How to Reboot Your iPad

By Daniel Nations

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How to Restart the iPad

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Reboot the iPad using the sleep/wake button.

Updated March 21, 2016.

Rebooting the iPad is the number one troubleshooting tip for most problems. In fact, rebooting any device is usually the first step in troubleshooting. If you are experiencing issues with the iPad, whether it is unresponsive, apps are randomly crashing, or the iPad simply running too slow, it is time to reboot the iPad. But did you know that putting the iPad to 'sleep' isn't actually rebooting it?

This is a common mistake. While tapping the Sleep/Wake button on the top edge of the iPad will cause the screen to go dark, the iPad is still running in a power saving mode. The reason rebooting a device is such a helpful troubleshooting step is because it essentially wipes the device clean, but when you simply put the iPad to sleep, you aren't wiping it clean.

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How to Reboot the iPad

Hold down the Sleep/Wake button for several seconds. (This is the button shown in the diagram above this article.)
The iPad will prompt you to slide a button to power off the iPad. Follow the directions on the screen by sliding the button from the left side to the right to reboot the iPad.
If the iPad is completely frozen, the "slide to power down" message may not appear. Don't worry, just continue holding down the button. After about 20 seconds the iPad will power it down without the confirmation. This is called a "forced reboot" because it will work even when the iPad is totally unresponsive.

The iPad screen will display the circle of dashes which indicates it is busy. Once the iPad has finished shutting down completely, the screen will go completely black.
After the iPad's screen is completely black, wait a couple of second and then hold down the Sleep/Wake button again to restart the iPad.
When the Apple logo appears in the middle of the screen, you can release the Sleep/Wake button. The iPad will restart shortly after the logo appears.