Here's How To Restart Your iPhone Without Using The Power Button

Restarting your iPhone is usually the quickest cure for everyday annoyances, from apps freezing up to network hiccups. In fact, you should probably be restarting your iPhone more often than you think. A clean reboot clears out background processes and refreshes system memory, helping everything run more smoothly. Under normal circumstances, it's a two-step maneuver: hold down the power and volume buttons, swipe, and you're done. But if those buttons stop cooperating — be it because of physical damage or years of wear and tear — that simple reset suddenly isn't so simple.

A dead power button means you can't shut the phone down or turn it on the usual way. And in some cases, the problem isn't even the power button itself; if your volume buttons give out, you can't trigger a force restart either. Either way, you're left with two choices: book a repair appointment or find a software workaround. Thankfully, iOS has a few of the latter.

One way to restart your phone without using the power button is in your iPhone Settings. Head to Settings > General > Shut Down. The familiar "slide to power off" screen will appear. Swipe across, and your phone powers down. To wake it back up, just start charging it, and it'll spring to life on its own.

If you're running iOS 18, there's an even quicker option: Apple added a dedicated power button right in Control Center. Just swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen, then tap the little power icon in the top right. It brings up the same shutdown slider, from where you can repeat the process above. 

If you'd rather go hands-free, Siri can also do the honors. Say "Hey Siri, restart my iPhone" (or just "Siri" on iOS 17 and later). You'll see a confirmation prompt, and with your approval, the phone handles the shutdown and reboot for you. Keep in mind, however, that results vary with this option. It depends on what iOS version you're on and how Siri's feeling that day. On iOS 18, many users report that Siri no longer responds to the restart command, even though it may still work on some older models and earlier iOS versions.

As a last resort, you can always let the battery drain completely before plugging it in. It's not ideal, as killing your battery is one of the worst charging habits for your phone, but it'll force a restart if every other option is off the table.