With iPhone, like many an electronic device, periodically something goes awry. The easiest fix: restart my iPhone. How you accomplish this feat, though, may depend on your agility and dexterity.

As I outlined in When in Doubt, Restart, there is a particular method of pressing/holding buttons to force an iPhone or iPad to restart. Currently, the most common technique is often abbreviated UDP (Up–Down–Power). That is, per Apple’s very short support article, quickly press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down, and then press and hold the Side button and release it when the  appears on the screen.

If your fingers are slow, you might not make it to the second button press in time. Or, if you forget the third step, you might be tempted to use the “Slide to Power Off” method and then manually power on the device again. However, there’s an easier way to trigger this restart and it minimally requires your hands.

Client Notes

In recent weeks, I helped Maggie realize that Safari and Apple Passwords are more suitable for her needs than adopting 1Password, began to simplify Pat’s Mac experience, enabled Ben to recover his two Yahoo accounts, and began to consider Keith’s next Mac.

Also, with Eva’s help, I started to envision a new coaching offering I hope to initiate in 2026. This will be for clients like Aliza and Julie who are ready to grow their computing savvy, want more ongoing engagement and accountability, and desire to have my wisdom and efficiency in their back pocket. I think a number of my TEACH attendees would be interested.

Create Shortcut Restart My iPhone

Restart My iPhone Shortcut

Shortcuts is a tremendously useful app for creating automations on Apple devices. One of the new features of OS 26 is that Personal Automations come to the Mac, meaning you can schedule automations based on various triggers, such as time, communication, files, and connectivity.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Shortcuts can do and how it might benefit my day-to-day computing. Nonetheless, one of the available actions is called “Shut Down” and you can configure it to instead Restart your iPhone.

  1. Open Shortcuts
  2. Search for shut down or restart and select the “Shut Down” action
  3. Tap Shut Down on the action and choose Restart
  4. Tap the shortcut name at the top and rename it as you like, such as “Restart My iPhone”
  5. Via the same menu, you may also choose an icon, such as chasing arrows or any of hundreds of available glyphs, along with a color to suit your pleasure

Run Shortcut Restart My iPhone

Restart Other Devices, Too

To run the shortcut, invoke Siri and speak the name of the shortcut (or type it, if you use Type to Siri). A confirmation dialog will appear; tap Restart to continue.

The Shortcuts app exists on other platforms, too, and the Shut Down action works on them as well. On iPad, you’ll likewise get a confirmation dialog. On Mac, though, no such dialog is delivered by default, so you’d have to create one yourself if desired.

Since you can sync your Shortcuts via iCloud, it might actually not be ideal/logical to name this shortcut Restart My iPhone. Instead, and since you’re commanding Siri, it might make sense to call it Restart Yourself. What do you think?

The next time your device malfunctions and a restart seems the easiest resolution, I think you’ll appreciate the ease you’ve created for this process. I’d argue it’s even simpler than your old habit of shutting down your device and starting it again — even with the power button at the top of Control Center.