How to Get Rid of Grey Box on iPhone Lock Screen: 6 Ways

Don’t know why there is a grey box on your iPhone lock screen and need to remove it? Why not find answers in this article? You can find 6 ways to make it easily. If need, you can also get another professional tool to protect your iPhone data.

Kathy by Kathy Updated October 25, 2023
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How to remove the grey window from my lock screen?

Hi, not sure what I have done, but since yesterday I have such a grey window on my lock screen and no clue how to switch it off. Would you recommend any way?

- Question from Apple Community

Why is there a grey box on your iPhone lock screen?

grey box

A grey box on your iPhone lock screen is not a common or standard element of the iOS interface. However, sometimes you might see it for one of the following reasons:

⛔ A grey box on the lock screen can indicate a notification or widget. This is especially true if you have a third-party app that displays information in this manner.
⛔ Some accessibility features within your iPhone can display on-screen elements that might appear as grey boxes.
⛔ Occasionally, display glitches or software issues can cause strange artifacts like grey boxes to appear on the screen.

How to get rid of grey box on iPhone lock screen

To get rid of it on your iPhone lock screen, you'll need to identify the source of the issue and take appropriate actions. There are 6 ways for you to troubleshoot the error.

#1. Force restart your iPhone

Force restarting your iPhone may help you fix the issue efficiently.

For iPhone 8 Plus/8/X or later: Press and release the Volume Up button > Press and release the Volume Down button > Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

restart iPhone

For iPhone 7 Plus or 7: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Volume Down buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears on your screen.

For iPhone 6 or earlier: Press and hold the Home button and Sleep/Wake button at the same time until the Apple logo is displayed on your screen.

#2. Change the Accessibility settings

If force restarting the iPhone cuts no ice, you can try to disable the zoom feature through Settings on your iPhone to solve the problem. Just go to Settings app on your iPhone > Choose General > Go to Accessibility > Turn off Zoom to check if the grey box disappears.

change zoom settings

#3. Turn off the widget of a certain app

At times, this gray box might be a component displayed on the lock screen while using a certain app. If you can identify which app is causing it, you can go into the Settings app to disable it.

For example, if it’s caused by the Messages app, you can go to the Settings app > Choose Notifications > Click Music and turn off Show on Lock Screen.

show on lock screen

#4. Reset all settings

If you don’t know how to get rid of grey box on iPhone lock screen. Resetting all settings on iPhone might also work too. This action will restore all your iPhone's settings to their original configurations but doesn’t wipe any data. Just access the Settings app > Choose General > Reset > Click Reset All Settings to accomplish.

#5. Force close all apps

If this issue is caused by a specific app on your phone and you can't pinpoint which one, you can try quitting all apps on your iPhone.

For iPhone with Face ID

From the iPhone Home Screen or inside an app, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold > You can swipe horizontally to view all the recently used apps > Use fingers to swipe up on all adjacent cards to close them.

force exit apps

For iPhone with Home button

Quickly double-click the Home button to view all the open apps > Drag all cards displayed here all the way to force quit your apps.

#6. Contact Apple Support

If the grey box persists and you can't identify the source, consider reaching out to Apple Support for further assistance. 

These 6 ways are all about how to get rid of the grey box on iPhone 11/12/13/14/15. If you need a better iTunes alternative to back up your iPhone data on Windows, you can continue reading to explore the professional FoneTool.

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When it comes to protecting iPhone data, backing up iPhone data is a wise choice. And if you need to move iPhone data to your Windows PC, with the rich features, FoneTool can finish the process efficiently.

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Selectively back up iPhone

Step 1. Connect the iPhone to your computer via USB > You may need to tap Trust to let your computer access data on the device.

Step 2. Open FoneTool, and click Phone Backup > Selective Backup > Click Get Started.

selectively back up iPhone

Step 3. You can check each icon to choose the targeted data> Click Backup Storage Path to choose a backup storage location > Click Start Backup to confirm the choice.

confirm to back up

Tip: You can change the storage path to back up your iPhone data to an external hard drive.

Fully back up iPhone

Step 1. Choose Phone Backup > Full Backup and click Get Started.

fully back up

Step 2. Check Enable Backup Encryption as you like. Then select a storage path to save the backup and click Start Backup to make a full backup.

fully back up iphone

Next time if you need to restore your backup, you can go to Backup History and click Restore dot to accomplish the task.

restore backup

Conclusion

Now you can know how to get rid of grey box on iPhone lock screen. You can try the ways one by one to check which one is most suitable for your iPhone. If you need to back up your iPhone data, FoneTool can be a good helper.

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