How to Reset a Frozen iPod Touch

Hard resets fix many software problems

What to Know

  • Reset: Press and release Sleep/Wake button, move slider to right, then press sleep/wake until Apple logo appears.
  • Hard reset (Force Start): Press Home + Sleep/Wake or Volume Down + Sleep/Wake until screen flashes and goes black
  • Last resort: Restore to factory settings.

This article shows how to reset an iPod Touch generations 1 through 7, released up to 2019.

How to Reset iPod Touch

6th generation iPod touch
Apple Inc.

If your iPod Touch has consistent app crashes, is freezing up, or experiencing any number of other problems, follow these steps to restart it:

  1. Press the sleep/wake button (located at the top corner of the iPod) until a slider bar appears on the screen. It reads Slide to Power Off (the exact words may change in different versions of the iOS).

  2. Release the sleep/wake button and move the slider from left to right.

  3. The iPod shuts down and a spinner appears on the screen. Then it disappears and the screen dims.

  4. When the iPod Touch is off, hold the sleep/wake button until the Apple logo appears. Release the button and the device starts up like normal.

How to Hard-Reset an iPod Touch

If your iPod Touch is locked up and you're not able to use the instructions in the last section, try a hard reset (Apple calls this technique a force restart, but both terms refer to the same thing). This is a more extensive reset and should only be used in cases where the first version isn't working.

To force-restart your iPod, follow these steps:

    • On 1st- through 6th-Gen: Press and hold the Home button (located on the front of the iPod) and the sleep/wake button (located on the top) at the same time.
    • On 7th Gen: Press and hold the Volume Down and sleep/wake button at the same time.
  1. Continue to hold the buttons after the slider appears.

  2. After a few seconds, the screen flashes and goes black. At this point, the hard reset begins.

  3. In another few seconds, the screen lights up again and the Apple logo appears.

  4. Release both buttons. The iPod Touch boots up and the device is ready to use.

Need to know how to restart an iPod model not covered in this article, or an iPhone or iPad? Check out What You Need to Do to Fix a Frozen iPhone, iPad or iPod.

How to Restore iPod Touch to Factory Settings 

There's another reset you may need to use: a reset to factory settings. This reset doesn't fix a frozen iPod Touch. Instead, it deletes all the data on the device and returns your iPod to the state it was in when it first came out of the box.

Factory resets are used either when you plan to sell your device and want to remove your data or when the problem with your device is so serious that you have no choice other than starting fresh.

Read how to restore an iPhone to factory settings. While the article is about the iPhone, since both devices run the same operating system, the instructions also apply to the iPod Touch.

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