How To Restart an iPod Mini

iPod Mini charging up

 James Leynse / Getty Images

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 March 18, 2019

Nobody likes it when their iPod mini freezes up and stops responding to clicks. When computers freeze up, you know how that to fix that problem—you restart them. But since iPod Minis don’t exactly have on/off switches, how do you restart them?

Luckily, resetting a frozen iPod Mini is pretty easy. Here’s how you do it.

Instructions Apply to These Models

The instructions in this article cover the following models of the iPod Mini:

  • First Generation iPod Mini
  • Second Generation iPod Mini.

How to Restart an iPod Mini

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Less than 1 Minute

Here's How:

  1. First, make sure that your iPod Mini’s hold button isn’t on. This is the little switch at the top left corner of the iPod Mini that you can move to "lock" the iPod’s buttons. If this is on, you’ll see a little orange color at the top of the iPod Mini and a lock icon on the iPod’s screen. If you see either of these, move the switch back so that the orange is hidden and lock disappears. If your Mini wasn't actually frozen and was just locked, this may fix the problem.

  2. If your iPod Mini is still frozen, then the hold switch wasn’t the problem. Next, move the hold switch to the on position (showing orange) and then move it back to off.

  3. Hold down the Menu button on the Clickwheel and the center button at the same time. Hold both of them down for 6-10 seconds. This should restart the iPod mini. You’ll know the iPod is restarting when the screen changes and the Apple logo appears.

  4. If this doesn’t work at first, you should repeat the steps.

  5. If your iPod Mini still hasn't restarted, you should try plugging your iPod into a power source and let it charge. Then repeat the steps.

  6. If even that doesn’t work, you may have a bigger problem. Your best bet is to contact Apple to get tech support.