Your iPhone has some helpful menus that you can access by swiping up from the bottom of the screen, or swiping down from the top of the screen. The menu that you access from the bottom of the screen is called the Control Center, and holds some helpful tools that can make your iPhone usage a little easier.
The Control Center can be activated from the Home screen, the lock screen, or within an app. However, the last two of those three options can be turned on or off as needed. So if you would like to be able to open the Control Center from your lock screen and access, for example, your flashlight, then follow our guide below to find and enable that option.
How to Access the iPhone Control Center from the Lock Screen
The steps in this article were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus, in iOS 10.2. These steps will make the Control Center accessible while the iPhone is locked. You can open the Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
Step 1: Open the Settings menu.
Step 2: Select the Control Center option.
Step 3: Tap the button to the right of Access on Lock Screen to enable it. The Control Center is accessible from your lock screen when there is green shading around the button.
Note that there is also an Access Within Apps option on this menu as well. When that setting is enabled you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center even when you have an app open.
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Kermit Matthews is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than a decade of experience writing technology guides. He has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science and has spent much of his professional career in IT management.
He specializes in writing content about iPhones, Android devices, Microsoft Office and many other popular applications and devices.