Cannot complete touch id setup

Touch ID is an excellent technology developed by Apple that improves the security of user’s data on company devices. Apple has built a fingerprint scanner that allows identifying the real user of the device without having to enter a password in the Home button on the iPhone and iPad. In this case, identification is used not only to unlock the device, but also when entering various applications, paying for purchases in online stores and in many other situations.

But any technology is not perfect, and that includes Touch ID as well. At your next attempt to use a fingerprint scanner you may encounter the “Failed. Unable to complete Touch ID setup” error. Faced with this kind of problem you will probably need some effort to fix it, and in this article we will look at some basic ways to do it.

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Table of contents:
1. Touch id fingerprint update 
2. What has to be done in case fingerprint update didn’t help

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Touch id fingerprint update

Quite often, the “Unable to complete Touch ID setup” error occurs after updating the device. Apple regularly releases new versions of firmware for the iPhone and iPad, but not always they will be installed without errors and problems. If after downloading and installing a new version of the software, there is a problem with the Touch ID operation, try the following:

1. Go to the device settings and select “Touch ID and Passcode”. To access these settings, you need to enter the password for this particular device;
2. Now in the “Use Touch ID for” section you need to deactivate all four switches;

3. Press the Home button to exit to the desktop and then hold down simultaneously the Home button and lock / unlock button for about 10 seconds. After some time, an Apple icon will appear on the screen and the device will reboot;
4. After turning on your smartphone or tablet, re-enter the “Touch ID and Passcode” section and turn on all switches that were turned off;
5. Click the Add Fingerprint button below the switches and go through the procedure of adding a new fingerprint.

After completing all the above steps, the error “Unable to complete Touch ID setup” should no longer be disturbing you.

What has to be done in case fingerprint update didn’t help

If you followed the instructions above, but still didn’t manage to get rid of the problem, there are a few more tips that may help to fix it:

1. In the “Touch ID and Passcode” section before adding a new fingerprint, delete all previous ones;

2. Put the smartphone (or tablet) on the charger and at the time of charging perform a “hard reset” of the device, that is, hold down the Home buttons and lock / unlock button for a few seconds until the little apple will light up on the screen;
3. Perform a full reset of your iPhone or iPad. To do this, go to “Settings”, then select the “Basic” section and the “Reset” item. In the menu that opens, click “Reset all settings” and restart the device after a reset.

If none of the above methods helped to fix the situation, you can try and wait until Apple releases a new version of the firmware and install it, it is possible that this will fix the problem. Another way is to flash the iPhone or iPad in normal or DFU mode.

It is worth noting that if you contact the official Apple service center with this problem, you may be told that this is a hardware problem. If the phone is under warranty, Apple will repair the device for free (replace the Home button) or exchange it for a new one. That is why it is not recommended to independently try to disassemble the device and try to “fix the Home button cable”, which is often advised online by all sorts of “craftsmen”.