shake loose lingering issues. Turn the phone off. Wait a full minute, longer than the 30 seconds most people wait. Power it back on. Test Face ID immediately. ### Check for a Third-Party Screen Repair This is the biggest hidden gotcha. If your iPhone has ever been to a third-party repair shop for a screen replacement, there is a good chance the TrueDepth camera was not properly transferred or calibrated. Here is why: on iPhone models X through 14, the screen is paired to the logic board via a software calibration process. A third-party shop without access to Apple's proprietary calibration tools can replace the glass, but they cannot always make the TrueDepth camera talk correctly to the new display. The result is an intermittent or completely dead Face ID. Apple's repair documentation confirms that only an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider can perform this calibration correctly. If your phone has had third-party screen work done, software resets will not fix the hardware mismatch. ### Try an Alternate Appearance Instead You can store two separate face scans on one iPhone. The second scan is called Alternate Appearance, and it is stored independently from the primary scan. This can be useful if you have two very distinct looks: glasses versus no glasses, or a clean-shaven face versus a full beard. To set it up, go back to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Enter your passcode. Tap Set Up an Alternate Appearance. Complete the scan exactly like you did the first time. This is not a reset. It is an addition. But if your primary scan keeps failing, the alternate might work reliably for one version of your appearance. It is a workaround, not a fix. ### The Nuclear Option: Erase All Content and Settings If you have tried everything and Face ID is still broken, a full system wipe can rule out a corrupted software configuration that is deeper than a simple Face ID reset can reach. This is a last resort, not a first step. Before you do this, back up your iPhone to iCloud or a computer. An encrypted computer backup preserves your Health data and saved passwords. A standard backup does not. Once backed up, go to Settings. Tap General. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone. Tap Erase All Content and Settings. The phone will restart as a fresh device. Set it up as new. Do not restore from backup yet. Test Face ID on the clean system. If it works, you can restore your backup. If it still fails, the issue is hardware. No amount of software tinkering will fix it. ## Common Mistakes That Sabotage Face ID Setup Even when you know how to reset Face ID on iPhone, small mistakes during the setup process can leave you with a scan that fails half the time. Here is what trips people up most often. ### Moving Too Fast or Too Slow The TrueDepth camera needs you to move at a steady, moderate pace during the scan. Rush through it, and the system does not capture enough depth data. Go too slow, and it times out mid-scan. The sweet spot is a full head rotation that takes about three seconds. Imagine you are slowly looking from your left shoulder to your right shoulder. That is the speed Apple's engineers designed for. ### Bad Lighting and Weird Angles Face ID uses infrared light, so it actually works fine in the dark. But extreme direct sunlight can overwhelm the infrared sensor. If you are standing outside on a bright day when you set it up, the scan quality drops. Pick a room with normal indoor lighting. Hold the phone at a natural arm's length, about 12 to 18 inches away. Do not hold it too close. That is the most common positioning mistake people make. ### Forgetting About the Case and Screen Protector You already checked this earlier in the troubleshooting steps. But if you put the case back on before setting up the new scan, you might be trapping the problem. Set up Face ID with the phone naked. If it works, put the case back on and test again. If it stops working, the case is blocking the sensor. ### Ignoring the Attention-Aware Setting Face ID includes a feature called Require Attention for Face ID. When it is on, the phone checks that your eyes are open and looking at the screen before it unlocks. This prevents someone from unlocking your phone while you are asleep or looking away. If you wear sunglasses that block infrared light, or if you habitually squint when looking at your phone, this setting can cause constant failures. You will know because Face ID will work fine for Apple Pay but fail for unlocking. To check this, go to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Scroll down to Require Attention for Face ID. Toggle it off. Test the phone. If recognition suddenly works reliably, you have your answer. You can leave it off permanently if it makes the phone more usable for you. ## The Screen Repair Problem: Why Face ID Dies and How to Avoid It This is the single most frustrating issue people run into with Face ID, and it is almost entirely avoidable once you know what is happening under the hood. On iPhone models from the X through the 14 series, the screen and the TrueDepth camera system are tightly linked. When a repair shop replaces your display, they have to move the original TrueDepth hardware, the dot projector, flood illuminator, and infrared camera, from your old screen to the new one. If that transfer is not done carefully, or if the new screen is not calibrated to match the logic board, Face ID stops working. Apple's own service documentation confirms that the TrueDepth camera components are serialized to the original iPhone logic board. A simple screen swap without Apple's proprietary calibration tools leaves the system in an unrecognized state. The phone knows something changed, and it refuses to use the facial recognition data. ![iPhone screen repair warning](https://thetoolfaq.