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”

  1. Update

    I found out from another site that you really need to put it on a flat surface – it worked first time this time – thanks anyway!

    Like

  2. My nano locked up when i had the hold button on and plugged it to the USB cable too…

    Will remember not to do it again. Thanks

    Like

  3. Thanks for the fix! I did the same thing (lock on, USB in) and thought that I was going to have to wait until the batteries drained!

    Like

  6. Worked. Took a couple tries. Thanks. Now my wife wont kill me!! Not sure why it only affected hers and not mine. We both hook up to the same computer

    Like

  8. Update for locked Nano:

    The instructions in my Nano says, “Toggle the Hold switch (set it to Hold and then turn it off again). Press the Menu and Center buttons at the same time for about 6 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.”

    I did this while it was NOT plugged into the computer (not sure if it makes a difference or not) and it was NOT on a flat surface.

    Hope this helps.

    Like

  9. Thank you Thank you Thank you! The hold button is so small I never noticed that I was leaving it on when I plugged the iPod into the iMac.

    Like

  12. I found out about the restarst thing and it worked but then it stoped working for me. When i actually got it to unfreeze and play it would last about one song then it would freeze. and now the reseting doenst work at all i might just take mine back to circuit city, where i got it the first time and get one at the apple store bcuz someone told me that they work better from there and i could get extra help if i needed it.

    Like

  14. great work! this really came in handy, my gf was completely stressed by this and we are about to go away! i googled [ipod nano reset]

    Like

  15. This isn’t a new trick, and I’m pretty sure if you read your manual it would show you, but I’m glad it fixes the majority of your problems and you won’t return them as defectives.

    Like

  19. Thanks! Been googling like crazy to try and find a fix…it worked! You saved the day! (Except now I have to go get on the treadmill, lol)

    K.

    Like

  20. I just want to thanks to the site admin who said to try it a couple times..

    I tried it the once and I thought it would work right away but after doing it about 4 times it worked…I was very close to crying and seeing my money go down the drain. I have a 2gb and it froze because i forgot it was on hold.

    Apple doesn’t have more specific tips like this. So much for “support”.

    thank you soooooooooooooooo much mtdewvirus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Like

Comments are closed.