Guided Access bug keeping iPad mini hostage

Question

Level 1

4 points

Guided Access bug keeping iPad mini hostage

I have an iPad mini 6th gen. It has no home button, so the top button (lock) is used to enter and exit Guided Access mode.

I recently enabled guided access for my toddler to do some drawing, and when I went to unlock it, I triple-clicked the lock button and instead of a numeric keypad, the little passcode pop up showed the top left corner of a regular qwerty keyboard. None of the keys do anything and it’s impossible to enter the code (I haven’t forgotten it)

Once again, it’s a 6th gen, so there’s no home button to try the old “hold power and home together” trick, and holding the lock button by itself for 10, 15 or even 30 seconds does nothing.

the iPad isn’t frozen, it’s working perfectly as a drawing tablet that only has one app. But the bug on the unlock window is totally preventing any exit from GA mode.

I’m wondering if I can SSH into my iPad from a Mac running terminal to kill GA somehow but I’m given we don’t have username and password on iPad just this stupid access code I’m not even sure if I have admin access to my own OS, or how unixy iPadOS even is

iPad mini 6

Posted on Aug 24, 2023 1:40 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

LotusPilot

Community+ 2025

Level 10

301,658 points

Aug 26, 2023 4:17 PM in response to Wilderland

When you are stuck in Guided Access mode, you can be really stuck as the triple tap on the Home button - or double-click of the Top (sleep/wake) button to quit out of Guided Access may not work. Even a forced exit won't work because the power/home buttons are disabled.

The only way to get out of Guided Access is as follows:

For devices with a physical Home Button -

Press the Home and Power button together for 15 seconds.

For devices without a physical Home Button -

Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
Press and hold the top button.
When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

This should turn off Guided Access by forcibly rebooting your device to force-restart the iPad. Once your device is restarted, you can then go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access > Guided Access - and turn-OFF Guided Access if needed.

Use Guided Access on iPad - Apple Support

Use Guided Access with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 2

ZintainUSA

Level 5

6,537 points

Aug 26, 2023 5:01 PM in response to Wilderland

If you want to do a force restart (which is what you would do with the home button and the power button) you should follow these steps. This should help get you back to your full control

Quickly Press and Release Volume Up
Quickly Press and Release Volume Down
Press and hold Siri/Lock button till you see the Apple logo show on the screen

If you see the slider to turn off the iPad, ignore that and continue holding the Siri/Lock button till you see the iPad turn off and the Apple Logo show back up on the screen. Once you see the Apple Logo, you’re free to let go of the button and allow the iPad to boot normally.

Reply

Answer 3

sberman

Level 10

272,310 points

Aug 24, 2023 2:03 PM in response to Wilderland

You asked your question very well - providing lots of pertinent facts.

Two thoughts come to mind:

If you enabled Touch ID for Guided Access, double click the top button.
Have you done something unusual with Keyboard settings or other pertinent Accessibility features?

Reply

Answer 4

Wilderland Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 26, 2023 4:05 PM in response to sberman

Unfortunately, Touch ID isn’t working to escape, I’ve tried resting various ways but I suspect it isn’t enabled for guided access at this time.

I don’t think I have any non standard keyboards installed on this device, I do have a couple on my iPhone but guided access works fine there. In fact I’ve used giddied access many times on this iPad mini, it’s just a freak bug I’m pretty sure, so figuring out how it got here isn’t as important as discovering if there’s a way out.

I’m open to radical approaches

Reply

Answer 5

Wilderland Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2023 8:03 PM in response to LotusPilot

Hi LotusPilot,

Thank you for adding your answer, however I had already read these exact copy-pasted words on another thread asking a similar question.

The reason this solution isn’t an answer to my question is because the iPad mini 6th gen does not have a home button (as mentioned in my original post).

Reply

Answer 6

Wilderland Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2023 10:14 PM in response to ZintainUSA

Hi ZintainUSA,

That worked perfectly! Thank you for the clear instructions.

Reply

Guided Access bug keeping iPad mini hostage

Similar questions