How to lock iPhone screen from touch with Guided Access

What Guided Access does

Guided Access is an accessibility feature that keeps the iPhone in one app. While it is on, the Home Screen, Control Center, notifications and app switching are blocked. You can also turn off touch completely, disable the volume and side buttons, block motion, and set a time limit. Parents use it for toddlers watching videos, teachers for tests, and businesses for single-app kiosks. It is built in on every iPhone and iPad, with nothing to install.

How to lock your iPhone screen from touch

1. Turn on Guided Access once in Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access.
2. Open the app and start the video.
3. Triple click the side button (or Home button).
4. Tap Options at the bottom left.
5. Turn off Touch. Optionally turn off Volume Buttons, Side Button and Motion.
6. Tap Done, then Start at the top right.
7. Enter a passcode if this is your first session.

The screen now ignores every touch. A small message appears if someone taps, but nothing happens.

Guided Access options explained

• Side Button: off stops the screen from locking with the button. A child can still wait for auto-lock.
• Volume Buttons: off keeps the volume where you set it. Set a safe level first.
• Motion: off stops the screen rotating when the phone moves, useful for videos.
• Keyboards: off hides the keyboard so nothing can be typed.
• Touch: off ignores all taps and swipes.
• Dictionary Lookup: off stops the Look Up pop-up in reading apps.
• Time Limit: ends the session after the time you choose, with a sound if you like.

Set a time limit

In Options, turn on Time Limit and choose hours and minutes. When time is up, the screen goes gray and says time has expired. The child cannot continue without your passcode. In Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access, you can turn on Sound and Speak to give a warning before the time ends.

Disable part of the screen

If you want a child to use a game but not tap ads or the settings button, keep Touch on. When you start Guided Access, draw a circle around each area you want to block. A gray box appears, and you can drag its corners to resize it. Those areas ignore taps during the session. This works well for menus, store buttons and links.

How to end Guided Access

Triple click the side or Home button, enter your passcode and tap End at the top left. If you turned on Face ID or Touch ID for Guided Access, double click the side button and look at the phone, or rest your finger on the Home button. Turning on biometrics means you never need to type the code in front of the child.

Forgot the Guided Access passcode?

Force restart the iPhone: press and release Volume Up, press and release Volume Down, then hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. The session ends. Then set a new code in Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access › Passcode Settings. The Guided Access code is separate from your phone's passcode and from the Screen Time passcode.

Triple click does nothing

• Guided Access is off: turn it on in Settings first.
• Another shortcut is set: if Accessibility Shortcut lists several features, a menu appears. Choose Guided Access from it.
• Clicking too slowly: set Side Button click speed in Settings › Accessibility › Side Button.
• Button damaged: use AssistiveTouch and add Guided Access to its menu, or ask Siri to turn on Guided Access.

Screen still responds to taps

Make sure you turned Touch off in Options before tapping Start, not after. Options are saved per app, so check them again in a different app. If taps still work, end the session, restart the iPhone and try again. Updating iOS fixes rare bugs where Guided Access settings do not stick.

Guided Access for kids: tips

Start the video first, then lock. Pick a show with autoplay off so the next episode does not start an endless loop, or use a playlist you chose. Set Volume Buttons off at a safe level, and add a Time Limit so the session ends on its own. For a child with their own iPhone, use Screen Time limits that actually block apps and our guide to setting up an iPhone for a child.

Guided Access vs Assistive Access

iOS 17 added Assistive Access, a simpler layout with big buttons and a short list of apps for people with cognitive disabilities. It is a bigger change to the whole phone. Guided Access is the quick one-app lock you turn on and off in seconds. Most parents want Guided Access.

Doing the same on Android

Android has no touch lock built in, but app pinning keeps a child inside one app. See app pinning on Android for the steps.

Guided Access on iPad

iPads use the same steps. On iPads with Touch ID in the top button or Face ID, triple click the top button. It is ideal for shared family tablets and for reading apps. Combined with a time limit, a toddler can watch one show and the iPad stops on its own.

Use Guided Access for a kiosk or test

Teachers and businesses use Guided Access to keep an iPad or iPhone on a single app, such as a sign-in form, a quiz or a menu. Turn off the side button and motion, block the corners where menus appear, and set a strong passcode. For many devices, Apple Business Manager offers Single App Mode, which is better managed but needs more setup.

Guided Access and the battery

Guided Access itself uses no extra power. The screen stays on as long as the app keeps it on, so a video will run until the battery is low. Plug in the iPhone for long sessions. Set Display Auto-Lock inside Guided Access settings if you want the screen to lock while the session stays active.

Lending your iPhone to a stranger

Guided Access is also handy when you hand your phone to someone to make a call or look at a photo. Open the app, triple click and tap Start. They cannot leave the app or see your messages. It takes two seconds and works better than hoping they do not swipe.

Is Guided Access safe?

Yes. It does not change your data, and ending a session returns everything to normal. The only risk is forgetting the code, which a force restart fixes. Children cannot end the session without the code or your Face ID, so pick a code they have not seen you type.

Turn Guided Access off for good

If you do not use it, switch it off in Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access. Triple click then goes back to any other Accessibility Shortcut you have set, or does nothing.

Common mistakes

• Starting the session before opening the right app. Guided Access locks whatever app is open.
• Forgetting to turn Touch off in Options before tapping Start.
• Using the same code as the phone passcode, which older kids may know.

Once it is set up, locking the screen takes three clicks and a tap, so it quickly becomes a habit before handing the phone to a child. Practice once yourself so you know exactly how to end a session.

It is one of the most useful features most iPhone owners never find.