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”

  2. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I just got my ipod a month ago and it totally freaked me out that no matter what i did it was FROZEN!! I think i lost the recipt and was freaked out about all the money wasted…. I CANNOT EXPRESS MY THANKS!!!!!!

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  5. A million thanks… this is the second time it’d happened to me. The first time, the battery was pretty low, so I just let it drain out, and it reset itself that way. This time, it was fully charged. Yours was the first thing that came up on Google when I typed in “iPod Nano” “locked up” — it’s a miracle, I tell ya….

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  6. DUDE THANKS A TON I LITERALY got it yesterday and i flipped out on the people who sold it to me i better go apologize lol anyways i owe ya one thanks a lot

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  7. IPod nano lock up Reset…………… Thank alot for taking the time to create this website to help others solve their problems when they are encountered with Ipod nano. Once again thank you!!!!!

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  8. thanks for putting this information on this site. it worked when my i pod nano was stuck in hold. thanks again!!!!!

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  9. thank you….i was frusturated that my ipod was frozen, because my year warranty is about over

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  11. I was going to fly out of town this morning and the Nano was locked up. I was bummed out Googled your site and fixed the problem.

    You are the best — thanks!!!

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  12. Thanks bunches have to agree google & you saved my iPod….oh and my friend sittin here that told me to google this lol

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  13. i tried this and it didnt work! i held the center and menu button but it was still frozen and the only way to turn it off was to turn the hold on and then off… wtf is the problem here!

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  14. my Ipod nano is completely frozen and will not respond to the advice given here. How can I completely reboot it?

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  15. Oh my gosh I thought I was going to seriously damage my ipod for always freezing up on me…and then I’d have to sit and wait for it to run out of battery before it would reboot. Thank you so much! You made my day!

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  17. Oh wow.. Thankyou so much, i had been sitting there for about an hour trying to un-freeze it.. Your a star =D

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  18. thank you so much!!!! i tried everything i cold possibly think on and then i searched google and your site popped up it fixed the problem right away! Thanks again,

    Andrea

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