How to clear RAM on iPhone

How to clear RAM on iPhone

In this article, we’ll be focusing on how to clear RAM on iPhone. As with computers, our smartphones have primary and secondary storage too.

The primary storage consists of RAM (Random Access Memory), while the secondary storage is a non-volatile, flash memory.

The RAM is a volatile memory and it’s used during any operation that requires quick storing and retrieval of data. The flash memory is used to store data for the longer term.

For instance, while you are multi-tasking, your smartphone uses RAM for a smooth operation.

But if you are downloading a video, it stores it in the secondary storage.

As a general rule of thumb, the more RAM your phone has, the faster it will perform. And the less RAM it has, the more sluggish it will be.

Now, when it comes to iPhones, they typically don’t have too much RAM compared to their Android counterparts.

However, this doesn’t mean that they’re slow. In fact, Apple does it on purpose. iPhones run on iOS which is very efficient, being great at making the hardware and software work together really well.

So, they can still provide great performance with lesser hardware.

The control over the App Store is another factor that helps in this regard. The applications for iOS are optimized according to the hardware and are, therefore, able to run smoothly.

Table of Contents

  1. How to clear RAM on iPhone
    1. Clearing RAM using the home button
    2. Clearing RAM on iPhones without a home button
  2. Wrap Up

How to clear RAM on iPhone

Despite everything that’s being said, there might be times when you may need to clear the RAM on an iPhone.

Not as often as it is on an Android device, but you might still need to do so. Fortunately, Apple provides a very easy way to clear the RAM.

The whole process takes just around 10 seconds, and you don’t even need a third-party app for this purpose. Of course, you can simply turn off your iPhone and turn it back on.

This solves the problem too. However, if you don’t want to do that, read on to find out how you can clear the RAM without turning off your iPhone.

Clearing RAM using the home button

This method works on all iPhones featuring a home button. It will work on iPhone 7, 7 Plus, SE, 6s, 6s Plus, 6, 6 Plus, and older models too.

Let’s take a look at the steps needed to clear the RAM:

  • Make sure your iPhone is unlocked;
  • Hold down the Sleep/Wake button;
  • When the “Slide to power off” option appears on the screen, you need to let go of the Sleep/Wake Button. Don’t press anything on the screen;
How to clear RAM on iPhone

  • Next, you need to hold down your Home button for five seconds;
  • After a couple of seconds, your screen will go blank for a second and return you to the home screen. This means you have successfully cleared the RAM on your iPhone. The best thing is that your apps will still be open in the background just as you had left them. They will just be reloaded in RAM when you open them again.

Clearing RAM on iPhones without a home button

This method is suitable for all iPhones that come without a home button (generally, the newer models since 2017.) It will work on the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, XR, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max.

Let’s take a look at the required steps:

  • To start, you will need to turn on the assistive touch button through the Settings app. To do it, you need to access “Settings”, and then tap on the “Accessibility” option;
  • Next, select “Touch”;
  • Then, tap on “Assistive touch” and toggle it on. An assistive touch button will then appear on your screen;
  • Now, go back to your main settings page, find “General” and tap on it;
  • Scroll down to the bottom of the menu and tap on “Shut down”;
  • A screen will appear showing the option “Slide to power off”;
  • Tap on the assistive touch button and hold down on the on-screen home button for 5 seconds;
  • After a couple of seconds, your screen will go blank for a second and return you to the home screen. This means you have successfully cleared the RAM on your iPhone. In this case, too, the apps in the background won’t get closed.

Wrap Up

Now that you know how to clear iPhone RAM, you can overtake occasional performance issues that you may be experiencing with your device if it’s running sluggish.

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