With iOS 16 you can use Siri to restart your iPhone – hands-free. Here’s how to do it.
Virtually everything on your iPhone is accessed via its touch-based interface. This is true no matter which iPhone you have. But there has been one cumbersome interaction required if you want to restart your iPhone. You usually have to press and hold multiple physical buttons at one time.
Yet thanks to Siri enhancements in iOS 16, you can now use Apple digital voice assistant to restart your iPhone hands-free. It’s a terrific new feature – especially for people who may not have full mobility or dexterity in their hands.
We’ll walk you through the hands-on way to restart your iPhone and then the hands-free way to restart your iPhone with Siri.
How To Restart Your iPhone Using Your Hands
Restarting your iPhone using your hands is the way most people are accustomed to. But this method varies depending on what model of iPhone you have.
If you have an iPhone with Face ID (so iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone 11 series, iPhone 12 series, iPhone 13 series, or iPhone 14 series) do the following:
- Press and hold the side button AND either one of the volume buttons at the same time.
- When the power off screen appears, drag the “slide to power off” slider all the way to the right.
- Now, wait about 30 seconds for your iPhone to completely shut off.
- Finally, press and hold the side button until an Apple logo appears on your screen to restart your iPhone.
If you have an iPhone with Touch ID (so iPhone 6 series, iPhone 7 series, or iPhone 8 series) do the following:
- Press and hold the side button.
- When the power off screen appears, drag the “slide to power off” slider all the way to the right.
- Now, wait about 30 seconds for your iPhone to completely shut off.
- Finally, press and hold the side button until an Apple logo appears on your screen to restart your iPhone.
How To Restart Your iPhone Using Siri: Requirements
OK, now let’s talk about how to restart your iPhone using Siri. But first, note that your phone must meet certain requirements for this to work. Those requirements are:
- Your iPhone must be running the latest version of iOS 16 or later.
- The “Hey Siri” functionality must be engaged. Go to Settings > Siri & Search and make sure the toggle next to “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’” is switched to ON (green).
Got that? Good, now see below.
How To Restart Your iPhone Using Siri
Provided your phone meets the requirements above, now you can restart your iPhone hands-free using Siri. Here’s how:
- Say “Hey Siri, restart my iPhone.”
- A Siri popup will appear on your screen that asks “Just to confirm, you want to restart this device?” Now simply say “Yes.”
Your iPhone will now restart. When it restarts you’ll need to enter your iPhone’s device passcode to gain entry to the device.
Also note that if you don’t have “Hey Siri” enabled, you can still use Siri to restart you iPhone, but you’ll need to manually activate Siri using the side button. You can then use your voice to tell Siri to restart your iPhone. Also, in step #2 above, you can also tap the “yes” prompt when Siri asks “Just to confirm, you want to restart this device?”
Admittedly, if you do this, it kind of defeats the purpose of using Apple’s digital voice assistant to shut down your iPhone hands-free. But it’s nice that Apple gives users many ways to engage with Siri commands.
Michael Grothaus
Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.
