Please can you help me as my new ipod nano will not turn off! I am holding down the play button as usual but there is no response, it’s just stopped working. I only bought it at Christmas.
Ah, the gorgeous iPod Nano. I wish I had one, but instead I bought an iPod Video so I can enjoy watching movies on the tiny screen instead. But you probably don’t care that I covet your Nano, especially if it’s not working properly, so let’s see…
The first thing that every iPod owner needs to know is how to restart your little MP3 player. Apple has a nice little tech note about restarting your iPod, and here’s the gist of it:
- Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
- Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons until the Apple logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.
This is for the Click Wheel series of iPods only (that is, the iPod mini, iPod Photo, iPod (Click Wheel), iPod nano and iPod Video/5G).
Older iPods (I have two of ’em!) are reset with a slightly different approach:
- Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)
- Press and hold the Play/Pause and Menu buttons until the Apple/iPod logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.
Here’s my best guess as to what’s happening with your iPod nano: you have inadvertently engaged the “hold” switch and so it’s ignoring your attempts to put it to sleep!
Oh! Apple has one more tip: “If the above steps did not work, try connecting iPod to a power adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet, or connect iPod to your computer. Make sure the computer is turned on and isn’t set to go to sleep.”
Don’t miss the iPod Troubleshooting Basics page too if this doesn’t help you resolve the problem.
how do you turn of the ipod mine only sleeps…so we actually can’t turn it off then…
Hi Everyone!
I was looking at these comments, and I was surprised to find that some people have the same problem as me: The backlight won’t turn off and the iPod screen won’t go to sleep (after I had done the reset thing covered on this website). It seems like a lot of people (myself included) have this problem, and it drains the battery like crazy (I lost half my fully charged battery in several hours)! I use my iPod at school, so if you could find a way to solve this problem, I’d be glad to try it out!
I bought my girlfriend’s ipod (generation 4 16GB) for her April or May 2009 (no extended warranty) and it’s worked great…until now. It powers on & shows the “backlighting” for about 5 seconds and then goes dark. Scroll button unresponsive. Cannot hold Menu/Center button to reset because the scroll wheel is shot. BUT, when it’s attached to the USB on the car stereo it plays normally, alphabetically, but scroll wheel does nothing.
I’ve backed up all the songs (1964 tracks) up on my/her computer because the Apple Store said “We need to remove all the songs to diagnose the problem.” This seems utterly ridiculous, the scroll wheel is clearly the problem. Anyway, after calling them today I’m told they don’t replace the scroll wheel “on that model.” I inquired as to why they don’t service what they sell and she said “We may be able to replace it for a fee.” I don’t want to pay them for a product they won’t service and pay their “fee” of $250 or whatever that “fee” will be (God help anyone under warranty or a warranty extension). Thanks for any and all info you can provide.
After changing the LCD on our generation 2 ipod I don’t want to risk damaging our generation 4. Where/how can I get the scroll wheel replaced? After this experience and 100’s if not 1000’s of consumer complaints in Apple’s “forum” or “support group” on this EXACT SAME PROBLEM (not being solved or even replied to by Apple) I will NEVER buy another Apple product. Too bad the iphone’s coming to Verizon next month and I will be sure NOT TO BUY IT nor will I support our company (Praxair 27,000 employees and operations in 40 countries) buying an iphone. My Uncle is on the Board of Directors and he is aware of Apple’s substandard after sale service.
Hi there,
I was just wondering how i can turn off the latest version of ipod nano 8GB! If i press the button on the side it seems like the ipod is turning off but still the batteries run out quick
I’ve had problems with the play/pause button on my Ipod nano (3rd generation) for quite some time. Someone suggested I try blowing into the USB port on the ipod to remove any dust that may have accumulated. It worked like a charm.
thank u very mucg genius
Hi Dave, I was listing to radio on my nano. the battery was almost empty. when i tried to switch off, the screen wasn’t working n pressing any keys didnt do anything. i let it play till battery was depleted. after I conected it to my deck to charge and was then working fine, now the problem is that the screen is always on. all options, lock works but it wont simply go to sleep. plz help
My Nano wouldn’t turn off – but thanks to you it does! Wicked, cheers 🙂
My computer was shut down while i was in the middle of syncing some songs and now it won’t even turn back on!
hi dave..
