iPad User Guide
- Welcome
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- iPad models compatible with iPadOS 18
- iPad mini (5th generation)
- iPad mini (6th generation)
- iPad mini (A17 Pro)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (8th generation)
- iPad (9th generation)
- iPad (10th generation)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Air (5th generation)
- iPad Air 11-inch (M2)
- iPad Air 13-inch (M2)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
- iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)
- Setup basics
- Make your iPad your own
- Keep in touch with friends and family
- Customize your workspace
- Do more with Apple Pencil
- Customize iPad for your child
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- What’s new in iPadOS 18
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- Change or turn off sounds
- Create a custom Lock Screen
- Change the wallpaper
- Adjust the screen brightness and color balance
- Customize the text size and zoom setting
- Change the name of your iPad
- Change the date and time
- Change the language and region
- Use and customize Control Center
- Change your default web browser or email app
- Rotate your iPad screen
- Customize sharing options
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- Create and edit events in Calendar
- Send invitations
- Reply to invitations
- Change how you view events
- Search for events
- Change Calendar settings
- Schedule or display events in a different time zone
- Keep track of events
- Use multiple calendars
- Use reminders in Calendar
- Use the Holidays calendar
- Share iCloud calendars
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- Get started with FaceTime
- Create a FaceTime link
- Take a Live Photo
- Turn on Live Captions
- Use other apps during a call
- Make a Group FaceTime call
- View participants in a grid
- Use SharePlay to watch, listen, and play together
- Share your screen in a FaceTime call
- Request or give remote control in a FaceTime call
- Collaborate on a document in a FaceTime call
- Use video conferencing features
- Hand off a FaceTime call to another Apple device
- Change the FaceTime video settings
- Change the FaceTime audio settings
- Change your appearance
- Leave a call or switch to Messages
- Block a FaceTime call and report it as spam
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- Get started with Freeform
- Create a Freeform board
- Draw or handwrite
- Solve handwritten math problems
- Add text in sticky notes, shapes, and text boxes
- Add shapes, lines, and arrows
- Add diagrams
- Add photos, videos, and other files
- Apply consistent styles
- Position items on a board
- Navigate and present scenes
- Send a copy or PDF
- Print a board
- Share boards and collaborate
- Search Freeform boards
- Delete and recover boards
- Change Freeform settings
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- Intro to Home
- Upgrade to the new Home architecture
- Set up accessories
- Control accessories
- Control your home using Siri
- Use Grid Forecast to plan your energy usage
- View electricity usage and rates
- Set up HomePod
- Control your home remotely
- Create and use scenes
- Use automations
- Set up security cameras
- Use Face Recognition
- Configure a router
- Invite others to control accessories
- Add more homes
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- Set up Messages
- About iMessage
- Send and reply to messages
- Send later
- Unsend and edit messages
- Keep track of messages
- Search
- Forward and share messages
- Group conversations
- Watch, listen, or play together using SharePlay
- Share screens
- Collaborate on projects
- Use iMessage apps
- Take and edit photos or videos
- Share photos, links, and more
- Send stickers
- Create and send Memoji
- React with Tapbacks
- Style and animate messages
- Draw and handwrite messages
- Send and save GIFs
- Request, send, and receive payments
- Send and receive audio messages
- Share your location
- Turn read receipts on or off
- Change notifications
- Block, filter, and report messages
- Delete messages and attachments
- Recover deleted messages
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- Get music
- Customize Music
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- Play music
- Use the music player controls
- Use Siri to play music
- Play lossless audio
- Play Spatial Audio
- Listen to radio
- Play music together using SharePlay
- Play music together in the car
- Adjust the sound
- Queue up your music
- Shuffle or repeat songs
- Apple Music Sing
- Show song credits and lyrics
- Tell Apple Music what you enjoy
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- Get started with Notes
- Create and format notes
- Use Quick Notes
- Add drawings and handwriting
- Enter formulas and equations
- Add photos, video, and more
- Record and transcribe audio
- Scan text and documents
- Work with PDFs
- Add links
- Search notes
- Organize in folders
- Organize with tags
- Use Smart Folders
- Share and collaborate
- Export or print notes
- Lock notes
- Add or remove accounts
- Change the Notes view
- Change Notes settings
- Use keyboard shortcuts
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- Use passwords on iPad
- Find your password for a website or app
- Change the password for a website or app
- Remove a password
- Recover a deleted password
- Create a password for a website or app
- Use passkeys to sign in to apps and websites
- Sign in with Apple
- Share passwords
- Automatically fill in strong passwords
- Change weak or compromised passwords
- View your passwords and related information
- Find your Wi-Fi password
