I honestly don’t own an ipod. I do have a jukebox multimedia, which lets me put my compact flash card from my camera onto the harddrive. I find that more useful. I have actually only used an iPod once. My fiancee’s brother has one. I was playing with it once, and when I was done, I tried to turn it off. If you have ever played with one, you can prob. figure out what happened. I could not find the off switch. It is like apple wants you to never stop playing with it. I don’t ever read instruction manuals, so I started pushing buttons, and holding buttons for a few seconds. Suddenly I got scared because I was actually able to reset the settings on it. He did not know I was playing with it, and I made Karen come in and show me what to do. I would try to make this a DIY project on turning off your ipod, but I honestly don’t remember how to do it. If I had one in my hands right now, I don’t think I could turn the dumb thing off. It was quite agravating, because I can usually always figure out how to do something. It is like my cheap cd player in my car. I push the clock button and nothing happens. I finally had to research it on the internet. Let me know if any of you have ever had this same experience with and iPod.
Anyway, my last final is today. I have been studying like 12-14 hours a day for the past several weeks. That is above my usual 6-8 hours a day for the last semester. I tell you , it is a long road to becoming a doctor. I am in my second year, and after this, I get to go to the hospital, and the clinics for my third year. I have always heard that “The worst year of third year in medical school is better than the best day of the first two years”. Lets hope that is true :).
I am going to post some cool stuff this weekend hopefully. It may be more like Monday, but come back, and see a cool how to project.
Greg
DIY Live
I decided to tell you how to turn the ipod off. You hit the play/pause button and hold it for several seconds. Not exactly what I would think of. I would think you should hit the stop button, but I am not Apple 
- updated on 12/13/2005
55 Responses to “iPod won’t turn off”
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hahah yea.. first time i had an ipod i did the same thing, well actually, first i thought it was broken because i was trying to click the center button and next button to get into menus, but it would scroll up and down, so i thought it was malfunctioning (i had no idea you navigated menus by ’scrolling’) then after i figured that out, i thought you were just supposed to leave it for a couple minutes so it would turn off automatically
To reboot the new iPod generation 5 (Video) you need to flip the hold switch on top on then off then hold play/pause + center buttons (Just thought I would throw that in there… it comes in handy when your iPod locks up.)
Hey, thanks for those good comments. Honestly, I don’t know what I did to reboot the ipod that I was playing with.
To reset the iPod 30GB video generation 5 that i have its actually hold the menu and the center button down at the
same time.
the ipod 30 gigs Really !!! restarts when you press MENU and center at the same time
for a few seconds IPOD Hates PC!!!!!!!!!! Carefulll !!!!!!!!!!!
Since this post is the #2 hit on google for the phrase “iPod won’t turn off” I thought I would point people to a page where I posted about the solution to this problem.
http://ipod.wikia.com/wiki/My_iPod_Won%27t_Turn_Off
Basically, to turn an ipod off, you normally press and hold play for a couple of seconds. But sometimes this does not work. The first fix is to hold the center and menu buttons down for 10 seconds, which “resets” the iPod (basically a reboot).
If the problem persists, the solution seems to be a complete restore, which wipes all the songs and music so you have to reload everything onto it.
I’ve done all these things, reset, reboot, and update, but when I hold the play/pause button it turns
off, but when I go to hit the hold button it turns back on with a “battery sign” and it won’t turn
off. I thought the 5 gen ipod had a feature where it automatically turned off. What do I do?
zanka u dustin u helped me turn off my damm 30g ipod video
O” dustin uh uh uh yea
IF it won’t let you reboot, but has that battery symbol, that probably means it needs more power… just throwing that out there..
i was playing with my dad’s ipod and i panicked when it wouldn’t turn off. I left it in panic and when i returned, it had turnec off by itself. I was so relieved
yay!! i had such a hard time turning off my iPod. rebooted it and everythings good. =]
thanks for the help…i had an issue where the ipod was repeatedly trying to start, spinning up and then immediately shutting down. it happened just after i downloaded and installed an ipod update through itunes. the device wouldn’t mount and the process kept repeating with a noise that sounded like it was misfiring. i fixed the problem by putting the device into disk mode (flip the hold on, then off and then pres play and select simultaneously). that enabled itunes to finally see the device. i then hit restore (which restores the ipod to factory defaults) and we’re back in business. cheers.
SHUT UP AND DIE IN A FUCKING FIRE. YOU PEOPLE SUCK
Thanks for the advice. Holding the pause button seems to put
ipod in sleep mode. It does not actually turn off, eventhough
the screen goes blank. Because, when you activate the device again,
you observe that it has used some of the battery power.
That leaves to this question…How do you ACTUALLY turn off ipod?