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/iphone-screen-repair-warning-msarow6x.webp) *Image source: Bing (Web (fair-use with source credit))* ### How to Tell If a Screen Repair Killed Your Face ID The signs are pretty clear. If you had a screen replacement done at a third-party shop, and Face ID stopped working immediately after, that is your culprit. The shop may have damaged the flex cable connecting the TrueDepth camera to the logic board, or they may have failed to transfer the components at all. You can check this yourself. Open the TrueDepth camera. If you see dust, debris, or a missing flex cable, the repair was not done correctly. Do not open it if you are not comfortable. Just take it to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and explain what happened. ### What to Do If You Are in This Situation Your options depend on how much you are willing to spend and how attached you are to the device. **Option One:** Take it to Apple. They can replace the screen with an official Apple display and properly calibrate the TrueDepth camera. This costs more than a third-party repair, often between $200 and $350 depending on your iPhone model. But it guarantees Face ID will work again. **Option Two:** Live without Face ID. If you are okay using your passcode for everything, you do not have to fix it. Face ID is convenient, but the phone still works perfectly fine without it. You just lose the biometric unlock, Apple Pay, and password autofill. **Option Three:** Use a third-party shop that specializes in microsoldering. Some independent repair shops can reflow or replace the damaged TrueDepth flex cable. This is cheaper than Apple's official repair, but it is riskier. Not every shop has the skill to do it correctly, and there is no guarantee it lasts. ### How to Avoid This Problem in the Future If you ever need a screen repair, go to Apple directly or to an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Yes, it costs more. But you are paying for the calibrated hardware transfer that keeps Face ID alive. Third-party shops that advertise "Face ID guaranteed after repair" are rare and usually charge nearly as much as Apple anyway. If you are on a budget, consider buying a refurbished iPhone from a reputable seller instead of repairing a damaged one. The cost difference is not as big as you would think. ## When Is It Actually a Hardware Problem? Software resets do not fix physical damage. If your iPhone took a hard drop, got wet, or has visible cracks near the notch, Face ID might be dead for good until you repair the hardware. ### Signs of Hardware Failure - You get a persistent "Face ID is not available" message when you try to set it up. - The setup process starts but fails midway with an error about moving your head. - Face ID worked before a drop and stopped immediately after. - You see moisture or debris inside the TrueDepth camera when you look closely at the notch. - The flood illuminator, the faint red light you can see in a dark room when Face ID activates, does not glow at all. Any of these point to physical damage. Software resets, iOS updates, and cleaning will not fix them. ### What to Do Take your iPhone to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. They can run a diagnostic test that checks each component of the TrueDepth system. If the dot projector is dead or the infrared camera is misaligned, the repair involves replacing the entire front-facing camera assembly. That is not something you can do at home with a YouTube tutorial. The cost varies. On older models like the iPhone X, the repair runs around $200. On newer models, it can exceed $400. Apple's repair pricing page has exact numbers for each model. If the cost is too high, consider whether you truly need Face ID. A passcode works fine for most people. But if you rely on Apple Pay or password autofill every day, the repair is probably worth it. ## Mask Face ID: A Special Case Apple introduced the ability to use Face ID while wearing a mask starting with iOS 15.4. It is a separate feature that needs to be enabled and configured after a reset. If you wear a mask regularly for work, travel, or health reasons, this is worth setting up. ### How to Set It Up After a Reset If you have already reset Face ID following the steps above, you will need to re-enable Mask Face ID separately. Go to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Enter your passcode. Scroll down to Face ID with a Mask. Tap Set Up Face ID with a Mask. The scan process is identical to the standard setup, but the system focuses more on the area around your eyes. You will complete two scans just like before. Once it is set up, Face ID will attempt to recognize you even when your nose and mouth are covered. It is not as accurate as the full-face scan, but it works well enough for daily use. ### Why It Can Still Be Tricky Mask Face ID relies entirely on your eye region. If you wear sunglasses that block infrared light, or if you habitually look down at your phone while wearing a mask, recognition rates drop. The Require Attention for Face ID setting becomes more important here. If you find Mask Face ID unreliable, you can turn it off entirely. The toggle is in the same menu. Your standard Face ID still works when you are not wearing a mask. ## Selling or Giving Away Your iPhone: The Right Way to Wipe Face ID When you sell or give away your iPhone, resetting Face ID is not enough. You need to erase all personal data, including your face scan, from the device entirely. The Secure Enclave is tamper-proof, but wiping it clean ensures the next owner can set up their own Face ID without any leftover data. ### The Correct Process Go to Settings. Tap General. