How to Lock an iPad to One App Before Handing It to the Grandkids

A grandchild asks to play a game on your iPad. Five minutes later, they’ve found your email, your photos, the App Store and possibly a “Buy” button. It happens in every family.

There’s a simple fix built into every iPad. It’s called Guided Access, and it keeps the iPad inside one app until you say otherwise. No extra app to buy, no account to create.

This guide shows you how to turn it on, start and end a session, add a time limit, block parts of the screen, and get out of it if it ever gets stuck. We also cover how to stop surprise in-app purchases. The steps were checked against Apple’s own instructions for iPadOS 26.

How do I lock my iPad to one app?

Use Guided Access: turn it on once in Settings, then triple-click the top button (or the Home button) whenever you want to lock the iPad to the app that’s open.

While Guided Access is running, swiping up does nothing, the Home button does nothing, and notifications can’t pull the child into another app. The only way out is a passcode that you choose.

How do I turn on Guided Access?

You only do this once. It takes about two minutes.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Scroll down and tap Guided Access.
4. Turn on Guided Access (the switch turns green).

While you’re on this screen, look at the four options under it. Apple lists them as:

• Passcode Settings: set your Guided Access passcode, and choose whether Face ID or Touch ID can also end a session.
• Time Limits: choose whether a sound plays, and whether the iPad speaks the time left, before a timed session ends.
• Accessibility Shortcut: controls whether a small menu appears when you triple-click. If you use other triple-click features, Guided Access is listed in that menu.
• Display Auto-Lock: how quickly the screen goes dark when nobody is touching it during a session.

How do I set a Guided Access passcode?

1. In Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access, tap Passcode Settings.
2. Tap the option to set a Guided Access passcode.
3. Type a code, then type it again to confirm.
4. If you like, turn on Face ID or Touch ID (whichever your iPad has). Then you can end a session with your face or finger instead of typing.

If you skip this step, the iPad will ask you to create a passcode the first time you tap Start.

How do I start a Guided Access session?

1. Open the app you want the child to use, for example a drawing app, a game or a video.
2. Triple-click the top button. That’s three quick presses. On an iPad with a round Home button below the screen, triple-click the Home button instead.
3. If a small menu appears, tap Guided Access.
4. The Guided Access screen opens. Make any changes you want (see the next sections).
5. Tap Start at the top of the screen.

The iPad now stays in that app. Hand it over.

Apple notes that if you’ve used Guided Access with that app before, the session can start right away with the same settings you chose last time. That makes the second time much faster.

How do I set a time limit?

A time limit is helpful when screen time tends to stretch. Set it on the Guided Access screen before you tap Start.

1. Triple-click to open the Guided Access screen.
2. Tap Options (Apple also calls this Session Settings).
3. Turn on Time Limit and choose the hours and minutes.
4. Tap Done, then Start.

When time is up, the screen fills with a message saying the time has expired. The child can’t keep playing. You triple-click, enter your passcode, and either end the session or start a new one.

To get a warning beforehand, go back to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access > Time Limits and turn on the sound or the spoken countdown.

How do I disable touch on part of the screen?

Many children’s apps have a “Shop” button, an ad, or a settings gear in one corner. You can turn off just that spot.

1. On the Guided Access screen, use your finger to draw a circle around the area you want to block.
2. A shaded box appears. Drag its borders to move it or make it bigger.
3. To remove a box, tap its remove button.
4. Tap Start.

Touches inside the shaded area are ignored. Everything else works as normal.

Other things you can switch off

Under Options, Apple lists these switches:

• Top Button (or Home Button): stops the button from locking the screen. Triple-click still works for you.
• Volume Buttons: blocks the volume buttons. Apple says that on iPadOS 26.1 and later, this also blocks volume controls on Bluetooth headphones.
• Motion: stops the app reacting when the iPad is shaken or turned.
• Software Keyboards: stops the on-screen keyboard appearing, so nobody can type into a search box.
• Touch: ignores every touch. This is useful for a video that should just play.

