You can soft and hard reset the Apple iPod Touch if it’s frozen or not responding. I’ve had to perform these steps a few times if I haven’t used the device for a while, when it has gotten stuck during a sync, won’t turn on or is stuck on a certain screen.
Standard Power Off
- Press and hold the “Sleep“/”Wake“ button on the top of the device until a red slider appears.
- Drag the slider.
- Press and hold the “Sleep“/”Wake“ button until the Apple logo appears.
Soft Reset
Press and hold both the “Sleep“/”Wake” button and the “Home” button for about ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. The screen should eventually go dark and the iPod Touch should restart and allow you to use it as normal. The music and other media on the device should be preserved after these steps as long as there wasn’t a malfunction that caused data loss.
If the steps above don’t work, it appears you will have to try to restore the iPod Touch. Restoring will remove all data and settings from the device.