Use Guided Access on iPhone or iPad

With Guided Access, you can temporarily restrict your device to a single app. This can be useful when you let a child use your device, or you want to stay focused on a task. You can set a time limit, customize which features, hardware buttons, and areas of the screen are available, and even restrict access to the keyboard.

Set up Guided Access

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Tap Accessibility.

  3. Tap Guided Access, then turn on Guided Access and configure these settings:

    • Passcode Settings: Set a Guided Access passcode and choose whether to use Face ID or Touch ID as another way to allow a Guided Access session to be paused or ended.

    • Time Limits: Choose whether to play a sound and have the remaining Guided Access time spoken before a time-limited session ends.

    • Accessibility Shortcut: Choose whether to show the Accessibility Shortcuts panel when you triple-click the side button on iPhone, top button on iPad, or Home button on your older device. Guided Access will be one of the accessibility shortcuts listed in the panel.

    • Display Auto-Lock: Set how quickly your device automatically locks when not in use during a Guided Access session.

Start a Guided Access session

  1. Open the app that you want to use with Guided Access.

  2. Triple-click the side button on iPhone or top button on iPad. If your older device has a Home button, triple-click the Home button instead.

  3. If the Accessibility Shortcuts panel appears, tap Guided Access in the panel.

  4. If you previously set up Guided Access for this app, the session begins immediately using your previous settings. Otherwise, you see the Guided Access screen:

    Guided Access screen before the session starts.

  5. To make parts of the screen stop responding to touch, circle those parts with your finger. You can then drag the borders of your selection to move or resize it, or tap the remove button. To ignore all screen touches, you can instead turn off Touch in Session Settings.

  6. Tap Session Settings (or Options) to change these settings:

    • Side Button, Top Button, or Home Button: Prevent use of this button, except to pause the session.

    • Volume Buttons: Prevent use of the volume buttons. In iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, or later, this also disables the ability to change the volume using volume controls on Bluetooth headphones.

    • Motion: Limit how your device responds to motion. For example, your screen won't respond when shaken, and it won't rotate no matter how you hold your device.

    • Software Keyboards: Prevent the onscreen keyboard from appearing.

    • Touch: Ignore all screen touches.

    • Time Limit: Set a time limit after which Guided Access shows a full-screen message: "Time Expired: A time limit of [duration] has been set for Guided Access. Triple-click to enter the Guided Access passcode." You must then triple-click to authenticate, pause the session, and return to the Guided Access screen.

  7. Tap Start. If you didn’t set a passcode when you set up Guided Access, you’re prompted to set one now.

Pause or end a Guided Access session

  1. To pause the session and return to the Guided Access screen:

    1. Triple-click the side button on iPhone, top button on iPad, or Home button on your older device. If using iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or earlier, double-click the button instead.

    2. Authenticate with your Guided Access passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID.

    3. If the Accessibility Shortcuts panel appears, tap Guided Access in the panel.

  2. You can then take these actions:

    • Tap Session Settings (or Options) to make additional changes to settings.

    • Tap Resume to continue the session.

    • Tap End to end the session.

      Guided Access screen when the session is paused.
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