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On 16 August Codrington, de Rigny and Geiden tried to arrange an armistice but the Turks declined the terms of the armistice. Showing defiance to the Allies, the Ottoman officers pretended not to know Ibrahim Pasha's whereabouts. The Greeks quickly agreed when it was shown to them on 2 September.

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The Allied commanders decided to anchor their ships in Navarino Bay, amid the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet. The Allied fleet entered in two lines, one formed by the English and French ships, the other by the Russian ships. The Ottoman-Egyptian fleet was anchored in a horseshoe formation, and the Allied fleet anchored in the empty area in the centre of this horseshoe — the British facing the Ottoman-Egyptian battleships and frigates on the east, the French north of these, and the Russians on the western side. French frigates took up position south of the British battleships facing the Egyptian frigates since it was thought that the French sailors in the Egyptian fleet might hesitate to fire on their countrymen, and the smaller British ships dealt with the fireships and corvettes near the entrance. While the fleet was still anchoring, the captain of the British frigate Dartmouth sent a boat to an Ottoman ship anchored close by in order to demand that a fireship which was close to one of the British ships and appeared to be being set alight be removed. For reasons not quite clear, the Ottomans fired on the boat, killing the officer in command and several crew members. The frigate Dartmouth opened fire, then an Ottoman corvette in the 2nd line fired on the French flagship, Sirène, and within a short time, the entire Allied fleet became engaged, as well as the Russian ships which were still entering the harbour. Heavier Allied broadsides and better gunnery quickly told, and in a few hours, three quarters of the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet was either sunk or set on fire by their own crews. On 17 November it was reported that the Ottoman-Egyptian ships remaining afloat in Navarino Bay were 1 battleship and 4 frigates damaged, and 1 rasée battleship, 2 frigates, 5 corvettes, 11 brigs and 5 schooners ready for sea, although this included some ships from Modon which had arrived after the battle (see this page for figures). Allied casualties were about 181 men killed and about 480 men wounded; Ottoman and Egyptian casualties were given as 4109 (3000 killed and 1109 wounded, although those figures might be reversed).

After the battle the Allied fleet remained in Navarino Bay until 26 October. Several Allied ships were badly damaged — Azov had been hit 153 times, 7 of them below the waterline, and was not fully repaired until March 1828. Gangut and Iezekiil were damaged too. The British arrived at Malta on 3 November, and the Russians on 8 November. Albion, Asia and Genoa were sent to England for repairs, while the French ships went to Toulon.

An Egyptian corvette left Navarino Bay on 27 October and arrived in Alexandria on 2 November with news of the battle. Other survivors made their way to Alexandria around the end of the year.

The most important result of this battle was that it crippled the Ottomans and Egyptians at sea. Their land forces in the Morea were unaffected, however. After tense negotiations the main Egyptian army returned to Egypt in September and October 1828, leaving the Ottomans no more than 1200 men in control of 5 forts. The French immediately sent troops in defiance of the agreement to remove these, and with the help of some British sailors, the Morea was cleared of Ottoman forces. The last holdout was Morea Castle, near Patrai, which fell 1 November 1828. After this, Greece (consisting of the Morea and surrounding islands) was independent. The capital was Nauplion. In March 1829 this territory had been expanded through offensive action by Greek forces north to a line from the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Volos.