Guide: Turn off iPhone without touch

Even though Apple keeps trying to prevent display damage with increasingly better glass iPhone to prevent, it still happens from time to time. If not only the glass gets damaged, but also the underlying electronics, you'll quickly have an iPhone in your hand that, while still on, can no longer be operated. This makes shutting down the device via touch control impossible.

Alarm can no longer be deactivated

Basically, this wouldn't be a big problem since the iPhone runs out of battery and shuts down after a day or two anyway, but if you have an alarm or timer set, it can quickly become annoying because you can't turn off those sounds via the display anymore.

iPhone screen frozen

A similar problem arises when the iPhone no longer responds to touch inputs due to software issues. You can still bring up the window with the “Power Off” slider using the standby button, but you can't actually use the slider.

Solution: Turning off with a keyboard shortcut

To turn off the iPhone without using the touch display, you need to use the hardware buttons available on the iPhone. Since these buttons are not the same on all models, there are different methods to turn off an iPhone.

Solution for iPhone X and newer, iPhone SE 2 and iPhone 8

The following solution applies to iPhone models iPhone X and new, as well as iPhone SE 2 and iPhone 8. With these devices, you can initiate the shutdown process using the following key combination:

1. briefly press the top left button (Volume Up button)
2. briefly press the button on the bottom left (Volume Down button)
3. Hold the side button on the right

Hold down the side button, and after 3 seconds, the screen with the power-off slider will appear. Don’t release it yet; keep holding it for a moment until the screen goes dark. Then, let go.

If the display is faulty and shows nothing, it's impossible to tell when it dims. In this case, just press and hold for 4 or 5 seconds and hope you get the timing right.

If you hold the button down too long, the iPhone will restart. At least in this case, the sounds from the timer or alarm are turned off.

Solution for iPhone 6S and older, as well as iPhone SE 1

For iPhone SE 1 models, iPhone 6S and even older iPhones have a (hopefully functional) Home button. You can turn off these devices as follows:

1. Press and hold the Home button and the Power button (Standby button) simultaneously
2. release when the white Apple logo appears

The home button is always centered at the bottom of the display, while the standby button is on the upper right side on some models, and older iPhones have the button on the top right edge.

Solution for iPhone 7

One might think the iPhone 7 is turned off the same way as the older iPhone models with a Home button. However, it is an exception and is turned off as follows:

1. Press and hold the bottom left button (Volume Down) and the right side button for a long time
2. Release the keys when the white Apple logo appears

With these instructions, you should now be able to turn off your iPhone without using the touch screen.