Remove VPN icon from iOS 18 control center?

Hello, I updated my ipad to iOS 18 last night and found the Control Center now has a VPN activation button in the cluster with the Bluetooth and Wifi buttons, but I can't remove it or rearrange the icons to make things easier to use. Specifically, I used the Bluetooth button to toggle it on and off quickly so I could swap an external device (like headphones or a speaker) between my phone and iPad, but with the VPN button taking up the space with the Bluetooth icon this has become more difficult. I've tried everything I can think of to edit the Control Center or, at the least, shift the icons around so the Bluetooth button is not clustered into the bottom right, but there doesn't seem to be a way to do so.


I don't use my VPN enough to have it in the way of something I use regularly, so is there a way to remove the VPN option altogether? For me it's pointless to have this VPN button, plus it's made it more difficult to do something extremely simple. If I could remove it, or just shift it around that would be amazing, but right now this small issue is enough to keep me from updating my phone to iOS 18 because I use this Bluetooth icon that regularly.

iPad Air, iPadOS 18

Posted on Sep 19, 2024 9:21 AM

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Posted on Sep 23, 2024 11:13 AM

Same here. Although the VPN is disabled, it’s shown in the status bar.

14 replies

Oct 5, 2024 1:06 PM in response to holdenma020

I have the exact same issue. The workaround of adding an additional Bluetooth shortcut exists but causes you to waste space here. It seems that many people would want the functionality that we want here, quickly toggle Bluetooth. This seems like an oversight more than intentional. If anyone finds another workaround, please post.

Sep 23, 2024 11:57 AM in response to holdenma020

5002’s suggestion to add the bluetooth shortcut works but it leads to a very clunky result: I now have the standard connectivity box and shortcuts for bluetooth and airplane mode, but I have to leave the connectivity box in place to disable wifi if necessary, leaving me with redundant icons that take up more space than they did before updating.


For now I’ll just stick with 17 on my phone since being able to quickly switch these things on and off is important.

Oct 19, 2024 9:12 AM in response to tbmackey43

Mine is always on in settings as well even though I slide it to the off position it defaults back to on…every time! I can’t get anything done because it’s just becoming a nuisance!

Who’s your VPN provider? If your VPN uses a separate app (primarily for connecting and making VPN setting changes), if you initiate the VPN on from the app and later (not saying intentionally) disable the VPN from your iPhone’s VPN toggle— it may keep turning back on due to the “connect on demand” setting.

Remove VPN icon from iOS 18 control center?

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