Rebooting your phone once a week is a common recommendation among tech experts to help maintain performance and prevent minor glitches. Depending on how you use your device, you may find yourself rebooting even more often. If that’s your case, you should know there’s a way to make the process faster and more convenient. In this guide, we show you how to add a restart button to your iPhone’s lock screen for a smoother experience.
Create a Shortcut for Restarting Your iPhone
Currently, restarting (also known as soft reset) newer iPhones involves pressing the Side button together with one of the Volume buttons, then sliding your finger across the screen. Alternatively, you can restart the device by going through Settings. However, there’s a much better way to do this: adding a restart button on your iPhone lock screen.
Note that if you’re dealing with more persistent or serious problems, knowing how to perform a hard reset can make all the difference.
To add your restart button, you will first need to create a shortcut using the Shortcuts app.
Open the app and tap on the + button in the upper-right corner.
Tap on the Search Actions bar at the bottom and look for Shut Down. Tap to add it to your shortcut.
Once the action is added, tap on the Shut Down option in blue and switch to Restart.
Next, tap on the name of the shortcut at the top and select Rename to give your shortcut a proper name.
From the same menu, tap on Choose Icon. Select a color and icon for your shortcut, and then go back to the shortcut screen.
Finally, tap on Add to Home Screen. This adds a shortcut on your home screen, so you can easily restart your device even when your phone is unlocked. The home screen shortcut will display the same icon you’ve previously set.
Add the Shortcut to the iPhone’s Lock Screen
Once you have the shortcut, the next step is to add it to your iPhone’s lock screen. To do so, wake up your phone. Long-press on your lock screen until the Customize button appears at the bottom. Tap on the Add Widgets option.
By the way, you can now move your widget bar to the bottom if you so desire. Learn more about how to overhaul your iPhone lock screen here.
Select Shortcuts from the list. Tap on the widget option to add it to your lock screen.
Once the widget has appeared on the lock screen, tap it twice to select the shortcut you wish to run. Select the one you’ve created in the previous step.
The widget should be visible on your lock screen. If you press it, a pop-up will appear asking you whether you want to reboot. Tap Restart to confirm. That’s it.
To make your lock screen more powerful, take a look at these practical lock screen widget options for your iPhone.
