Considering how often you likely need to use it, having a non-functioning power button on an iPad can feel extremely limiting. While tapping the screen or hitting the Home button can wake the device, there’s still the issue of resetting it, powering it down, or powering it back up again. Fortunately, Apple has you covered even if the button isn’t working at all.
Allowing the iPad to run through its battery supply and then plugging in into a power source is technically one method to restart your device, but it’s best to avoid doing this whenever possible. Instead, Apple provides plenty of ways to restart an iPad without using the power button or plugging in a charger after it’s gone dark. This includes options through Settings or Control Center, asking Siri, and restarting the device through Assistive Touch.
Even though not every iPad model is compatible with iPadOS 26, most of these solutions will still work on older devices. Knowing how to restart your iPad can be useful for a variety of reasons. From clearing away small bugs and temporary files to dealing with a system crash or other emergencies, knowing your power control options is one of the best ways to avoid headaches in the future.
Control Center, Siri, and Settings allow for easy occasional power-downs
Before beginning, note that all the solutions in this section involve shutting down your device, which you would then normally use your power button to turn the back on. However, if your power button isn’t working at all, you also have the option of plugging the iPad into a power source to have it instantly come to life. For those with somewhat newer devices, one of the iPadOS 18 features allows you to shut down your iPad directly from Control Center. In this instance, all you’ll need to do is swipe down from the top-right corner of your device, then touch and hold the Shut Down icon in the top-right corner of the menu. This will bring up the shut down slider, which you will then slide to the right to power down your device.
If you’re running iPadOS 16 or later, then asking Siri to shut down your device can also be a quick solution. Depending on your individual settings, you can either ask “Siri, shut down my iPad,” or “Hey Siri, shut down my iPad,” Siri will then likely ask you to confirm your decision before powering down. Finally, if you have iPadOS 11 or newer, there is also the option to shut down your iPad through Settings. It can easily be found by opening the Settings app, selecting General, and then you’ll find Shut Down all the way at the bottom of the menu. Tap it to open the shut down slider, then drag the slider to the right.
Assistive Touch is a great alternative for frequent use
If you don’t want to go through the above solutions every time you need to restart your iPad, you can also reset the device through Assistive Touch. This option adds a virtual Home button to your display that you can access at any time. Assistive Touch is a part of your iPad’s Accessibility settings, which can be useful for a plethora of assistive features, such as controlling your iPad with an iPhone.
To get it going, you’ll first need to enable Assistive Touch. You’ll then find restart as one of the options within the feature. Open the Settings app and head to the General options. Scroll down and select Touch, then find Assistive Touch at the top of the screen and ensure the switch is set to “on.” A white or gray circle will appear on the screen. If it’s in the way, you can hold and drag it to wherever you’d like. Tapping this circle once will open the Assistive Touch menu.
From this menu, you can tap Device, then select more (the three dots). Tap restart, then confirm your decision to reset the device. Even after rebooting, the Assistive Touch icon will remain on your display until you disable the feature. You will be able to access your restart option at any time through this menu.
