If Your iPhone Slows Down During the Day, You Can Clear Its Memory Without Rebooting
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If Your iPhone Slows Down During the Day, You Can Clear Its Memory Without Rebooting

When iPhone memory management is not working correctly, you can refresh its RAM to fix speed and reliability problems without restarting

August 9, 2025

If your iPhone feels sluggish, freezes, or crashes throughout the day, its Random Access Memory (RAM) may be full or holding on to corrupted temporary data. Normally, iOS clears unused memory automatically and a restart fully refreshes it. However, restarting is not always convenient. In situations where memory management is failing to keep things running smoothly, you can manually clear the RAM without turning the device off completely.

Why clearing memory helps

RAM stores frequently accessed data so apps and system functions run quickly. Apple’s iOS typically manages this process well, but it can fail after long periods without a reboot, following a major update with bugs, or when resource-heavy apps leave fragments of data in memory. Clearing RAM forces the iPhone to reload all background and system processes and discard temporary files. This can make the device respond more quickly and operate more reliably until a full restart is possible.

Impact on open apps

When you clear RAM, apps remain open but their active processes reload. If Background App Refresh is enabled, many apps will automatically update themselves. In some cases, you may need to open an app for it to refresh or reload data, such as audio or video streams. If there are apps you do not need, close them before clearing RAM to avoid unnecessary reloading.

When RAM clearing is not enough

If performance problems continue after clearing RAM, you may need to restart the device. Persistent issues could point to other causes such as an aging battery triggering performance throttling, outdated or buggy apps, or even iOS corruption. If you suspect corruption, back up the iPhone, erase all content and settings, and then restore from the backup to return the software to a clean state.

Steps for iPhone 4 through iPhone 7

  1. Unlock the iPhone.
  2. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the “Slide to power off” screen appears, with a Cancel button at the bottom.
  3. Release the Sleep/Wake button.
  4. Press and hold the Home button until the Home screen appears.
  5. Release the Home button.
  6. If problems continue, perform a full restart by holding the Sleep/Wake button, sliding to turn off, and then holding the Sleep/Wake button again to power on.

Steps for iPhone 8 and later

  1. Unlock the iPhone.
  2. Enable AssistiveTouch by going to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, then toggle it on.
  3. A small gray AssistiveTouch button will appear on the screen.
  4. Go to Settings > General and scroll to the bottom. Tap Shut Down.
  5. When the power-off screen appears, tap the AssistiveTouch button, then tap and hold the on-screen Home button until the passcode screen appears or you are returned to the Home screen.

Performing these steps periodically can help keep your iPhone responsive between full restarts, especially if you use memory-intensive apps or keep the phone running for days without shutting it down.