My video ipod is brad new just one day it froze and then turn off finally when the battery died. Then i pluged it into my computer and it starts playing music on my opd and wont stop and i cant turn it off! what can i do!!! I cant even get to the menue the
IF YOU IPOD WONT STOP PLAUING I just got it! you hold down menue and THE center button BUTTON and it restarts! thanks! THIS PAGE HELPED!
Thank you for the info. My ipod recently would not turn off. I held down menu and center button. It
turned off. It restarted like above post says. Ipod should put this info more clearly on its website. As obviously this is a problem for folks. After it is on, I can hold play and turns “off” -screen goes black like normal. Thanks.
Thanks for the tip Blaise… It did really help me. I was to smash this IPOD because I am really frustrated. Since I bought it, it has never worked. itunes does not work, it just keep asking to format my IPOD. I just want to watch movies on it
Whenever i turn my ipod (video 30 gb) off or click on stuff in the menu it makes a funny whirring noise inside it…is this normal or should i go to the apple store and ask them to replace it?
Heather, the video iPods are hard disk based. That whirring noise is the disk spinning up to start accessing the system. There’s nothing wrong with your system, it’s normal. Don’t bang the iPod while it’s doing that or you can possibly damage the disk. That’s the only drawback to the video iPods, but I love mine. I’ve got over 50 days of audio and several movies on mine (60 gb).
ok all u do is hold the middle and the menu button at the same time it will go off then come back on after that u can turn it off by the play/pause button
I just got an 80gb video last week, and just experienced the “won’t shut down” syndrome! Thanks to your advice, I now am able to continue enjoying my iPod!
ok, won’t bang it…thanks for the advice ray
Had a similar problem not being able to turn off my 4th gen 60 GB iPod, but holding down Menu and the center button restored functionality. Thanks everyone who posted solutions. And everyone who created the internet so we could find solutions to our high tech problems. I still find the technology that allows us to cart around our entire audio/video libraries to be worth the glitches. Incidentally I would recommend Apple’s “sale” site on the Apple “store” section for big savings on refurbished items (like my iPod, 40+% off).
if i hold down the center and menu button it restarts the ipod..but does this mean i lose all my songs and videos?
Thanks for the reboot solution (no, you don’t lose anything). Mine was driving me crazy. You guys are awesome.
thanks! i really thought i was too old to figure out any of this tech stuff till i read your description.
OK SO MY ROOMATE PLUGGED HIS 30GB IPOD INTO THE SAMSUNG WISELINK ON THE SIDE OF THE TV. THE IPOD SCREEN READ DO OT DISCONNECT. THE TV READ UNABLE TO READ DEVICE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WELL I DECIDED TO DISCONNECT BECAUSE NEITHER DEVICE WAS DOING ANYTHING. THE IPOD WOULD NOT TURN ON OR DO ANYTHING AS IF THE BATTERY WAS DEAD. SO AFTER FAILING TO GET THE IPOD TO REBOOT WITH THE MENU AND PLAY PAUSE BUTTONS I OPENED UP THE CASE. THEN I DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY AND WAITED FOR A MINUTE AND PUT THIS THING BACK TOGETHER. NOW I SLIDE THE HOLD BUTTON ON AND OFF HOLD THE MENU AND PLAY PAUSE BUTTONS UNTIL THE LITTLE APPLE POPS UP. ONCE THIS HAPPENS THE SCREENS FLASHES A FEW TIMES WITH THE APPLE AND THEN IT LOOKS LIKE THE CONTRAST IS ALL JACKED UP. BUT WHEN TRYING TO REBOOT THE IPOD THE SCREEN LOOKS BLACK WITH THE APPLE IN THE MIDDLE AS IF NOTHING WAS WRONG.
WHAT CAN I DO
SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP SO I CAN GET THIS RETURD OFF MY BACK
When you disconnected it it shorted the system and its basically fried dude, sorry to say it. but it said do not disconnect, always follow instructions like that, they are usually crucial
does it reck your ipod to leave it paused overnight?
Many thank yous for fixing the ipod you did with the rebootup buttons pressed. Now I go back work for level 2 dell tech line good day.
I tried everything to turn mine off. It was very frustrating! After being on all day, the low battery indicator came on and I decided to recharge it by putting it back in the SoundDock system (an external sound and recharging unit). It played until I hit the off button on the SoundDock remote control. Maybe that’s where things got messed up.
only the apple icon , a file and the no dicontect comes on the screen what do I do
tanks my good freind but it still dosnt work
If it won’t switch off it’s often because it’s in disk mode. Just push play and select together and then it will turn off when you hold down play.
