How To Turn Off an Apple TV

Illustration of a person putting an Apple TV to Sleep

Lifewire / Theresa Chiechi

by Sam Costello
Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others.
Updated September 07, 2019

Anyone who's looked at the Apple TV for even a short time will notice that it's part of a growing trend in Apple's design philosophy: There are no buttons to be found anywhere on the device. If there's no power button on the case, how do you turn off the Apple TV?

The answer to that question is different for every model of the device (though all of the techniques are fairly similar). Read on for instructions on how to turn off every model of the Apple TV.

Whatever model you have, you don't so much turn the Apple TV off as put it to sleep until you're ready to use it again. This is what allows the Apple TV to be ready to use so quickly. For the most part, putting the Apple TV to sleep and turning it off are basically the same.

How to Turn Off Apple TV 4K and 4th Generation Apple TV

There are two ways to turn off the Apple TV 4K and the 4th gen. Apple TV: with the remote and using onscreen commands.

  • With the Remote: Hold down the Home button on the Siri remote (the Home button has an icon of a TV on it). Select Sleep Now in the menu that appears and click the touchpad to put the Apple TV to sleep.
  • With Onscreen Commands: Launch the Settings app and scroll down to the Sleep Now menu. Click the touchpad to select it.

How to Turn Off 3rd and 2nd Generation Apple TV

Put the 3rd and 2nd generation Apple TV models to sleep in the following ways:

  • With the Remote: Hold down the Play/Pause button for five or so seconds until the Apple TV goes to sleep.
  • With Onscreen Commands: Launch the Settings app then scroll down the list of options in Settings to Sleep Now.

How to Turn Off 1st Generation Apple TV and Apple TV Take 2

Turn off the 1st generation Apple TV, as well as Apple TV Take 2, by doing this:

  • With the Remote: Hold down the Play/Pause button for five or so seconds until the Apple TV goes to sleep.
  • With Onscreen Commands: Launch the Settings app. In the list of options on the Settings screen, select Standby.

How to Change Apple TV Auto-Sleep Settings

In addition to manually turning off the Apple TV, you can also set an option that controls when the device automatically goes to sleep after a period of inactivity. To change this setting on the Apple TV 4k and the 4th Generation Apple TV (the only models still being made):

  1. Launch the Settings app.

  2. Select General.

  3. Select Sleep After.

  4. Choose how quickly you want the Apple TV to go to sleep after being inactive: Never, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, or 10 hours.

How to Turn the Apple TV On Again

If your Apple TV is sleeping or off, press any button on the remote control to awaken it. The status light on the front of the Apple TV will blink, then the Apple TV home screen will appear on your TV.

If you use the Remote app on an iOS device instead of the standard remote, just launch the app and press any of the onscreen buttons in the app.