I have a ipod nano 4gb 3rd gen..suddenly it started showing a “X” in the display and i tried to reload “I” tunes it didnt respond and became dead totally..its not even taking charge now..no display..not recognised by my laptop also..pls help me..
thanks
naresh
my ipod nano 5g forzed when i was about to watch a movie and theni proceeded all the steps yet its not fixed.
Hi Dave!!
My Ipod Nano was gifted to me about a year ago, I started to use it only now. what I have noticed is that, the ipod comes on when it is connected to my laptop and plays just fine, but as soon as I disconnect the ipod, it turns off even though I have charged it for more than 5 hours, I am not sure what to do, whether I have to change the battery or charge it for a longer period because I am using it for the first time. Please help me out here.
Warm regards,
Mac
hi my ipod nano 3rd as crashed on me stuck on reset settings i cannot turn it off or on again and when plugging it in my computer itunes doesnt even pick it up i need it for the gym i carnt go without it please help me!
My daughter’s ipod nano g3 center button has stopped working. We’ve tried to reset it. Could this be a hardware issue and can it be fixed? Thanks
Hi, My 2nd generation ipod nano (little silver one)
won,t turn off.
I,ve tried the toggle/menu/centre button process till the apple sysmbol appears. But it still won,t
switch off?
Help
thanks Rachel
my sis is not happy and her ipod nano will not turn on.its bean working for like 2 or 3 days now
plaese tell me how to fix her ipod nano
P.S. my sister is very craby
Hey, thanks a lot. I was almost about to cry because my ipod wasn’t responding to anything.
Hi Dave
My ipod won’t turn off when I hold down the play button, and it won’t sleep when I click the sleep option.
I tried resetting and restoring but it won’t work.
I recharge it but then the battery goes really quick because it’s constantly on.
If you could help that would be great!
ipod 1st gen. locked up while playing a song. No interaction with click wheel. Reset by apple’s suggestion which it did. Now on language setting screen and cannot select using click wheel. I believe the click wheel is working as I can reset ipod by using the click wheel. Any suggestions?
Hi Dave,
I have a 16g 5th generation ipod nano and sometimes after a song is finished playing it’ll repeat the song for 20 seconds but it plays it faster also when i pick a song to play the screen will show the song i picked but it will play a different song please help Thank You.
my ipod works find except for one thing. I cannot watch a video the screen shuts off after a few seconds. How do I fix this. Been through the settings, but didn’t see anything to fix it.
Thank you so much! I’m a music kid, always have been. My iPod just froze up, and I’m about to go to sleepaway camp for two weeks, so the reaction involved a lot of crying and nausea. I did what this said and it totally worked! Thank you! 🙂
Hi Dave,
My nano was mistakenly formated whit my laptop and every thin is blank now, I cant even enter in to the main menu.
I seriously need your help Please help me out.
hi..
i purchased one ipod nano 5th generation..
anybody can tell me.. how many hours you all getting battery backup..? for audio..
Hi Dave.
I have an IPod mini and it doesnt turn off.
I tried holding Menu/Play Pause simultaneously; change the sleep mode to ON, but it doesnt turn off anyway. Any other suggestion?
Please I would appreciate very much, as don’t know why it started to do this.
Thanks
C
Uhm. Okay This isn’t working!
I need help it wont turn on. i left it charging the whole day and then i came home like at 8pm and started to listen to a song then i noticed the battery was dying which was weird cause it was charged completely. and then it turned white and it said disk mode…and i didnt pay attention to it so i left it there…and today in the morning i tried charging it but i wouldnt turn on so i pluged it in and it wouldnt chage…it’s scrreen is black and also when i plug it in the comp it doesnt show in my computer… so HELP PLEASE>..
I can’t believe it! I’ve been having the same problem with my 1st generation Nano for the past several months: Won’t properly turn off; battery being run down; erroneous messages about “Firewire” etc. I’ve rebooted the darn thing hundreds of times in the last few months, with no luck. And then, all of a sudden, completely on its own, like a miracle…the thing started working properly once again. It turns off, no more “Firewire” messages…I don’t know why or what, but I now believe in God.
thank you dave !
Thank you so much for the big help. your tips really work. i just press the menu and the middle circle of my i pod nano and its works. The logo came out and its back on track. Keep up the good work and God bless you more.
ace
Monte, if your iPod is only five months old, you should definitely be able to take it into the Apple Store and have them help you out with it, without any $$ being involved. It’s covered by a one-year warranty.