Well, the advice is sound if it’s a software problem in the ipod, but it can also be a hardware problem. I had an ipod nano and no matter whether I reset it or not, it wouldn’t turn off. I started putting it on the sleep timer to make it shut down.. I think it’s a mechanical defect in the clicker wheel sinceI hear a click when I press every area of the wheel except the one that’s supposed to turn the thing off.
Thank u so much dustin my ipod wouldnt turn off so i rebooted it like u told us a way too and it turned off!!!!!!!!!thank u so much
Help im having a trub, with my 30gig 4th gen photo. it wont shut off, its not charging and while it sets in InMotion dock it shows the apple logo then the sad face then the low bat icon, and i cant shut if off, I did as shortboy said to go hold down the select and play and i did get it to stop going thro, the icons and the apple logo …. its not showing its charging but now its in disk mode, what can be wrong with this,HELP PLEASE ADVICES
i have hold the play/pause buttonin for a while and it will not turn of . and it isnt mine what do i do !!!
yup. Hold menu (the top of the wheel) and the center button together. This should turn it off fairly quickly as someone suggested. I just did this and it worked just fine. (30GB ipod video)
hiiii says… >
Everyone ignore that. This is what people do when they have no idea how to answer a question but they WANT to LOOK like they have the answer and are just too good to give it. Don’t let it deter you. This guy has no clue. He just wants to look like he does.
I AM HAVING ONE RIGHT, NOW. I SEARCH IN GOOGLE TO FIND THE ANSWER AND I CAME HERE AND I DIDNT SEE IT.
WOW I CANT BELIEVE IT, I PRESSED THE PLAY BUTTON AND IT DIDNT TURN OFF, I PRESS THE MENU AND CENTER BUTTON AND AN APPLE APPEARED, AND THEN IT WAS ON SLEEP MODE, FINALLY I DIDNT TOUCH IT LIKE FOR ONE MINUTE AND IT TURNED OFF, NOT SLEEP, TURNED OFF. YUPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/..:)
OH, AND I AM FROM PUERTO RICO!!!
I have an ipod video, and recently the hold button hasn’t been working. I would push the hold button to “on” and sometimes the icon won’t show up, and it’s not holding like it’s supposed to. Sometimes it will turn on right away, but after about 20 seconds the icon will turn off by itself. I haven’t misused it, like dropping it or getting it wet. I don’t understand what’s going on with it. Has anyone else had this problem besides me?
Go to “Settings”, “Clicker” and make sure it is set to “Both.” It did the trick for me.
OMG!
Thanks guys ur the best
My ipod wudn’t turn off :p
and I have a PC
and I was just reading how ipod HATES PC
so i thought i was screwed!
My bf just bought the 30 G ipod for my birthday
If it broke it might’ve made him really upset
THX GUYS!!
hey
shadychick
ur dasha right?
Dasha K?
Long time no see home slice!
what a coincidence eh?
both of us having probs with ur ipods
=D
Holding down the Play/Pause button for a few seconds should turn the ipod off unless its an ipod shuffle. I have a 30 gig Ipod video and run it on a pc. Every once in a while (every other time i try to turn it off) the play/pause doesn’t work. Then i have to hard restart it by pressing menu+center button a few seconds after that things seem to go back to normal. Flipping the hold switch never did anything for me but I imagine that could be an issue with some people. Also I set up my ipod to have a sleep button on the main menu, it only works after waiting on that menu for at least 5 seconds apple is so unintuitive.
ipod’s product sounds good and techy…..but all of these are for marketing strategies only….quality and performance revails the true product itself…………headache….sucks…
There are at least two diff probs here. 1) Ipod is hung and won’t respond to turn off signal (pressing bottom of wheel) at all. This happens sometimes when, for example, your ipod is connected to a docking device and you turn it off while pressing bottom of wheel wheel - then you immediately unplug it the ipod, which lights it up again — sometimes it will won’t then respnod to a a shut off signal by pressing bottom of wheel. This prob has been recurring on opds for years and can be fixed with a reset.
2) When you press the bottom of the wheel, the ipod turns off for about a half second or so and lights right back up again. This prob has an unknown cause and is not fixed by a reset. If you restore, the prob will be fixed UNTIL you reload you music files onto the Ipod - then the prob automatically returns. Some suspect this prob has to do with a file problem and ipod’s inability to appropriately deal with the file problem.
Thanks a million, i struggled the almost the whole day today for the past 8 hours trying to switch off my 30Gig ipod. Pressing the menu & centre button did it! I thought it was all over with my ipod. Thank you alot for your help. Huh! now i can have a good sleep.
Thanks for sharing
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
So, I’m reading these posts, which are all helpful. But it shows that this inability to turn-off an iPod is far from a new one. Then, I ask myself . . . so where’s Apple’s response or why haven’t they pushed a software download or fix for this? APPLE . . . are you monitoring this site?