How to Remove "Ignore Limit" in Screen Time (Step by Step)

You set a limit. The limit screen appears. You tap Ignore Limit → Ignore Limit for Today, and the limit is gone until midnight. If you've done this more times than you'd like to admit, you're in very good company — it's the single biggest reason Apple Screen Time fails as a self-control tool.

The good news: the button can be removed. The less good news: it doesn't fully solve the problem on its own. Here's how to do both parts properly.

What do the options on the limit screen mean?

When you hit an App Limit without a Screen Time passcode, you get:

• One More Minute — 60 seconds to finish what you're doing.
• Remind Me in 15 Minutes — back in, with the limit screen returning in 15 minutes.
• Ignore Limit for Today — the limit is off until midnight.

With a passcode and Block at End of Limit on, you get Ask For More Time instead, which offers One More Minute (once) and Enter Screen Time Passcode.

How do I remove "Ignore Limit" on iPhone?

Step 1: Set a Screen Time passcode

These steps work on iOS 16 through iOS 26.

1. Open Settings → Screen Time.
2. Tap Lock Screen Time Settings (called "Use Screen Time Passcode" on iOS 16).
3. Enter a 4-digit code. Make it different from your phone's passcode.
4. iOS asks for an Apple ID for passcode recovery — see Step 3 before you choose.

Step 2: Turn on "Block at End of Limit"

1. Settings → Screen Time → App Limits.
2. Tap each limit.
3. Switch on Block at End of Limit.

Now, when the limit hits, "Ignore Limit" is replaced by "Ask For More Time", and going further needs the passcode.

Step 3: Make sure you don't know the passcode

This is the part most guides skip — and it's the whole point. If you set the passcode, you've just moved the "Ignore Limit" button one step further away. At 11pm you'll type four digits instead of tapping once.

To make it real:

• Ask a partner, friend or housemate to type the passcode without showing you.
• Use their Apple ID for recovery, or set it up through Family Sharing with them as organiser — otherwise you can reset it with your own Apple ID in a minute.
• Agree on rules for when they'll unlock it (e.g. never after 10pm).

Step 4: Close the back doors

Even with a passcode, a few loopholes stay open:

• The browser: add the site under Content & Privacy Restrictions → App Store, Media, Web & Games → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites → Never Allow (on iOS 16 to 18.0, the first menu is called Content Restrictions or Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content).
• Delete and reinstall: set Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases → Deleting Apps to Don't Allow.
• Time zone tricks: keep Settings → General → Date & Time → Set Automatically on.

We cover every loophole in Screen Time loopholes: how limits get bypassed.

Why isn't removing "Ignore Limit" enough?

Two reasons.

1. It depends on another person. Handing your passcode to someone works, but it's awkward. You need a person who's around, willing and firm — and you need to be comfortable asking them to unlock your own phone when you genuinely need an app.

2. The limit itself is the wrong shape. App Limits are a daily total. With a hard block, a 30-minute Instagram limit burnt on quick checks by lunch means you're locked out of messages from friends all afternoon. So most people end up raising the limit — or asking for the passcode every day — until the system collapses. We explain why in Why daily Screen Time limits don't work.

Is there a way to make limits stick without handing over my passcode?

Yes — use a tool designed for self-control rather than parental control. Detox is built on three ideas:

• A consecutive-usage limit instead of a daily total. Quick checks are fine, all day. Only when you've been scrolling an app continuously past your limit does Detox hard-block it for a cooldown.
• Strict mode instead of a passcode. While a block is active, you can't edit or delete it — and Detox can stop you deleting the app itself. Nobody else needs to hold a code.
• One emergency unblock per 24 hours. For real emergencies, not for "one more minute", and it's logged.

It's iPhone and iPad only, paid, with a free trial. For a full side-by-side, see Why Apple Screen Time doesn't work — and the alternative that does.

The bottom line

To remove "Ignore Limit": set a Screen Time passcode, turn on "Block at End of Limit", and make sure someone else knows the code. That turns Screen Time from a suggestion into a real lock. If you'd rather not depend on another person — or if a daily total just doesn't match how you use your phone — a strict, session-based blocker is the more durable fix.