Having “the right tool for the job” can make all the difference. Not only are the right tools a pleasure to use, but they can also help you be more productive and efficient.

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This is one of those tricks that you don’t need to use that often, but when you do run into problems it can be a huge timesaver.

So how do you clear the RAM on an iPhone? It depends on which iPhone you own.

iPhone handsets with Touch ID

For iPhones that have Touch ID, here’s the process:

• Go to Settings > General > Shut Down
• DO NOT SLIDE TO POWER OFF! Instead, press and hold the Home button until the screen returns to the Home screen (usually about 5 seconds)
• Done!

Simple, right? You can test that it has actually worked by loading up an app that you had previously running, and you’ll notice that the app has to reload completely, not going back to the state it was in before.

If you have an iPhone that doesn’t have Touch ID, but instead uses Face ID — such as iPhone X, Xs, Xs Max, XR, 11, and 11 Pro, the process is more convoluted because you have to activate a feature that puts a virtual Home button on the screen.

iPhone handsets with Face ID

The first thing you need to do is to activate a feature called AssistiveTouch. AssistiveTouch floats a small menu on your display (which you can move around on the screen) that allows you to carry out gestures such as pinching or multi-finger swipes with a single finger and offers quick access to a variety of functions. It’s very useful, and I have it activated and use it all the time, especially for taking screenshots.

It also gives you access to a virtual on-screen Home button, which is what we want here.

There are three ways to activate AssistiveTouch:

• Tap Settings > General > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, then switch on AssistiveTouch
• Tap Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and then click AssistiveTouch
• Ask Siri: “Turn on AssistiveTouch”

I recommend using the first option because this then immediately allows you to add the Home button to the menu by clicking on Customize Top Level Menu… and making sure the Home button is there. Tap on a button to add it if it is not there.

OK, with the long-winded part out of the way, here’s how you go about clearing the RAM.

• Go to Settings > General > Shut Down
• DO NOT SLIDE TO POWER OFF! Instead, bring up the AssistiveTouch menu and hold the virtual Home button until the screen returns to the Lock screen (usually about a second or so)
• Done!

You can test that it has actually worked by loading up an app that you had previously running, and you’ll notice that the app has to reload completely, not going back to the state it was in before.