How to Reset the iPod touch Without Losing Your Music

Safely restart your iPod touch by performing a soft reset

Couple listening to music on an iPod Touch

Thomas Eye Design / Getty Images

by Mark Harris
Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner.
Updated August 11, 2019

Most of the time, the iPod touch operates without any problems. However, just like any portable device, it can unexpectedly freeze or not power up. It's often an unstable app or corrupt file that causes the device to crash and get stuck, but what do you do if you lose the ability to listen to your digital music library?

One of the first things to try is a soft reset. Rather than completely restoring the iPod touch, which deletes your iTunes Store purchases, a soft reset forces the device to reboot its operating system — iOS in this case. This process is non-destructive and ensures that you regain control of your iPod touch without the risk of losing your media such as songs, audiobooks, podcasts, and more.

Instructions in this article apply to all iPod touch versions.

Perform a Soft Reset on Your iPod touch

To force a reset on the iPod touch after a freeze or other problem:

  1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time.

  2. Hold the buttons for about 10 seconds. If the iPod touch is on, it will switch off and then restart.

  3. Release the buttons when the Apple logo appears.

  4. The iPod touch operating system reboots, and the Slide to Unlock message displays after a short while.

This method ensures that you don't have to start all over again and restore the iPod touch from a backup or resync all your data.

If Your iPod Doesn't Power Up

If the device doesn't power up, ensure that the iPod touch has enough power in its batteries. In this situation, you may only need to recharge the iPod touch to start using it again. If the device won't turn on, work through the following steps:

  1. Use the cable that came with the Apple device and plug the iPod touch into a spare USB port on a computer.

    Use a power adapter if you prefer to charge from an outlet.

  2. Wait up to 5 minutes until the Battery icon appears. If there is a longer delay before the Battery icon appears, the device's battery is very low on power. It'll need a longer charge in this case.

  3. If the Battery icon doesn't display after 5 minutes, use recovery mode, which wipes everything on the device and restores it to the factory defaults, so this should be your last option.

  4. Restore the device from a recent backup of your iTunes library after you successfully boot it in recovery mode.