For a toddler watching a video, turning off Touch and the volume buttons works well. For an older child playing a game, you’ll usually leave Touch on and just block the shop corner.

How do I end a Guided Access session?

1. Triple-click the top button (or the Home button).
2. Enter your Guided Access passcode, or use Face ID or Touch ID if you turned it on.
3. If the small menu appears, tap Guided Access.
4. Tap End.

From the same screen you can tap Resume to carry on, or change the options first.

Apple notes that on iPadOS 18 or earlier, you double-click instead of triple-click here. On iPadOS 26 it’s a triple-click both to start and to end.

To switch Guided Access off completely, go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access and turn it off.

Guided Access is stuck or I forgot the passcode

This happens more than you’d think, usually because the code was set in a hurry. Try these in order.

1. Try Face ID or Touch ID. If you turned it on for Guided Access, triple-click and look at the screen, or rest your finger on the button.
2. Try the codes you use most. Your everyday iPad passcode is a common guess. So is a family birthday.
3. Force restart the iPad. People on Apple’s own support forum report that a force restart is the way out of Guided Access when the passcode is lost. One person in the same thread reported the app came back after the restart, so it may not work every time.

How to force restart, according to Apple:

iPad without a Home button

1. Press and quickly release the volume button closest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button until you see the Apple logo.

iPad with a Home button

• Press and hold the Home button and the top button together until you see the Apple logo.

Once the iPad starts up and you’re on the Home Screen, go straight to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access > Passcode Settings and set a new code you’ll remember.

If a force restart doesn’t help, contact Apple Support or visit an Apple Store. Don’t download “bypass” software from websites; it’s often unnecessary and some of it is unsafe.

How do I stop in-app purchases on my iPad?

Guided Access keeps a child in one app, but it doesn’t stop that app from asking to buy coins, levels or a subscription. For that, use Screen Time.

If the grandchild has their own iPad in a Family Sharing group, their parents use Ask to Buy, which sends every purchase request to a parent to approve. Ask to Buy is for children in Family Sharing. On your own iPad, you block purchases on the iPad itself.

Apple’s current instructions (September 2026) say:

1. Make sure Screen Time is turned on (Settings > Screen Time).
2. In Settings > Screen Time, tap Apps & Websites, then tap App Store.
3. Tap In-app Purchases and choose Blocked.

On iPadOS 26 and earlier, the same switch was under Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes & App Store Purchases > In-app Purchases, set to Don’t Allow. Menu names move between updates, so if your screen looks different, look for anything called App Store or Purchases inside Screen Time.

Apple also suggests that if children use your device, you can require your password for every purchase. If you’re asked for a Screen Time passcode, choose one the grandchildren don’t know.

Screen Time content limits

Screen Time can also hide content that isn’t right for young eyes. Inside Screen Time, look for Content & Privacy Restrictions and then Content Restrictions, where you can set age ratings, for example for movies and apps. Apple’s newest version (iPadOS 27) reorganizes some of these menus, so the exact names on your iPad may differ.

Screen Time works quietly in the background all the time. Guided Access is the quick, “just this app, just for now” lock. Many grandparents use both.

Is there a simpler option? Assistive Access

Guided Access is for lending the iPad out for a while. If you’d like the iPad itself to be simpler every day, with a few big buttons and nothing else, look at Assistive Access. It replaces the usual Home Screen with only the apps you choose.

Our guide to Assistive Access, Apple’s simple mode for iPhone and iPad covers setting it up and getting back out. If you’re setting up an iPad for someone else, our tablet setup checklist for a parent pairs well with it, and so do our tips to make an iPad easier for seniors.

Where to go from here

Practice once before the grandkids visit. Open a game, triple-click, tap Start, then end the session with your passcode. After one try, it feels easy.

If you’re thinking about a new tablet, our guide to the best iPad for seniors compares the current models in plain language.

For more step-by-step help in large print, Your iPad, Plainly Explained has a chapter called “Sharing Your iPad with Family (and Grandchildren)” for exactly these visits.