How To Turn Off iPhone Without Using the Power Button

Smartphones are becoming more complex every year, and you may have noticed a developing trend. On today’s phones, there are always at least two ways to do the same thing, usually more. For instance, there are a couple of ways you can delete apps or cached data, a few ways to reset your phone, and so on.

This is because the complexity of smartphones makes them prone to hardware issues and software glitches. These can make it impossible to complete simple tasks. For situations like these, iPhones and all other smartphones released in the past few years give you different paths you can take to reach the same destination.

How do you turn off your phone if you can’t work the power button anymore? Fortunately, it’s not difficult to work around a damaged power button to shut off and power on your iPhone. This article will cover how to do so on both older iPhones/versions of iOS (the older the iPhone is, the more likely it is to have a broken side button,) as well as the method for current iPhones/versions of iOS.

Enable AssistiveTouch on Older iPhones/iOS

This is a very versatile feature that makes iPhones easier to use. If it’s activated, you have a way to turn off your phone when your power button gets stuck or stops responding.

Here’s how to activate it:

1. Open Settings and go to “General.”
   
   
   
2. Select “Accessibility.”
   
   
   
3. Scroll down and locate “Assistive Touch.” Toggle it on.
   
   

This gives you a backup method for powering down your iPhone without using the power button. It enables you to open a Power Off slider on the top of your screen to initiate a shutdown.

It also allows you to lock the screen, rotate it, adjust the volume, and more. It essentially gives you the opportunity to initiate the phone’s button functions without having to press the physical buttons.

Older iPhones/iOS: Power Off Using Assistive Touch Menu

Now that you activated the feature, how do you use it?

Look for the app icon with a white circle. It may be on top of other apps at the bottom of your screen, or it can be blurred out or transparent. The icon depends on the iPhone model.

After tapping the circle, you will open up a new menu. You can use this for many things, including powering down your phone by following these steps:

1. Tap the “Device” option.
   
   
   
2. Locate the “lock screen” option. Tapping this will lock your screen, which may be useful if your side button is broken
   
   
   
3. Holding down the lock screen button will bring up the Power Off slider at the top of your screen. Slide to start the process of powering your phone down.

Powering Down Without the Side Button: iPhone X and Newer

Unfortunately, apple seems to have removed the ability to power your phone down through the assistive touch menu in newer versions of iOS. Another easy way to turn off your iPhone is to go through the settings menu:

1. Go to settings and tap “General”
   
   
   
2. Scroll down and select “Shut Down”
   
   
   
3. Slide the slider once it pops up on screen

Note that this method is exclusive to newer versions of iOS. If you have an iOS version older than 11.0, it won’t work without updating the OS first.

Enable AssistiveTouch on iPhone X or Newer

While assistive touch no longer allows you to power down your iPhone, it is still incredibly useful if any of the physical buttons on your phone have worn out or broken over time. It is especially useful if you want to be able to lock your phone without the side button. The method to turn on assistive touch on newer iPhones/iOS is slightly different than the older one discussed above. Simply follow these steps:

1. Enter your settings menu, scroll down and select “Accessibility.“
   
   
   
2. Locate the “Touch” Setting under Physical and Motor.
   
   
   
3. Tap “AssistiveTouch” at the top of the menu and toggle it On.
   
   
   

That’s it! Assistive touch is and easy to enable feature that offers many benefits if you happen to be struggling with hardware issues on your iPhone.

How to Power the iPhone Back On

Another question comes to mind when faced with a misbehaving sleep/wake button. Turning off your smartphone is relatively simple. But how do you power it back on if the button is still unresponsive?

One very useful feature of iPhones is that they can be powered on by plugging in the USB charger. Connect to your computer or laptop, and your phone will turn back on when it starts to charge. If you just use a wall charger, this may not work.

A Final Thought

Stuck buttons happen a lot and it’s not always because of the debris that accumulates due to poor maintenance. The AssistiveTouch feature allows you to still use your iPhone comfortably without having to go to a service center right away.

This feature allows you to control all the other buttons as wel,. You can use it when your volume buttons are acting up. However, you can’t send your phone into recovery mode by holding button combinations on the touchscreen. Another downside is that you still need a USB cable and a computer nearby, if you want to power up your device.

Have any tips, tricks, or questions related to AssistiveTouch or turning your iPhone off and on without the side button? Let us know in the comments below.