In this tutorial, we’ll show you all the ways you can shut down your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and power it back on. The steps apply to all models!
Why turn your iPhone or iPad off and on
In 2018, the gyroscope of the Hubble Space Telescope stopped working. NASA fixed this problem by turning off the gyroscope and turning it back on!
You might also have heard or seen memes for the long-standing IT joke, “Have you tried turning it off and on again.”
The fact is, turning an electronic device off and on can fix several issues. A restart helps refresh the system, clear unnecessary caches and outdated files, helps the operating system rebuild broken processes, and overall improves your device’s performance.
It would be best if you restart your iPhone and iPad periodically. I personally do it every two to three days.
Note: In this post, we’re talking about turning off your iPhone and turning it back on, which equates to a simple restart. It’s different from a force restart, which can be effective if a simple restart fails to fix the issue.
4 ways to turn off your iPhone or iPad
Turn off iPhone with Face ID (iPhone 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, Xs, XR, and iPhone X):
- Press & hold the right side button and one of the volume buttons (either volume up or volume down) together until you see the power off slider on the screen.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to switch off your iPhone.
Turn off iPhone with the Home button (iPhone SE 2nd & 3rd generation, iPhone 8, 7, 6S, and 6):
- Press and hold the right side button until you see the power off slider.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to switch off your iPhone.
Turn off iPhone with the top button (iPhone SE 1st generation, iPhone 5S, 5C, 5, 4S, 4, and earlier):
- Press and hold the top button until you see the power off slider.
- Drag the power off slider to the right.
Turn off iPad with Face ID (iPad Pro 11-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation & later, and M4 iPad Pro):
- Press the top button and one of the volume buttons together until you see the power-off slider on the screen.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to switch off your iPad.
Turn off iPad with top Touch ID button: Newer non-Pro iPads mimic iPad Pro’s design but lack Face ID. Instead, they have an integrated Touch ID in the top button. These models are the M2 iPad Air, iPad Air (4th and 5th generation), iPad mini (6th generation and the new one with A17 Pro chip), and iPad (10th generation). You can turn them off like you turn off an iPad with Face ID.
- Press and hold the top button and one of the volume buttons together until you see the power-off slider.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to shut down your iPad.
Turn off iPad with front Home button: This applies to all iPads with a circular Home button in the lower chin of the device.
- Press and hold the top button until you see the power off slider.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to switch it off.
2. Use Control Center
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 add a power-off button to the top of Control Center. Simply update your iOS device to iOS 18. After that, go to Control Center, touch and hold the power button, and drag the slider to the right.
3. Use the Settings app
- Open the Settings app and tap General.
- Scroll to the end, and tap Shut Down.
- Drag the power off slider to the right to turn off your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
4. Drain the battery completely
Another way to force your iPhone to shut down is by draining its battery entirely! When you do that, your iPhone will automatically turn off.
To quickly drain your battery, turn off automatic brightness and play videos and intensive games at full brightness. You can also set the on-device speakers to full volume. Plus, you can keep your iPhone in sunlight, which will force its display to go at the maximum brightness and deplete it quickly.
2 ways to turn on your iPhone or iPad
On iPhone: Press and hold the right side button for a few seconds until you see the Apple logo on the screen. If your iPhone has a top button, use that.
On iPad: Press and hold the top button to switch on your iPad.
2. Plug it into charging
Whenever you put your switched-off iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch into charging, it automatically powers on the device. This works for both wired and wireless charging. Plus, the iOS or iPadOS device also switches on when you plug it into a Mac or Windows PC.
4 ways to restart your iPhone or iPad
Turning off and turning on (that we discussed above) means restarting. But that’s two separate actions. You can also perform a restart without individually switching off and on your iPhone or iPad.
1. Ask Siri
- Make sure your iPhone or iPad is running iOS 16.1 or iPadOS 16.1 and later.
- Invoke Siri and ask it to:
Reboot
Reboot iPhone or Reboot iPad
Reboot this device
Restart
Restart iPhone or Restart iPad
Restart this device - Tap Restart on the Siri interface to confirm or just say Yes. Your iPhone or iPad will automatically switch off and switch on to complete the restart process.
2. Use AssistiveTouch
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch and turn on the switch for AssistiveTouch.
- Tap the virtual button and go to Device > More > Restart > Restart.
3. Install an iOS update
When you update your iPhone or iPad, it automatically restarts during the software installation process. To do that, go to Settings > General > Software Update. From here, tap Update Now.
Note: You won’t see the install button if your device is already on the latest available iOS or iPadOS version.
4. Reset or erase your device
Finally, when you reset your iPhone or iPad settings or perform a full erase, your device automatically restarts.
On a related note: