How to force quit an app on your iPhone

Whether you want to force close a decent app that’s running or just want to close apps running in the background, the process on an iPhone is simple.

In an ideal mobile world, apps would always work well. But sometimes a crashed app freezes and just won’t close. According to Murphy’s law, this is probably right when you were about to break a record in a game or almost finished entering personal information to sign up for something. Whatever the reason or the app, just like software and applications on a computer, you can force quit an app to restart it without having to completely reset your iPhone.

Keep in mind that force quitting an app isn’t always done because something is wrong: you should force quit apps you’re not actively using instead of leaving them running in the background unless there’s a reason not to. to do (think of a fitness tracker or navigation app, for example.)

Follow these steps if you want to force quit any app on iPhone, including newer models like the iPhone 14 and older model devices.

1 of the Home screen or directly from an app that is stuck or you want to restart, Scroll up about a third of the way up from the bottom of the screen and release. You’ll see all the open apps in the center, tiled to the left, so you can swipe right to flip through them.

2. Scroll up on the app you want to force quit – probably the first since it’s the app you’re currently in. Voila! This will force close.

Not using one of the most current models and best iPhones? On older iPhones with the Home button at the bottom, double-click the circular button to go to the same screen. You’ll see the currently open apps tiled in the same way. From there, follow step two.

Aside from closing malfunctioning apps, many of us open several apps every day and forget to close them. We click or swipe out of the app and go about our day. But what some people don’t realize is that these apps are still running in the background. Example: While taking screenshots for this article, I realized I had over 40 apps open in the past few days! Ultimately, this can slow down your phone’s performance as it tries to run so many apps continuously even when you’re not using them.

It’s good practice to periodically follow these steps and force close the apps you no longer use but know have been left open. Hold the phone with one hand and continuously swipe your thumb up on each app as they move to the front of the deck. Fun Tip: Use your index and middle fingers to force close two apps side by side at the same time.

Force-closing an iPhone app will not delete any data from the app, nor any saved progress or information. If you want to delete an app altogether, check out our guide on how to delete an app from your iPhone.