Guided Access Not Working on iPhone? Here’s 7 Ways to Fix It

With the help of Guided Access, you can temporarily restrict your iPhone to a single app. It is very convenient when you’re about to hand your iPhone to someone else. All you have to do is triple-click the Side Button to activate the feature. 

However, some users are facing issues where the screen responds to touch and allows the user to navigate even after enabling Guided Access. Or, in some cases, people aren’t able to activate Guided Access even after triple-clicking the Side Button. If you’re encountering a similar problem, here’s how to fix Guided Access not working on iPhone. 

How To Fix Guided Access Not Working on iPhone

1. Enable Guided Access To Fix Guided Access Not Working on iPhone

Guided Access is not enabled by default. You must enable it manually in the Accessibility settings on your iPhone. Also, if Guided Access is not working all of a sudden, it might be because you accidentally disabled it. Here’s how you can enable Guided Access on your iPhone. 

2. Change Guided Access Settings To Fix Guided Access Not Working

Many of us enable Guided Access when handing off our devices to others to protect our privacy, prevent notifications, etc. But, if you don’t change certain settings, whoever you hand off your iPhone to, will be able to navigate around in that particular app. This might lead you to believe that Guided Access isn’t working. However, that isn’t the case, and here’s how you can customize settings after enabling Guided Access on your iPhone. 

1. Open any app of your choice and triple-click the Side Button to activate Guided Access. 
2. Tap the Options button at the bottom left corner. 
3. Now, a list of options will pop open. You can disable or enable these options to customize the Guided Access settings to cater to your needs.
   1. Side Button: Enable/Disable to allow/prevent access to the Side Button. 
   2. Volume Button: Enable/Disable to allow/prevent access to the Volume buttons. 
   3. Motion: Disabling Motion will prevent switching the iPhone’s orientation from Portrait to Landscape. It will also prevent the device from responding to other motions. 
   4. Software Keyboard: Disabling the Keyboard will prevent accessing the keyboard within the app. 
   5. Touch: If you disable Touch, the iPhone’s screen won’t respond to any touch.  
   6. Time Limit: You can set a duration after which Guided Access will automatically disable. 
4. Tap the Done button once you’ve made the required changes.
5. Then tap Start at the top of the screen and Guided Access should work fine on your iPhone. 

3. Check Accessibility Shortcut if Guided Access Is Not Working

Triple-clicking the Side Button is an Accessibility Shortcut. You have to triple-click the Side Button to activate Guided Access. But even after doing so it doesn’t activate Guided Access, we suggest checking the Accessibility Shortcut settings on your iPhone. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 
2. Head to the Accessibility option. 
3. Scroll down and tap the Accessibility Shortcut option.
4. On the Accessibility Shortcut page, check if Guided Access is selected. If it isn’t, tap on Guided Access to select it.  
5. If you have enabled other Accessibility features that are activated by triple-clicking the Side Button, you can move Guided Access to the top of the list. Do this by holding on the hamburger icon and dragging Guided Access to the top of the list. This will ensure that it is always displayed first in the list whenever you triple-click the Side Button. 

4. Toggle Guided Access and Restart iPhone

Sometimes, changes made aren’t registered which might be the reason why even after enabling Guided Access it might not be working. A simple solution to this issue is to toggle Guided Access and also restart the iPhone during the process. This will help eliminate bugs and iron out most software glitches. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 
2. Head to the Accessibility option. 
3. Scroll down and tap the Guided Access option.
4. Disable the Guided Access toggle. 
5. Go back to the Home Screen, swipe up and hold from the bottom, and remove the Settings app from the recent apps tray.
6. Next, restart your iPhone. You can ask Siri to restart your iPhone if you do not know how to do it. 
7. After your iPhone restarts, open the Settings app, head to Accessibility, and tap the Guided Access option. 
8. Enable the Guided Access toggle. 
9. Now, triple-click the Side Button and check if Guided Access works properly on your iPhone. 

5. Update iOS To Fix Guided Access Not Working

Has Guided Access stopped working after a recent iOS update? In that case, it might be because the iOS version has this bug that prevents Guided Access from working. The only solution is to update your iPhone to the latest iOS version. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 
2. Head to the General option. 
3. Tap the Software Update option on the next screen. 
4. Tap the Update Now or Install Now button. These options are only available when a new version of iOS is available.
5. Enter your iPhone’s passcode to continue. 

6. Reset All Settings To Fix Guided Access Not Working

Accidental touches in the pocket, etc. happen often during which a few settings change unintentionally. This might be the reason why Guided Access isn’t working on your iPhone. Since we can’t track every change and go back and change every single setting individually, the easiest solution is to reset all settings to their default values. This might help fix Guided Access not working on your iPhone. 

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone. 
2. Head to the General option. 
3. Scroll down and tap the Transfer or Reset iPhone option.
4. Tap the Reset option and then select the Reset All Settings option. 
5. Enter your iPhone’s passcode. 
6. Tap the Reset All Settings option to confirm your selection. 

7. Contact Apple Support

At last, if nothing works, it might be time to contact Apple Support. Because we’ve covered most steps to fix software errors. However, none of these will be able to fix any hardware issues. For example, if there’s a hardware issue with the Side Button, you will have to get it fixed. You can also visit the nearest official Apple Store and get your device inspected by the employees at the Genius Bar. 

We hope this guide helps you fix Guided Access not working on your iPhone. If you have any other doubts, please let us know in the comments below.