There are four reliable ways to put an Apple TV to sleep, and they work slightly differently depending on which Siri Remote you have. Below is each method, how to wake it back up, the difference between sleeping and turning it off, and — if you actually want the opposite — how to keep the Apple TV awake as a calm bedside sleep-sounds display.
Method 1 — the remote's power button (fastest)
If you have the second-generation Siri Remote or newer (the aluminium one shipped with Apple TV 4K from 2021 onward), it has a dedicated power button in the top-right corner, marked with the ⏻ power icon. Press and hold it for about a second and the Apple TV goes to sleep straight away. If your TV is set up for HDMI-CEC one-remote control, that same press also powers off the TV.
Press and hold the power button again — or any other button — to wake everything back up.
Method 2 — Control Center (works on every Apple TV)
This method works on any Apple TV, including the Apple TV HD and first-generation Apple TV 4K whose remotes don't have a power button:
- Press and hold the TV/Home button — the one with the small TV icon — for about three seconds.
- Control Center slides in from the right.
- Highlight the Sleep button (top row of Control Center) and click it.
The Apple TV sleeps immediately.
Method 3 — Settings → Sleep Now
If a remote button isn't cooperating, or you're already in Settings:
- Open Settings (the grey gear icon).
- Scroll to the very bottom of the main Settings list.
- Select Sleep Now.
Same result — the Apple TV drops to sleep on the spot.
Method 4 — the automatic sleep timer (Sleep After)
To have the Apple TV put itself to sleep after a stretch of inactivity, use the built-in timer:
- Open Settings → General → Sleep After.
- Choose an interval: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 5 hours, 10 hours, or Never.
This is the setting to change in both directions:
- Apple TV keeps sleeping too fast? Set a longer interval.
- Apple TV never sleeps on its own? Pick a shorter interval than "Never."
Waking it up, and sleep vs. "off"
To wake an Apple TV, press any button on the remote (or click the touch surface). It resumes exactly where you left off — sleep preserves your place.
There's a common point of confusion: an Apple TV has no true "off" switch — sleep is its off state. Asleep, it drops to a very low-power standby (well under a watt) and wakes instantly. If you want a genuine power-down, unplug it; to reboot, use Settings → System → Restart.
Whether your television also turns off when the Apple TV sleeps comes down to HDMI-CEC — Apple labels it "Control your TV" / one-remote control under Settings → Remotes and Devices → Home theater control. With it on, sleeping the Apple TV powers the TV off too; with it off, the TV stays on its current input until you switch it manually.
The opposite problem: keeping Apple TV awake for sleep
A lot of people searching "how to sleep Apple TV" actually want the reverse — they want the Apple TV to stay on as a quiet bedside screen with sleep sounds playing all night, not power down after a few minutes. If that's you, there are two pieces:
- Set Settings → General → Sleep After to Never (or a long interval), so the inactivity timer won't cut in.
- Run a native tvOS app that holds the screen on and plays continuous audio. Sleep Sine on Apple TV keeps the display gently lit and plays generative rain, ocean, fire, aurora, or deep-space sound that never loops — until you stop it in the morning. When an app like this is in the foreground, the Apple TV won't sleep on its own.
An Apple TV is genuinely a better all-night sleep display than your phone — the audio isn't tied to your phone's unlock state, the speakers are usually far better, and the phone can charge across the room. For the practical details (real overnight power draw, OLED burn-in mitigations, brightness), see the guide on sleeping with an Apple TV screen on.