How To Restart a Frozen iPod Mini in 3 Steps

When an iPod Mini freezes up, it stops responding to clicks. When computers freeze up, it's easy to fix that problem—restart the computer. If your iPod Mini is frozen or won't start up, that's the solution, too. The question, of course, is how to restart an iPod Mini. Here's what you need to know.

The instructions in this article apply to the First Generation iPod Mini and the Second Generation iPod Mini.

How to Restart an iPod Mini

To reset either generation of the iPod Mini, follow these steps:

Move the Hold switch to the Off position. The Hold switch is in the upper-left corner of the iPad Mini. If the Mini wasn't frozen and was just locked, this may fix the problem.

When the Hold switch is On, an orange color shows next to the switch at the top of the iPod Mini and a Lock icon appears on the iPod screen. To turn off the Hold switch, move the switch so the orange is hidden and the lock disappears.
If the iPod Mini is still frozen, the Hold switch wasn’t the problem. Move the Hold switch to the On position (so that it shows orange) and then move it back to Off.
Hold the Menu button on the Clickwheel and the Center button at the same time. Hold them for 6 to 10 seconds. This process will restart the iPod mini. The iPod is restarting when the screen changes and the Apple logo appears.
If your iPod Mini won't restart, plug the iPod into a power source and charge it. This will fix things if your problem is actually that the iPod Mini is out of battery. Leave it plugged in for 30 to 60 minutes and then repeat the steps.
If that doesn’t work, there's likely a hardware problem with your Mini that you won't be able to fix on your own. Contact Apple for tech support.