iPod nano Lockup Reset When Frozen

Nick Momrik765 Comments

My iPod nano locked up and I had no idea what to do. Holding down buttons wouldn’t turn it off. Toggling the hold switch didn’t do anything either. It was in a stuck state where hold was turned on and none of the buttons would respond.

If you own an iPod with the Click Wheel (iPod with video, nano, iPod photo, iPod, or mini) follow these steps to reset the iPod:

  1. Toggle hold switch on.
  2. Toggle hold switch off.
  3. Hold down the menu and middle button for a few seconds.
  4. You might need to repeat.

Both times my iPod nano has frozen up I was plugging the ipod into the USB cable while the the hold switch was toggled on. Make sure to hold switch is togged off when connecting your iPod with the USB cable.

To reset some of the earlier iPods including like the iPod, iPod (scroll wheel), iPod (touch wheel), and iPod (dock connector), follow these steps:

  1. Toggle hold on.
  2. Toggle hold off.
  3. Press and hold the Play/Pause and Menu buttons until the Apple/iPod logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds.
  4. You might need to repeat.

To reset an iPod shuffle:

  1. Move the switch on the back of iPod shuffle to the off position (green stripe not visible).
  2. Wait 5 seconds.
  3. Move the switch on the back to the play in order or the shuffle position (green stripe visible).

Still having problems?

  1. Connect to a different USB or FireWire port on the computer.
  2. Install the latest Operating System upgrades.
  3. Restart the computer.
  4. Reinstall the iPod with iPod Updater
  5. Reinstall iTunes
  6. Restore your iPod using the latest iPod Updater.

    *Restoring an iPod will erase all songs and files from the iPod, restoring it to the original state. Backup all files from the iPod before restoring it. Once restoration is complete, you can transfer your music and files from the computer back to your iPod again.

iPod displays sad iPod icon

In most cases, the sad iPod icon indicates a hardware issue. If you are able to force iPod into Disk Mode, then it may not be a hardware issue, and you should try to restore your iPod with the latest software.

765 thoughts on “iPod nano Lockup Reset When Frozen”

  8. THANK YOU! You rock! That totally worked!!! 🙂

    I was about to freak out but you saved my sanity! 🙂

    Like

  12. The Hold is on the top of the Nano. The little slider switch. To “toggle” it means to switch it either on or switch it off.

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  14. my ipod nano wen i turn it on it puts the ipod support on and i come to restore it and it says plug in ipod and i alraedy have it plugged in is that because it is not fully charged does it have to be fully charged so i can restore it

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  17. Hey my iPod Nano is completely froozen .. ive tried the unlock method but the screen is froozen really .. like the hold button works because the backlights comes on .. BUT the touch pad wont scroll through the list an i cant turn it on or off .. what do i do?

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  19. oh my god thank you so much!!!!

    your a star!!

    my ipod locked up and i tried what you said, at first it didnt work then i re-read the instructions on holding down the MENU BUTTON then.. the middle button.

    it automatically rebooted itself and worked fine!!! i didnt loose any songs or anything!!

    i would like to send you a gift just to say thank you please contact me

    lol

    thank you!!

    Like

  20. thank you very much, I was at work and the screen froze but I could still play music, and it wouldn’t turn off.

    to #351 toggle hold means to switch the hold slider on or off.

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