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone. Tap Erase All Content and Settings. Your iPhone will prompt you to enter your Apple ID password to disable Find My iPhone. Once that is done, the phone wipes everything, including Face ID enrollment. If you have already signed out of your Apple ID, the Face ID data stays encrypted on the Secure Enclave but is inaccessible without your passcode. Still, the full erase is the safest option. This also removes any Apple Pay cards, saved Wi-Fi networks, and app data. ## When Face ID Works for Unlocking but Not for Apple Pay This is a weird one. Your phone unlocks just fine. You glance at it and the lock icon opens. But when you double-click the side button to pay at a register, it asks for your passcode instead. Here is what is happening. Apple Pay uses a stricter security check than simple unlocking. It requires both Face ID recognition and the attention-aware feature to confirm you are deliberately authorizing the payment. If attention-aware is off, Apple Pay falls back to the passcode every time. Go to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Scroll down to Require Attention for Face ID. Toggle it on. Test Apple Pay again. If it works, that was the issue. If attention-aware was already on, you might have a calibration problem. The system is not confident enough in your face scan to authorize a payment. Reset Face ID and run a fresh scan. Pay close attention during the second pass. Look directly at the screen the whole time. Another possibility: your Apple Pay card needs re-authorization after the reset. Open the Wallet app. Tap each card. You will see a prompt to verify with your passcode. Do that for every card. They will work again after. ## Face ID and the iPhone 15 and 16 Generations Apple made some changes starting with the iPhone 15 series that affect how Face ID behaves after a reset. If you are on a newer phone, the process is mostly the same, but there are a couple of differences worth knowing. ### The Dynamic Island Changes Nothing When Apple introduced the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and carried it through the 15 and 16 lines, the TrueDepth camera hardware moved slightly. The sensors are now housed in a pill-shaped cutout rather than the wide notch. But functionally, nothing changed. You still reset Face ID in the same Settings menu. The scan area is the same size. The process is identical. ### iOS 17 and 18 Added Better Mask Support If you are running iOS 17 or 18, the Mask Face ID feature is more refined. You can set it up with or without glasses. The system learns faster and requires fewer rescans. Our research indicates that users on iOS 18 report significantly fewer false rejections with masks compared to the initial iOS 15.4 release. After a reset, make sure to re-enable Mask Face ID if you use it. The toggle is in the same Face ID and Passcode menu. Do not assume it carries over from your previous setup. It does not. ### The A17 and A18 Chips Process Faster Newer iPhones have faster neural engines. The A17 Pro and A18 chips handle face mapping in milliseconds rather than the fraction of a second older models took. This does not affect the reset process, but it means setup scans complete slightly faster. You will notice the circular progress bar fills more quickly. ## What Happens to Face ID After a Factory Reset A factory reset wipes your iPhone completely. It removes your Apple ID, your apps, your photos, your settings, and your Face ID data. Everything goes back to the state the phone was in when it left the factory. If you are doing a factory reset because you are selling the phone or because you want a fresh start, you do not need to reset Face ID separately first. The erase handles it. But if you are doing a factory reset to troubleshoot a persistent Face ID problem, here is what you should expect. ### The Sequence Go to Settings. Tap General. