Modern phones are very simple to turn off or turn on, since in most cases just hold down the side button to get the shutdown menu or slide to initiate the correct shutdown procedure. Not all shutdown methods are the same, even more so if we find ourselves in the hands an iPhone that doesn’t want to shut down or that shows up with the screen locked on an app or on the lock screen, with no possibility to change the situation.
In the following guide we will illustrate you all effective methods to turn off an iPhone. The methods are different and, once we have learned all of them, we will be able to always turn off an iPhone even when it is locked or when we notice that there is something wrong as it should (for example the shutdown button is broken or stuck).
READ ALSO -> Forced restart of locked smartphone, PC, TV, Tablet and modem
Turn off iPhone with hardware buttons
The simplest and most immediate way to turn off an iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 or iPhone 12 involves pressing the button Volume Up and the button side for 5 seconds and, as soon as the shutdown slide appears, drag it from left to right to start the classic shutdown procedure (valid in any situation in which the iPhone works correctly).
If we have an iPhone version older than iPhone X (for example iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7 etc.), the classic shutdown can be carried out by holding down the button for a few seconds. Poweruntil the shutdown slide is displayed.
Turn off iPhone from the operating system
Few users know this but we can turn off any iPhone even from the operating system, without having to hold down the keys indicated in the previous chapter. To turn off the iPhone directly from the system, open the app Settings, let’s get to the menu General and scroll through the list of options until you find the item Switch off.
After pressing on the item, the classic shutdown slide will appear, which we can drag to the right to complete the procedure. Even if little used, this procedure helps to turn off the phone without having to press the key Power and it can be very useful if we have a hardware problem on the physical key (which can always get stuck or stop responding to commands).
Force restart iPhone
If our iPhone seems frozen or it is not possible to turn it on or off, it may be a good idea to also learn the key combination with which we can force restart any iPhone on the market. To restart a locked iPhone we can follow the procedures described below:
- iPhone X or later: Press and release the key quickly Volume Up, press and quickly release the key Volume Down and finally we hold down the side button. As soon as we notice the Apple logo, we also release the side button.
- iPhone 8 or iPhone SE (2nd generation): also in this case we press and quickly release the key Volume Up, press and quickly release the key Volume Down and hold down the side button. When we see the Apple logo we can release the key.
- iPhone 7: keep the key pressed at the same time Volume Down and the key Standby / Wake up. When the Apple logo appears, we release both keys.
- iPhone 6s or iPhone SE (1st generation): on these phones we keep the key pressed at the same time Standby / Wake up and the key Home. As soon as we see the Apple logo appear we release the keys.
By following these procedures we will be able to restart any locked iPhone, forcibly turning it off and restarting it.
How to turn off locked iPhone
If our iPhone is stuck at startup (it only displays the Apple logo), the side button often does not work, as well as the forced unlock procedures seen above. In this scenario, we recommend that you first of all charge the phone by connecting it to a cable PC with iTunes; after about 2 hours we can use the procedure to access the Apple’s DFU mode. The keys to press to enter this special mode are the following:
- On iPhones older than iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Plus (with mechanical Home button): we hold down the Power key for about 3 seconds, immediately afterwards we also hold down the key Home (without releasing the button) for about 10 seconds, we release the button Power and continue to hold down the key Home for about 8 seconds.
- On iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Plus (with virtual Home button): the procedure is identical to that seen above, with the only difference that we have to use the keys Power on e Volume Down rather than Power on e Home.
- On iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X and later: we press once Volume up, immediately followed by the single press of the Volume down key (the two touches must be fast) and we keep pressed on the side key until the iPhone screen turns black. As soon as the screen goes black, release the side button and hold down the side button and the Volume down button at the same time for about 5 seconds; after 5 seconds we release only the side button, continuing to press the Volume down button until the warning message appears on iTunes.
To learn more, we invite you to read our guide Put iPhone in DFU to reinstall iOS.
Conclusions
As we have read in previous chapters, turning off an iPhone is very simple, but there are still scenarios in which turning off the Apple phone is not possible with the simple press of a button. In the worst scenarios we can always restart the phone forcibly, so as to try to restore the correct functioning of the system; if not even this method works, there is nothing left to do but put the iPhone in DFU mode and follow the instructions provided to re-download the operating system.
Still on the subject of restoring the iPhone, we invite you to read our guides Dead iPhone recovery, if it no longer turns on or does not charge the battery e Factory reset iPhone and iPad by erasing and restoring data.