Can I Restart An iPad Without The Power Button? Yes! Here’s How.

You want to restart your iPad, but the power button isn’t functioning. Broken buttons can be a bother, but fortunately you can restart your iPad using AssistiveTouch. In this article, I’ll show you how to restart an iPad without using the power button.

If iOS 10 Is Installed On Your iPad

Restarting an iPad without the power button take two steps if it is running iOS 10. First, you’ll have to shut down your iPad, then connect to a power source using your Lightning cable.

Don’t worry: if your iPhone turns off, but the power button is broken, you can always turn it back on by plugging it into any power source such as a USB port on your computer, wall charger, or car charger!

First, Turn On AssistiveTouch

We’re going to use AssistiveTouch to restart your iPad without the power button. AssistiveTouch creates adds a virtual Home button to your iPad, which comes in handy when any of the physical buttons on your iPad are stuck, jammed, or completely broken.

To add the AssistiveTouch virtual Home button to your iPad, open the Settings app, then tap General -> Accessibility -> AssistiveTouch. Tap the switch next to AssistiveTouch to turn it on — the switch will turn green and the virtual Home button will appear on your iPhone’s display.

turn on assistivetouch ipad

How To Restart An iPad Running iOS 10

To restart an iPad without the power button in iOS 10, tap virtual AssistiveTouch button Assistive Touch Button which will open the AssistiveTouch menu. Tap the Device button, then press and hold the Lock Screen button like you normally would on the physical power button on your iPad.

After a few seconds, you’ll see the red power icon and the words “slide to power off” appear near the top of your iPad’s display. Slide the red power icon from left to right to shut down your iPad.

Now, to turn it back on, grab your Lightning cable and connect it to any power source like you would when you normally charge your iPad. After a few seconds or minutes, the Apple logo will appear in the center of your iPad’s display.

If iOS 11 Is Installed On Your iPad

The ability to restart an iPad without the power button was added to AssistiveTouch when iOS 11 was released. With earlier versions of iOS (10 or older), you used to have to turn off your iPad using AssistiveTouch, then plug it back into a power source. This process was a bit tedious, so Apple added a restart button to AssistiveTouch.

To update to iOS 11, open up the Settings app and tap General -> Software Update. If an update to iOS 11 is available, tap Download and Install. The update process can take awhile to complete, so be patient!

Note: iOS 11 is currently in beta mode, which means that it’s not available to all iPad users yet. All iPad users will be able to download and install iOS 11 in Fall 2017.

How To Restart An iPad Without The Power Button

  1. Tap the AssistiveTouch virtual Home button.
  2. Tap Device (look for the iPad icon device icon assistivetouch ipad).
  3. Tap More (look for the three dots icon more icon assistivetouch).
  4. Tap Restart (look for the triangle inside of a white circle restart icon assistivetouch).
  5. Tap Restart when you see the alert that asks, “Are you sure you want to restart your iPad?”
  6. Your iPad will shut down, then turn back on approximately thirty seconds later.

how to restart an ipad without power button

I Have The Power!

You’ve successfully restarted your iPad without the power button using AssistiveTouch! This issue is incredibly frustrating, so we encourage you to share this article on social media to save your friends and family the same headache. Feel free to leave us a comment down below if you have any other questions about your iPhone or iPad and, as always, thanks for reading!

About Author

David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.

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Edwin Collison
2 years ago

My assistive touch device menu does not have restart button and my home button doesnt work. Please help me.

Ismael Rodriguez
4 years ago

hey it was helpful, not liying. good thing i had assistive touch.

Andrew Twilley
4 years ago

How do you make a new account without phone number

Molly Cox
4 years ago

iPad will not start black screen no home button it’s a 2018 I think

angel
1 year ago
Reply to  Molly Cox

same