Erin, if you can’t restart it with the steps outlined in this article, I surmise that your iPod has a busted button. 🙁 Talk to Apple about getting it fixed (or a third party). Good luck!
i was listening to my ipod nano on an ipod dock and i was pressing the next button and all of a sudden it wouldn’t stop changing songs, it is going sooo fast and i have no idea how to stop it. i’ve tried turning it off but it doesn’t work…help!
I see you have many, many comments and questions but if you could please spare a moment? I got a 2nd Gen nano that christmas that it was brand new and now im starting to have problems with it. I have tried getting apple help but i refuse to pay like $40 for them to tell me that there’s nothing I can do…Anyway so I plug it into the computer and the ipod will charge and act like its plugged in but the computer won’t recognize it. I went through the device manager, cause apple said to, but it wont even show up there. Is there anything I can do? I thought it might be the cord so we got a new one and it has not changed anything. Is it finally dying after so long? or has the software changed to much for it to keep up with? I don’t know if this is relavent but I’ll throw it in just in case..My ipod has sustained water damage and the screen won’t light up anymore but this was several months before my computer stopped recognizing it.
Thank You! 😀
my ipod nano wont turn off, and when i went to restore it, it said error 1436, what do i do know. thanks
Thanks Dave
Had my ipod nano for years with no problems, and all of sudden it locked up. I did what you posted and all is fine again.
Your are the Man!!!
Thank You, Dave!
Person who did this, I could kiss you! A friend gave me his old ipod b/c the screen was broken, and I’ve just never had the cash to get it fixed. But I just keep it on random and I know how to turn it on and off, and adjust the volume, no worries. Until it just crashed and I couldn’t get it to even be reconized by the computer b/c it was on. You totally just saved my day! 5 hour drive tomorrow with no music would be my personal hell. So thank you!
YAY!!!! This works!!!!!!!
I was so mad at my step-son for breaking my I-pod nano, it would not play a song and it would just skip through so frustrating!!!!
followed your directions and now it works, for those who do not know the select button is the center button!
Hi!!
I have a really big problem!! I was about to play a song and then everything froze. It wont turn off, or go reset. I did everything on here and even when I plug it into my computer, nothing happens. My ipod is still frozen, and it doesn’t show up on Itunes either. Is my ipod totally broken? what can I do?
my ipod nano freezes on the docking station and skips every other song. Help please!
My ipod just cannot turn off yesterday i dun no why ? and when i lock it the backlight did not turn off !
i was watchin a video i recorded on my ipod an hit the menu button durrin the video an it froze it wont connect to my computer my ipods always charged idk y it froze an it wont connect to itunes
my ipod nano wont turn on i think i might have dropped it i plugged it up on the computer and nothings happening
um yes my name is jodi i drop my ipodnano in water ooops an now it want turn on or notting an i cant afford to buy a new one wat should i do i tryed rice for 24 hours notting. please help.i tryed plugging it up to my pc notting.
i want to give this brand new ipod to my friend and so i charged it all night, and the second i unpluged it, it froze and then turned off?? it only turns on when its plugged but its fully charged?? PLEASE SOMEONE HELP! i was going to give it to my friend today!!!!
Whenever I plug my 3rd generation Ipod Nano up to the computer, Itunes as expected comes up but just recently my Ipod wont update any new artists but it will still sync for some of the old artists I have it set to sync for but as soon as it’s done syncing it will just disconnect and then it wont let me update or reformat or anything, can you help me dave?
Hi Dave – I got a new ipod in Thailand, connected it to my computer, the wizard asks me if I want to download associated software and I say yes, then it tells me it can’t find anything and tells me to load it from a CD which I don’t have. Any suggestions?
Thanks, i thought that my iPod was dead
I have a problem with my classic ipod. Ive had this for a couple years now and when I was listening to music it had full battery just froze and urned off by itself. I tried asking other people who have ipods they didn’t have a clue. I tried the trouble shooting basics and ever what should I do please help me.
Ok, first of all my ipod all of a sudden wouldn’t turn on one day. We have an ipod 4th gen. It was charging and then all of a sudden wouldn;t turn on and now the computer wont even recognize the fact thats the ipod id plugged into it. Ive tried all the trouble shooting things by turning on and off the power and holding down the menu and center or menu and play/pause button many times and nothings working. We just got this… how can i make it work again?
I couldn’t get my iPod Nano 8GB (wide screen with click wheel) to reset until I read this. The thing that helped me was actually laying it on a table and resetting it by pushing the Menu button (upper) and center button simultaneously with two different fingers. It finally reset after 6-8 seconds. Worked like a charm. Thx!