What to Know
- When your iPhone's side button is not working, you can enable Assistive Touch to replicate its functionality.
- Go into Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Assistive Touch to turn on Assistive Touch.
- This adds an on-screen button you can tap to lock your phone, as well as perform a variety of other actions.
Having trouble with your iPhone's power button? Luckily, there is an easy way to turn off your phone without the power button. With the accessibility setting, Assistive Touch, you can perform a variety of actions with just a few taps. Let's take a look at how to enable this feature.
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How to Enable Assistive Touch
If your iPhone's side or home button is not working correctly, you can enable Assistive Touch. This accessibility setting allows you to perform a variety of actions like locking your iPhone, restarting it, turning the volume up or down, opening the app switcher, and so much more. For more iPhone accessibility tips and tricks, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter. Now, let's enable Assistive Touch on iPhone. This will ensure you have a way to wake your phone and put it to sleep while the power button is not working:
- Open Settings, and tap Accessibility.
![Open Settings, and tap Accessibility.]()
- Under Physical and Motor, tap Touch.
![Under Physical and Motor, tap Touch.]()
- Tap Assistive Touch.
![Tap Assistive Touch.]()
- Toggle Assistive Touch on. It will be green and to the right when enabled.
![Tap the toggle next to Assistive Touch to turn it on.]()
- A gray circle will appear on your screen. You can touch and drag the circle, the Assistive Touch icon, to reposition it on the screen.
![A gray circle will appear on your screen. You can touch and drag the circle, the Assistive touch icon, to reposition it on the screen.]()
- Under Custom Actions, tap Single-Tap to configure what tapping the Assistive Touch icon once will do.
![Under Custom Actions, tap Single-Tap to configure what tapping the Assistive Touch icon once will do.]()
- You can assign the Open Menu action to open a menu with a variety of other actions.
![You can assign the Open Menu action to open a menu with a variety of other actions.]()
- In this menu, tap Device.
![In this menu, you can tap Device.]()
- Tap Lock Screen to lock the screen.
![Tap Lock Screen to lock the screen.]()
- If you only want the Assistive Touch icon to serve as a lock button, you can assign the Lock Screen action to the Assistive Touch icon.
![If you only want the Assistive Touch icon to serve as a lock button, you can assign the Lock Screen action to the Assistive Touch icon.]()
- You can assign this or any action to a Single-Tap, a Double-Tap, or a Long Press.
![You can assign this or any action to a Single-Tap, a Double-Tap, or a Long Press.]()
- Next, tap Idle Opacity.
![Next, tap Idle Opacity.]()
- With this slider, you can adjust how translucent the Assistive Touch icon is when not in use.
![With this slider, you can adjust how translucent the Assistive Touch icon is when not in use.]()
Now, while your side button is not working, you can use the Assistive Touch action to lock the screen.
How to Turn Off Assistive Touch
Once you have resolved the issues with your side button, or if you are simply tired of having the Assistive Touch icon on your screen, you can easily turn it off in the same menu where you turned it on:
- Open Settings, and tap Accessibility.
![Open Settings, and tap Accessibility.]()
- Under Physical and Motor, tap Touch.
![Under Physical and Motor, tap Touch.]()
- Tap Assistive Touch.
![Tap Assistive Touch.]()
- Tap the toggle next to Assistive Touch to turn it off.
![Tap the toggle next to Assistive Touch to turn it off.]()
The Assistive Touch icon will disappear, and the accessibility setting will be turned off. Next, find out how to use Apple Pay with Assistive Touch.
