How do i turn off my apple 12 phone

Jason Cross/IDG

You shouldn’t have to turn off your iPhone very often. If you’re not going to use it for a few hours, it’s not worth the hassle (and minuscule battery life savings) to shut it down.

But, if you know you’re not going to use your phone for a couple of days, or on a very long international flight, and you want to save every last ounce of battery life, shutting it down can be an effective option.

Also, if you suspect some bug has made your phone unresponsive or slow, the first troubleshooting step should be that old IT standby: turn it off and on again.

To shut down your iPhone, quickly press and hold either volume button and the Side button. Your phone will show a “slide to power off” slider at the top, along with sliders for SOS and Medical ID. Slide the Power Off slider, and it will turn off your phone. If you have an iPhone 6s or earlier, briefly press both the top or side button and Home button at the same time to make the sliders appear.

If you want to force-restart an iPhone that is completely frozen and unresponsive, the procedure is a little different.

For all iPhones with Face ID and iPhone 8 or 2nd-generation iPhone SE:

Quickly press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button. Keep holding it until the Apple logo appears, then release.

For iPhone 7:

Press and hold the volume down button and the side button at the same time. Keep holding until the Apple logo appears, then release.

For iPhone 6s or earlier:

Press and hold both the top/side button and the Home button. Keep holding until the screen blanks out and then the Apple logo appears (usually around 10 seconds or so). Then release both buttons.

If it’s an iPad you are trying to turn off read: How to turn off an iPad.

Also read: How to clear cache on iPhone & iPad for an easy speed boost.

I have written about technology for my entire adult professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.

Your iPhone 12 won't turn off and you're not sure why. You might be trying to put your iPhone down for awhile or conserve battery life. In this article, I'll explain what to do when your iPhone 12 is not turning off!

Why Isn't My iPhone 12 Turning Off?

A lot of the time, your iPhone 12 won't turn off because of a software problem. A software crash could freeze the display and make it look like your iPhone isn't turning off. There could also be a hardware problem with the buttons involved in turning off your iPhone 12.

Follow the steps below to diagnose and fix the real reason why your iPhone 12 won't turn off. We'll start by showing you how to turn off your iPhone 12, then help you fix a potential software problem. If the software steps don't fix the problem, we'll talk about repair options.

How To Turn Off Your iPhone 12

Before assuming there's a problem, let's walk through how to turn off an iPhone 12. Simultaneously press and hold the side button and either volume button until slide to power off appears on the screen. Swipe the power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone 12.

Hard Reset Your iPhone 12

A hard reset forces your iPhone 12 to abruptly turn off and back on. It's a quick way to fix software crashes that freeze your iPhone. It's possible that your iPhone 12 has frozen with the screen on, making it look like it won't turn off.

To hard reset your iPhone 12:

1. Press and release the volume up button.
2. Press and release the volume down button.
3. Press and hold the side button until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears.
4. Release the side button when the Apple logo appears.

For many people, this will temporarily fix the problem. However, a hard reset doesn't actually address the software problem that crashed your iPhone 12 in the first place. If the problem persists, you may want to back up and restore your iPhone 12. We'll explain how to do this later in this article.

Is One Of The Buttons Broken?

Your iPhone 12 might not be turning off because one of the buttons is broken. Press the volume buttons and see if the Ringer slider appears at the top of the screen. The slider should move left and right when you press the volume down and volume up buttons.

Next, press and hold the side button to see if it activates Siri. If Siri activates, the side button is working problem.

Fortunately, there are a couple ways to turn off your iPhone 12 if the buttons are broken.

Turn Off Your iPhone 12 In Settings

Open Settings and tap General. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the menu and tap Shut Down. The power slider will appear on the screen. Swipe the power icon across the words slide to power off to shut down your iPhone 12.

Connect your iPhone 12 to a power source to turn it back on. If your iPhone a decent amount of battery life when you turned it off, it should turn back on pretty quickly.

Restart Your iPhone 12 Using AssistiveTouch

AssistiveTouch adds a virtual button to your iPhone's display. This button allows you to restart your iPhone 12, activate Siri, take a screenshot, and more.

Open Settings and tap Accessibility -> Touch -> Assistive Touch.

Tap the switch next to AssistiveTouch to turn it on. A virtual button will appear on the display of your iPhone 12.

Tap the AssistiveTouch button and tap Device -> More -> Restart. Tap Restart when the confirmation pop-up appears on the screen. Your iPhone will turn off and back on.

Restore Your iPhone 12

The last home fix we recommend when your iPhone 12 won't turn off is a restore. This step can potentially fix a deeper software problem by restoring your iPhone 12 to factory defaults. You'll use iTunes to complete this step if you have PC or a Mac running macOS 10.14 or older. If you have a Mac running macOS 10.15 or newer, you'll use Finder.

Before completing this step, we strongly recommend creating a new backup in iTunes or Finder.

Restore Using iTunes

1. Open iTunes.
2. Connect your iPhone 12 to your computer using a Lightning cable.
3. Click on the iPhone icon near the upper left-hand corner of iTunes.
4. Click Restore Backup.
5. Choose the backup you'd like to restore from.
6. Click Restore.
7. Enter the passcode if the backup is encrypted.
8. Your iPhone will turn off, complete the restore, then turn back on. Keep your iPhone connected to your computer until the restore is complete.

Restore Using Finder

1. Open Finder.
2. Connect your iPhone 12 to your computer using a Lightning cable.
3. Click on your iPhone under Locations on the left-hand side of Finder.
4. Click Restore Backup.
5. Choose the backup you want to restore from.
6. Click Restore.
7. Enter the password if the backup is encrypted.
8. Your iPhone 12 will turn off, restore, then turn on again. Keep your iPhone plugged into your computer until the restore is complete.

Repair Your iPhone 12

While there are workarounds, it can be very frustrating to use an iPhone with broken buttons. We recommend going through Apple to have it repaired. There's a good chance your iPhone 12 is still under warranty if you have AppleCare+.

Apple offers in-person and mail-in repair options. Check out Apple's support website to figure out which option is best for you.

iPhone 12: Turning Off!

You've fixed the problem and successfully turned off your iPhone 12. Make sure to share this article on social media to teach your friends and family what to do when their iPhone 12 won't turn off. Leave a comment down below to let us know which fix worked for you!