Basic iPad On/Off/Sleep/Wake Usage

The button on the top side of the iPad on the right, is known as the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button.  It has had these four functions: turning the iPad on, turning it Off, putting it to sleep, and waking it.

Turning iPad On

To turn the iPad on, press the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button.   Don’t just click quickly on the button.  You might have to hold it for a second or two until you see the Apple icon.  Then you will get the “Slide to Unlock” the screen.  Simply slide the slider to the right and you will get the Home screen.

Putting Your iPad to Sleep

Putting your iPad to “sleep” is an synonymous to “locking it.”  Lock does not mean protect access with password.  Lock mean to turn off the touch sensitive screen so that you do not accidentally touch or active the apps on the screen.  It is good to put the iPad to sleep when transporting it temporarily.  You also should put it to sleep when not using for a short duration in order to conserver battery life.

You put your iPad to sleep by pressing the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button once.  If you are playing the iPod when you put your iPad to sleep, then the music will continue to play.  And the volume control will continue to work — that is the up/down button on the right side of the iPad.

Your iPad will automatically go to Sleep if it is idle for a while.   The time duration of idleness before going to sleep is determined by Auto-Lock setting in “Settings -> General -> Auto-Lock”.  By default, it is set to go to sleep when idle for two minutes.  But you can set it to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or never.

Waking Your iPad

Waking your iPad is synonymous to “unlocking it”.

To bring your iPad back from sleep, you wake it by either pressing the Home button or pressing the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button.  The Home button is the button on the front face of the iPad near the bottom.

Upon waking, your iPad will show the “Slide to Unlock” screen.  Slide the slider to the right and you will be taken back to the same screen that you left it when you put the iPad to sleep.  If a password had been set for your iPad, then it will prompt you for the proper password.  This is also assuming that the password activation time is set to “immediate”.

Turning iPad Off

The proper way to completely turn off you iPad is to press the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button for about 5 seconds until you see the red slider that says “Slide to Power Off”.  When you see this, you can release your hold on the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button.   Then slide the slider to power the iPad off.  You do not have to have the On/Off/Sleep/Wake button depressed while sliding the slider.

If you change your mind, there is the Cancel button.

By turning your iPad completely off, you would not inadvertently wake it by accidentally pressing the Home key.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.