How to Force Quit an iPad

I’ve tried shutting down my iPad mini 2 but it’s stuck on the blank screen with the spinning icon in the middle. I’ve got it plugged into the mains right now, while I try to figure out the solution. Would it be better to drain the battery, or could that damage it? Keith Turson No, that won’t hurt the iPad; iOS is designed to survive running out of power without damaging the filing system. But I don’t think it’s going to come to that. When you hold down the Sleep/Wake button and then power down the device, iOS asks each app to close, and gives a few seconds for each one to put its affairs in order before switching itself off.

You can perform a hard reset by holding down both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for 10 seconds. This forces all running apps to close immediately and then restarts the iPad. This doesn’t lose any data; it’s the same as powering off and then restarting, except it’s a bit more forceful. I’m confident that this reset option will clear whichever app has got stuck.