How to Turn Bluetooth On or Off With Your iPhone or iPad

iPad

Updated May 26, 2019

Did you know you have two different ways to turn Bluetooth off on your iPhone or iPad? The quickest way to flip the switch on Bluetooth is to use the hidden Control Center, but this only turns Bluetooth off temporarily. You can turn it off permanently by using the Settings app.

Here are instructions to do it both ways and why you might choose one over the other.

These instructions apply to devices running iOS 7 or later.

How to Turn Bluetooth On or Off Using Control Center

The Control Center method is a quick solution because you don't need to hunt for the Settings app. However, turning Bluetooth off using the control panel will only turn it off until 5:00 local time the next morning.

Using this method, Apple Watch, Apple Pencil, and Apple's AirPlay and AirDrop services will still work even though they use Bluetooth to communicate.

First, open Control Center by sliding your finger up from the bottom edge of the iPhone.

To open the Control Center on an iPad, drag your finger down from the upper-right corner of the screen.
Tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it off.
A window will pop up to tell you that Bluetooth will be turned back on tomorrow.

How to Turn Bluetooth On or Off Permanently

You may want to turn Bluetooth off for longer. For example, you might have Bluetooth speakers you occasionally want to use with your iPhone when you are at home but you don't need them all the time. If you don't use Bluetooth much, it's easy enough to just turn it on or off when you want to use the speakers.

Launch the Settings app.
Tap Bluetooth.
Slide the switch at the top of the screen to turn the service on or off.
When Bluetooth is on, a list of devices you can connect to will appear under the My Devices or Other Devices headings.
Tap a device's name to connect to it.