How to force restart or reboot Apple Vision Pro if it freezes

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Clicking top button on Vision Pro
Click and hold the top button to turn it on.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
How do you force restart Apple Vision Pro? All computers lock up from time to time — even spatial computers you wear on your face. You don’t want to keep it on if it’s locking up; that could lead to a nasty head injury! Here’s how to reboot or restart Vision Pro.

Force restart Vision Pro

Occasionally, the Vision Pro headset may become unresponsive, freeze up, or glitch out. If it feels like Vision Pro isn’t working right, you can probably fix it by forcing a restart. The Vision Pro also doesn’t have an internal battery, so unplugging it at any point is the fastest way to forcibly shut it off. This isn’t the recommended method, though — here’s what Apple recommends.

How to turn Vision Pro off

  1. First, press and hold the top button on the left and the dial on the right. You should see a pop-up box titled “Force Quit Applications.”
  2. Continue holding down the top button and dial. All the apps you have open will disappear and you’ll see a slider that says “slide to power off.”
  3. Look at the power button, pinch and hold your fingers together, and slide the button over to power off the Vision Pro. Alternatively, you can continue to hold the two buttons.
  4. When the screen goes black, the Vision Pro has shut down; take it off.

How to turn Vision Pro back on

  1. To turn it back on, press and hold the top button for three seconds.
  2. When you hear the Vision Pro make a pleasant tone, it has finished booting and is ready to put back on.
Vision Pro automatically turns back on if you plug in the battery cable. Note: Vision Pro turns off by itself after 24 hours if it hasn’t been worn. We have more Vision Pro how-tos here:

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