On an iPhone with Face ID, open Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen; on an iPhone with a Home button, such as iPhone SE, swipe up from the bottom edge. To close it, swipe up from the bottom center (Face ID) or press the Home button. If the swipe does nothing, Control Center is probably blocked on the Lock Screen or inside apps, and both are quick to change.
Gestures for each type of iPhone
Control Center is a panel of shortcuts for things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, volume, the flashlight and Airplane Mode. You can open it from the Home Screen, from most apps and, if you allow it, from the Lock Screen. Which gesture you use depends only on whether your iPhone has a Home button.
| Your iPhone | Open Control Center | Close it |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone with Face ID (no Home button), or iPhone Duo | Swipe down from the top-right corner | Swipe up from the bottom center, or tap the screen |
| iPhone with a Home button, such as iPhone SE | Swipe up from the bottom edge | Press the Home button, or tap the top of the screen |
These gestures come from Apple’s Control Center page in the iPhone User Guide and its support article on opening Control Center.
On an iPhone with Face ID
- Put your finger on the top-right corner of the screen, where the battery icon sits.
- Swipe straight down. Control Center slides into view over whatever was on screen.
- Tap a control to use it. Keep swiping down if you want to see more groups of controls.
- When you’re finished, swipe up from the bottom center of the screen, or tap an empty part of the screen.
Start the swipe in the corner, not the middle. Apple notes that if you swipe too close to the top center of the screen, you might open Notification Center instead, which shows your alerts rather than controls.
Keep in mind that the Wi-Fi button here only disconnects you for a while, and turning Wi-Fi fully off on iPhone happens in Settings.
On an iPhone with a Home button
- Put your finger on the very bottom edge of the screen, just above the Home button.
- Swipe up. Control Center rises from the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the control you need.
- Press the Home button, or tap the top of the screen, to close it.
If the app you’re in scrolls instead of Control Center appearing, your finger probably started a little too high. Begin right at the edge where the screen meets the frame.
Get more out of Control Center once it’s open
On current versions of iOS, Control Center is split into groups, and the first group is only part of what’s there.
- See more groups: keep swiping down after it opens (Face ID iPhones), or use the small icons along the right edge to jump between groups such as music and connectivity controls.
- See extra options: touch and hold a control. Many controls open a larger view with more settings, which saves a trip to the Settings app.
- Use a control without opening its app: the flashlight is a good example. If you’ve turned it on and can’t find the switch again, see how to turn off the flashlight on an iPhone.
Open Control Center from the Lock Screen
If the swipe works after you unlock your iPhone but not before, Lock Screen access is turned off. That’s a privacy choice: with access on, anyone holding your locked phone can use the controls too. Apple lists Control Center among the features you can allow when your iPhone is locked.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Face ID & Passcode (iPhone with Face ID) or Touch ID & Passcode (iPhone Duo or iPhone SE), then enter your passcode.
- Scroll to Allow Access When Locked.
- Turn on the Control Center option in that list.
Turn the same option off if you’d rather keep the controls private. The trade-offs are covered in more detail in enabling Control Center on the iPhone Lock Screen.
Open it inside apps
A separate switch decides whether the gesture works while an app is open. When it’s off, Control Center still opens from the Home Screen but not from inside apps. Apple’s User Guide gives the path: go to the Settings app, tap Control Center, then turn Access Within Apps on or off.
Turning it off is useful when you keep opening Control Center by accident, for example while gaming or typing near the screen edge. If that’s your problem, see how to stop accidentally opening Control Center.
Ways to open it without the swipe
Large screens, a thick case or limited hand movement can make the corner swipe awkward. Apple documents a few alternatives.
Back Tap
Apple’s Back Tap article says a quick double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone can open Control Center. It works on iPhone 8 or later.
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, and tap Back Tap.
- Tap Double Tap or Triple Tap.
- Choose Control Center from the list of actions.
If taps start firing when you don’t want them, choose None again, or see how to turn off Back Tap.
AssistiveTouch
AssistiveTouch puts a floating button on the screen. Apple’s AssistiveTouch guide says you can use its menu to access Control Center, notifications, the Lock Screen or the App Switcher.
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch and turn it on.
- Tap the floating button, then choose Control Center from the menu.
- Optionally, use Customize Top Level Menu or the Single-Tap and Double-Tap custom actions so Control Center opens with one tap.
Reachability on a large iPhone
If you can open Control Center but your thumb can’t reach the top-right corner, Reachability brings the top of the screen down. Apple says Reachability lowers the top half of the screen so it’s easier to reach with one hand; on a Face ID iPhone, swipe down on the bottom edge of the screen to use it. If the corner swipe still doesn’t work for you, Back Tap or AssistiveTouch is the more reliable route. The switch is in Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Reachability; see how to turn Reachability on or off.
Change which controls appear
On current versions of iOS, you edit Control Center from Control Center itself, not from a list in Settings.
- Open Control Center.
- Tap the edit button near the top of Control Center (an icon without a text label) to start editing.
- Tap Add a Control at the bottom of the screen to open the controls gallery, then pick a control, such as Screen Recording.
- To remove a control, tap the icon at its upper-left corner. To resize one, drag the handle at its lower-right corner.
- Drag controls to move them, then tap an empty area to finish.
Older versions of iOS used a Customize Controls list under Settings > Control Center instead. For layout ideas, see how to rearrange the controls in Control Center.
When Control Center won’t open
Work through these checks in order:
- Check the gesture for your model. Swiping up on a Face ID iPhone goes to the Home Screen, not Control Center.
- Move your starting point. On Face ID models, start at the far right of the top edge. Notification Center opening means you started too close to the center.
- Locked or in an app? Check Allow Access When Locked and Access Within Apps, covered above.
- Look at the screen edges. A thick case lip or a screen protector that covers the edge can make swipes from the edge harder to register. Try once with the case off.
- Restart the iPhone. Then try the gesture again.
- Use an alternative. Back Tap or AssistiveTouch still open Control Center if the swipe keeps failing.
Control Center help
Why does my Control Center look different from older screenshots?
On iOS 18 and later, Control Center has several groups of controls. Apple’s support article says these include options for Music, your Home devices and controls for features like AirDrop or Satellite, and you swipe up and down from the top-right edge, or use the side icons, to move between them. Screenshots from iOS 11 to iOS 17 show a single page.
Can I turn off Control Center completely?
Apple documents two switches: one for the Lock Screen and one for apps (Access Within Apps). With both off, Control Center still opens from the Home Screen.
Do I need to set anything up before the gesture works?
No. Control Center is on by default, and the swipe works from the Home Screen on every iPhone. The settings above only extend it to the Lock Screen and apps, or add other ways to open it.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.