How to Close Apps on iPad

Understanding how to close applications on your iPad can enhance performance and save battery life. Learn quick and efficient methods to close apps running in the background with ease in this comprehensive guide.

Discover the secret to effortlessly closing apps on your iPad!

Closing apps on an iPad boosts performance and saves battery. There are several methods to close apps, depending on the iPad model and the iOS/iPadOS version you are using. Here’s a detailed guide covering various methods:

1. Using the Home Gesture (for iPads with a Home button):
   • Double-press the Home button to reveal the app switcher, showing all recently used apps in a card-like interface.
   • Swipe left or right to navigate through the open apps.
   • To close an app, swipe it up and off the top of the screen. This action removes the app from the app switcher and closes it.
2. Using App Switcher (for iPads without a Home button):
   • To access the app switcher, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle.
   • To switch between open apps, swipe left or right.
   • To close an app, swipe it up and off the top of the screen within the app switcher.
3. Using Multitasking Gestures (if enabled in settings):
   • If enabled, you can use four or five fingers to pinch inwards on the screen to access the app switcher directly.
   • Once in the app switcher, follow the same steps as mentioned above to close apps.
4. Force Closing Apps (in case of unresponsiveness):
   • If an app becomes unresponsive or freezes, it may be necessary to perform a force close.
   • Double-press the Home button (for iPads with a Home button) or swipe up from the bottom and pause in the middle (for iPads without a Home button) to access the app switcher.
   • Locate the problematic app and swipe it up and off the top of the screen forcefully.
5. Using the Settings App:
   • Go to the Home screen and open the “Settings” app.
   • Scroll down and tap on “General.”
   • Tap on “Background App Refresh.”
   • To prevent apps from running in the background, toggle off the “Background App Refresh” switch entirely or customize it per app basis by toggling off specific apps.

Remember that closing apps might not always be necessary or beneficial. The iOS/iPadOS operating system is designed to manage apps efficiently, and iOS automatically suspends or closes apps running in the background when necessary to optimize performance and battery life. It is generally not necessary to manually close apps regularly unless an app is misbehaving or has become unresponsive. Regularly force closing all apps can even reduce battery life, as the system may have to reload apps from scratch when you reopen them.

By understanding these methods, you can effectively manage and close apps on your iPad, keeping it running smoothly and extending its battery life.

Instructions for force quitting apps on an iPad

Force quitting apps on an iPad is a relatively simple, but sometimes necessary, task. For older iPads with a Home button, the process is even easier as simply double-tapping the Home button brings up the App Switcher which allows users to force quit one or more of their open apps. However, many of the newer iPad models don’t have the physical Home button and so require an alternate method available in all versions of iOS. This involves using a specific gesture motion to bring up the App Switcher menu where users can then force quit any app they wish.

To accomplish this gesture motion, users just need to swipe up from the very bottom of their iPad’s display and hold for a few seconds until all open apps appear onscreen side-by-side. From there, it’s just a matter of swiping left or right until they find the app they wish to close and then tapping it once to force it closed. Apple also included a handy way for users to quickly close all open apps at once using this same App Switcher menu—simply swipe up on any of the open app previews and tap “Close All” at the bottom corner of their display if desired.