Why Does Apple TV Shut Off By Itself?
A variety of causes can make your Apple TV turn off, regardless of which model you own. It may just need a reset or update, or something worse could be going on.
How Do I Stop My Apple TV From Turning Off?
Try the following fixes, in order, to try to get your Apple TV working properly again.
Restart your Apple TV using the menu. First, go to Settings > System > Restart to see if a soft reboot helps. Your Apple TV will turn off and then switch back on. Do a hard restart using the remote. You’ll hold down two buttons until the light on the Apple TV flashes; which ones depends on which version of the remote you have. Apple Remote (without Siri): Menu + Down. Siri Remote (1st generation): Menu + TV. Siri Remote (2nd generation): Back + TV. Check your sleep timer. Your Apple TV may be just going to sleep, and you can extend the time it will wait before it does. Open the Settings app on the Apple TV, and then go to General > Sleep After. From here, you can choose 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, or Never to keep it awake at all times. Unplug your Apple TV for a while. You can reset some internal memory conflicts by powering off the box for a few minutes. Remove the power cord, wait five minutes, and plug the cable back in to see if this solves the problem. Update your Apple TV. If you’re having a software issue, you may need the latest version of tvOS. Go to System > Software Updates > Update Software in the Settings app to see if you have one waiting. On the same screen, turn on Automatically Update, and your Apple TV will download and install new versions of the operating system as soon as they become available. Check for app updates. If your Apple TV has problems with the same apps consistently, you may need their newest versions. The easiest way to do this for everything you have installed at once is to go to Settings > Apps and set Automatically Update Apps to On. This option keeps everything on its most current version without you having to check them individually. Alternatively, delete the trouble apps to see if that helps. Replace the power cord. If your Apple TV is actually turning off instead of just going to sleep, it may be a problem with the cord. If you have a gaming console or other device that uses the same standard cable as the Apple TV, swap it in to see if it helps. Otherwise, you can buy a replacement online. Factory reset your Apple TV. With this option, you’ll delete everything currently on your Apple TV and start over like you’re hooking it up for the first time. Go to Settings > System > Reset. From this screen, choose Reset to remove everything, or choose Reset and Update to remove everything, and then make sure your Apple TV is using the most current version of tvOS. Contact Apple. If none of these methods help, you probably have a hardware issue you won’t be able to fix on your own. Reach out to Apple Support for repair options.
Apple Remote (without Siri): Menu + Down. Siri Remote (1st generation): Menu + TV. Siri Remote (2nd generation): Back + TV.
