screen time, explained
How to turn off Screen Time on iPhone, and what it deletes
To turn off Screen Time on iPhone, open Settings, tap Screen Time, then App & Website Activity, scroll down and tap Turn off App & Website Activity. Apple lists the features that stop, but not that the switch also deletes your usage history, so turning it back on later starts from zero. If you only want the reminders and limits gone, there are smaller switches that keep the record running.
The steps on iOS 26#
- Open Settings and tap Screen Time.
- Tap App & Website Activity, the row with Reports, Downtime & App Limits underneath.
- Scroll down and tap Turn off App & Website Activity.
- Confirm. If a Screen Time passcode is set, iPhone asks for it first.
On iOS 27 with all your Apple devices updated, Apple's guide puts the button under Manage Screen Time: tap it, then Turn Off App & Website Activity. The note there lists real-time reporting, Bedtime and Pause Devices, Time Allowance, and Always Allowed as what stops.
Menus moved between iOS versions, so on some the button sits at the bottom of the main Screen Time page. In some cases it reads Turn Off Screen Time, which also turns off content and privacy restrictions and communication settings. For a child in Family Sharing, a parent can do this from their own iPhone after tapping the child's name.
If iPhone asks for a passcode you don't remember, here is how to reset the Screen Time passcode.
What Apple says it turns off#
The note under the button says that turning off App & Website Activity "disables real-time reporting, Downtime, App Limits, and Always Allowed." The confirmation adds that screen time will no longer be reported and that all limits and downtime settings will be turned off. Every schedule and every limit stops with the same tap.
What it doesn't say: your history goes too#
Neither text mentions the past. We tested it on our own iPhone on iOS 26, on 1 August 2026: we turned Screen Time off and on again, and the usage history on the device was gone. Yesterday came back empty, and today started again from zero. It can't be recovered. Turning the switch back on starts a new, empty record.
iPhone keeps about four weeks of Screen Time detail, and this switch clears all of it at once. For a clean slate that is the point, and deleting Screen Time history works exactly this way. If you meant to switch it off for a week and back on, it's worth knowing first.
If you only want the nagging gone#
Reminders, limit screens and the weekly notification each have their own switch. Turn off the ones that bother you, and Screen Time keeps counting in the background:
- To stop Downtime, tap Downtime and turn off Scheduled.
- To remove a limit, tap App Limits, swipe left on the limit and tap Delete. Repeat for each one.
- To stop the weekly report notification, tap Customize Notifications and turn off Weekly Report.
- If it's the Screen Time widget on your Home Screen you'd rather not see, touch and hold it and remove it.
- If it's the passcode prompts, you can turn off the Screen Time passcode and leave everything else as it is.
On iOS 27, the same idea uses the new names: turn off Schedule under Screen Time Schedule, and remove a category under Time Allowances with Manage Categories.
On iOS 26, Downtime and App Limits can sit inside App & Website Activity, and Customize Notifications inside Manage Screen Time. If a row isn't where you expect it, look one level down.
Keep your history before you switch it off#
If you've decided to turn it off anyway, save what's there first. Screen Time has no export button, but since iOS 26 a Shortcuts action can read your daily totals, and this is how to export Screen Time data. A screenshot of each week in See All App & Website Activity also works if a picture is enough.
This is the part we build, so judge accordingly. finit keeps your Screen Time history on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud. On the day you set it up, it reaches back as far as the iPhone still remembers, and it keeps the days it has imported after you switch Screen Time off. It can't add new days after that, because it reads the numbers Screen Time records. If you want Screen Time off for good, finit is the wrong app, apart from saving the last four weeks on the way out. If you only wanted the limits gone, the record can keep running without them.
The short answers#
How do I turn off Screen Time on iPhone?
Open Settings, tap Screen Time, then App and Website Activity, scroll down and tap Turn off App and Website Activity. If a Screen Time passcode is set, you need to enter it.
Does turning off Screen Time delete my history?
Yes. In our own test on iOS 26, turning Screen Time off and on again erased the usage history on the iPhone, and counting restarted from zero. It can't be recovered, so save what you need before you switch it off.
How do I get rid of Screen Time limits without turning it off?
Turn off Scheduled under Downtime, delete each limit under App Limits, and switch off Weekly Report under Customize Notifications. Screen Time keeps counting, but the schedules, limits and weekly notification stop.
Can I turn off Screen Time without the passcode?
No. If a Screen Time passcode is set, iPhone asks for it before Screen Time can be switched off. If you forgot it, reset it with the Apple Account you used for Screen Time Passcode Recovery.
A limit takes a minute to set up again. Deleted history doesn't come back. That gap is why finit exists.
