How to Use Guided Access on iPad (2024 Guide)

May. 17, 2024

There are several instances when you wish to lock your iPad screen and restrict it to a single app. Sometimes, you may want to ensure that your toddler doesn’t place a call while watching nursery rhymes on your iPad. Or maybe, you want to stay focused on a task without being tempted to shift your attention to social media apps. The Guided Access feature offers great help. It’s a super-useful accessibility feature that limits what you can see and what you can tap on your device. Here’s a complete guide on how to use Guided Access on an iPad.

What is Guided Access

Guided Access is a built-in accessibility feature on iPhones and iPads that allows you to temporarily limit your device to a single app and control which features are available. This feature helps you prevent any accidental gestures and will also allow you to lock the iPad screen for your kids. You can set a time limit, and control which features, areas of the screen, or hardware buttons are accessible. In short, this feature restricts a user to a specific app and locks him out of any other apps.

It’s a greatparental controlfeature to prevent your child from leaving an app or accessing certain features. Also, if you’re obsessed with a specific app and it eats up your precious time, this accessibility feature helps you limit the amount of time spent on an app.

The Guided Access feature is available on all iPhones and iPads runningiOS 11 or later.

The Guided Access feature is built right into your iPad and iPhones. So, you don’t need to install any third-party app or software. Before you can use Guided Access on your iPad, you have to enable & set it up in Settings. The process is super easy and takes only a few seconds. Let me show you how to do it:

Once you’ve set up Guided Access on your device, you can use it to child-lock the iPad while watching videos. Here are the steps to start a Guided Access session on your iPad:

When starting a Guided session, you can adjust a few options to further restrict your device’s operation. You can disable the following features:

Once you’re done with the Guided Access session and want to unlock your iPad’s screen, you can choose to end the session. Depending upon the passcode options you’ve chosen while setting up the Guided Access session, you can do any of the following:

Triple-press the Power key or the Home Button (depending on the model) to start Guided Access on your iPhone or iPad.

There’s no official or straightforward way to get out of a Guided Access session without entering the passcode. If the owner has set up a Guided Access Passcode, you have to enter that to exit the Guided Access. Otherwise, the device’s passcode is required to end the session.

You can toggle the Guided Access feature, restart your device, update software, or reset all settings to make Guided Access work on your iPhone or iPad.