Turning off an Android phone might sound like a simple task, but it can be a little more complicated than you might think.
Why? It’s largely down to the power button being reused as a button to summon AI with many manufacturers in recent years, so much so that even calling it a power button is a little outdated.
But with the traditional power button no longer allowing you to power your phone down, how exactly do you turn it off? It’s not ideal to have to wait for it to completely run flat, after all.
While the process does differ depending on the phone you’ve got, we’ve taken the stress out of the process and explained how to turn off every major brand of Android phone available in the UK, US and EU, right here.
If you’re rocking a Pixel 6 or later, you’ll notice that holding the power button no longer turns off the phone as it did with the Pixel 5 and earlier – that ‘power’ button now summons Google Gemini.
Instead, to turn off a Pixel phone, you need to press and hold both the Power button and Volume Up button together for a few seconds. You should see a power menu appear; simply tap Power Off to turn off your phone.
Samsung
Regardless of whether you go for a regular bar phone or one of Samsung’s newer foldables, the process of turning it off remains the same.
Simply hold the Power button and Volume Down button together until the power menu appears. From here, tap Power Off twice to confirm your choice and power down your smartphone.
Xiaomi
Unlike other manufacturers, Xiaomi doesn’t use a two-button combo to initiate shutdown – but that doesn’t make it straightforward either.
You see, the Power button also activates Google Gemini on most modern Xiaomi smartphones. The catch here is to continue holding the power button after Gemini appears – usually around three seconds – to access the power menu. From here, it’s a swipe (not a tap) to turn your smartphone off.
Motorola
Most modern Motorola-branded smartphones are powered down in a similar fashion to other smartphones mentioned in this article – but unlike the others, the experience isn’t 100% consistent.
With most modern Motorola phones, including the foldable Razr 60 Ultra, you need only hold the Power button and Volume Up button to access the power menu. From here, tap Turn Off to power down the phone.
However, some older models actually support the opposite; holding the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously. The Volume Up method is more widely used in Motorola phones, so try that first, but if it’s ineffective, you know what to do.
Oppo
Oppo smartphones are easy to turn off; much like the Pixels, you can turn off Oppo smartphones by holding the Power button and Volume Up button. As with the others, a power menu will appear; simply swipe up on the power button to initiate the device shutdown.
OnePlus
As OnePlus is owned by Oppo, and the two share a very similar custom version of the Android operating system, it should come as no surprise that OnePlus phones power down in the same way.
That means holding the Power button and Volume Up buttons for a few seconds to access the power menu. From here, swipe up on the power icon to turn off your phone.
Honor
Honor has gone for a simplified approach to powering off its smartphones; just press and hold the Power button to access the power menu. That’s it, no button combinations needed.
From here, tap Power Off and confirm your choice. Once confirmed, the phone will shut down.
Sony
Just like Oppo, OnePlus and Motorola, Sony smartphones are all powered down in the same way; by holding the Power button and Volume Up buttons for a couple of seconds to get the power menu to appear on-screen. From here, tap Power Off to shut down the phone.
Huawei
Huawei might not use a Google-fied version of Android since its US court ruling, but it still runs on the open source Android platform – so it makes sense for Huawei phones to offer a similar power experience to those mentioned here.
That said, to power down a Huawei-branded phone, simply press and hold the power button until the power menu appears. From there, tap Power Off and then confirm by tapping Tap to Power Off. Your phone should immediately power down.