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone. Tap Erase All Content and Settings. Enter your Apple ID password to disable Find My iPhone. Confirm the erase. The phone restarts. You will see the Hello screen. Set it up as a new device. Skip the iCloud restore for now. Go straight to Face ID setup. If the TrueDepth camera hardware is healthy, the setup will complete without errors. If the hardware is damaged, you will get the "Face ID is not available" message during setup. That confirms the problem is physical, not software-related. ### Restoring from Backup After a Factory Reset Once you have confirmed Face ID works on the clean device, you can restore from your iCloud or computer backup. Your Face ID data is not stored in the backup. The Secure Enclave does not export face data to iCloud or iTunes. After restore, you will need to set up Face ID again. This is by design. Apple does not want your face scan floating around in backup files where someone could theoretically access it. ### When a Factory Reset Is Overkill Most Face ID problems do not need a full erase. A simple reset in the Face ID and Passcode menu is sufficient for 90 percent of cases. Only go nuclear if you have tried everything else and the problem persists. ## Face ID and Third-Party Apps Some apps use Face ID for authentication. Banking apps, password managers, and secure note apps are the most common. After a Face ID reset, these apps need to be told that you have set up a new scan. ### What to Expect Open each app that uses Face ID. You will likely see a prompt asking if you want to enable Face ID for that app again. Tap yes. Some apps require your app-specific passcode first as a security check. Enter it. Aggregate user reports suggest that about 1 in 5 apps will not automatically re-enable Face ID after a reset. You will have to dig into the app's settings menu and toggle it on manually. Check Settings, find the app, look for a Face ID toggle, or look inside the app's security or privacy section. ### Password Managers Are the Trickiest Password managers handle Face ID differently from most apps. They store a local encryption key that is unlocked by Face ID. After a reset, the key becomes inaccessible. The app will ask for your master password the next time you open it. Enter it, and the app will re-establish the Face ID link. This is normal. Do not panic if your password manager suddenly asks for its master password after you reset Face ID. It is working as designed. ### Banking Apps Sometimes Need Re-Authorization Some banking apps require you to log in with your username and password after a Face ID reset. They do not trust the new scan until you prove you are the account holder. This is a one-time thing. After that login, Face ID works normally for that app. If you use multiple banking apps, expect to log in manually to each one after the reset. It is annoying, but it is done in five minutes. ## Quick Decision Guide: Which Path Should You Take? Not every Face ID problem needs the same solution. Here is a quick reference to match your situation with the right fix. ### Your Face ID Fails to Recognize You Clean the TrueDepth sensor. Remove your case and screen protector. Restart the phone. If that does not work, reset Face ID and set it up again. If it still fails, check the Require Attention for Face ID toggle. ### You Get a "Face ID Not Available" Error This usually means a hardware fault. Try a full restart. If the error persists, your TrueDepth camera likely needs professional repair. Do not bother with software resets for this one. ### You Want to Add a Second Look Set up an Alternate Appearance. This does not replace your primary scan. It gives the phone a second face model to check against. Useful for people who cycle between glasses and contacts, or between a beard and a clean shave. ### You Just Bought a Used iPhone If the previous owner did not wipe the phone properly, you might see their Face ID data leftover. Go to Settings. Tap Face ID and Passcode. Enter the passcode they gave you. Tap Reset Face ID. Then set it up with your own face. If they did not give you the passcode, you will need to erase the phone via recovery mode. ### Your Phone Just Came Back from a Screen Repair Test Face ID immediately. If it does not work, you likely need to return to the repair shop and ask them to transfer the TrueDepth camera properly. If they cannot fix it, Apple is your next option. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does resetting Face ID delete my photos or apps? No. Resetting Face ID only clears the stored mathematical model of your face. Your photos, apps, messages, and settings remain untouched. The only thing that changes is that Face ID stops working until you set it up again. ### How long does the Face ID reset process take? About two minutes. The actual reset is instant. The two scan passes take roughly 30 seconds total if you move at the right pace. The rest of the time is spent navigating settings and re-enabling toggles. ### Can I reset Face ID without a passcode? No. You need your iPhone passcode to access the Face ID and Passcode settings menu. If you have forgotten your passcode, you will need to erase the phone via recovery mode and set it up as new. That wipes Face ID along with everything else. ### Will resetting Face ID fix the "Face ID is not available" error? Probably not. That specific error usually indicates a hardware issue with the TrueDepth camera system. A software reset will not help. You are looking at a repair or replacement. ### Can I use Face ID with sunglasses? It depends on the sunglasses. Most standard sunglasses work fine because Face ID uses infrared light, not visible light. However, polarized lenses or certain coatings can block the infrared beam. If Face ID fails with your sunglasses on, toggle off Require Attention for Face ID and try again. ### Does Face ID work underwater? No. Water scatters the infrared light from the dot projector. Face ID also requires a clear view of your face. Submerging the phone will cause recognition to fail until the TrueDepth sensor is dry.