- Share passwords securely with AirDrop
- Make your passwords available on all your devices
- Automatically fill in verification codes
- Sign in with fewer CAPTCHA challenges
- Use two-factor authentication
- Use security keys
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- Get started with Photos
- View photos and videos
- See photo and video information
- Customize the Photos app
- Filter and sort the photo library
- Back up and sync your photos with iCloud
- Delete or hide photos and videos
- Search for photos and videos
- Get wallpaper suggestions
- Make stickers from your photos
- Duplicate and copy photos and videos
- Merge duplicate photos
- Import and export photos and videos
- Print photos
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- Get started with Reminders
- Set reminders
- Make a grocery list
- Add details
- Complete and remove items
- Edit and organize a list
- Search your lists
- Organize multiple lists
- Tag items
- Use Smart Lists
- Share and collaborate
- Print a list
- Work with templates
- Add or remove accounts
- Change Reminders settings
- Use keyboard shortcuts
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- Browse the web
- Search for websites
- See highlights
- Customize your Safari settings
- Change the layout
- Create multiple Safari profiles
- Use Siri to listen to a webpage
- Bookmark a website
- Bookmark a website as a favorite
- Save pages to a Reading List
- Find links shared with you
- Annotate and save a webpage as a PDF
- Automatically fill in forms
- Get extensions
- Clear your cache and cookies
- Enable cookies
- Shortcuts
- Tips
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- Get started with Apple Intelligence
- Use Writing Tools
- Use Apple Intelligence in Mail
- Use Apple Intelligence in Messages
- Use Apple Intelligence with Siri
- Get webpage summaries
- Get a summary of an audio recording
- Use Apple Intelligence in Photos
- Summarize notifications and reduce interruptions
- Apple Intelligence and privacy
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- Power adapter and charge cable
- Use headphone audio-level features
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- Apple Pencil compatibility
- Pair and charge Apple Pencil (1st generation)
- Pair and charge Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
- Pair and charge Apple Pencil (USB-C)
- Pair and charge Apple Pencil Pro
- Enter text with Scribble
- Draw with Apple Pencil
- Take and mark up a screenshot with Apple Pencil
- Quickly write notes
- HomePod and other wireless speakers
- External storage devices
- Connect Bluetooth accessories
- Play audio from your iPad on a Bluetooth accessory from your iPad
- Apple Watch with Fitness+
- Printers
- Polishing cloth
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- Work across devices using Continuity
- Use AirDrop to send items to nearby devices
- Hand off tasks between devices
- Cut, copy, and paste between iPad and other devices
- Stream video or mirror the screen of your iPad
- Allow phone calls and text messages on your iPad
- Share your internet connection with Personal Hotspot
- Use iPad as a webcam for Apple TV
- Insert sketches, photos, and scans on Mac
- Use iPad as a second display for Mac
- Use a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across your Mac and iPad
- Connect iPad and your computer with a cable
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- Get started with accessibility features
- Use accessibility features during setup
- Change Siri accessibility settings
- Quickly turn accessibility features on or off
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- Overview of accessibility features for vision
- Zoom in
- View a larger version of text you’re reading or typing
- Change display colors
- Make text easier to read
- Reduce onscreen motion
- Use iPad more comfortably while riding in a vehicle
- Customize per-app visual settings
- Hear what’s on the screen or typed
- Hear audio descriptions
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- Turn on and practice VoiceOver
- Change your VoiceOver settings
- Use VoiceOver gestures
- Operate iPad when VoiceOver is on
- Control VoiceOver using the rotor
- Use the onscreen keyboard
- Write with your finger
- Keep the screen off
- Use VoiceOver with an external keyboard
- Use a braille display
- Type braille on the screen
- Customize gestures and keyboard shortcuts
- Use VoiceOver with a pointer device
- Get live descriptions of your surroundings
- Use VoiceOver in apps
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- Overview of accessibility features for mobility
- Use AssistiveTouch
- Use an adjustable onscreen trackpad on iPad
- Control iPad with the movement of your eyes
- Adjust how iPad responds to your touch
- Auto-answer calls
- Change Face ID and attention settings
- Use Voice Control commands
- Adjust the top or Home button
- Use Apple TV Remote buttons
- Adjust pointer settings
- Adjust keyboard settings
- Control iPad with an external keyboard
- Adjust AirPods settings
- Adjust double tap and squeeze settings for Apple Pencil
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- Overview of accessibility features for hearing
- Use hearing devices
- Use Live Listen
- Use sound recognition
- Set up and use RTT
- Flash the indicator light for notifications
- Adjust audio settings
- Play background sounds
- Display subtitles and captions
- Show transcriptions for Intercom messages
- Get live captions of spoken audio
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- Control what you share
- Turn on Lock Screen features
- Keep your Apple Account secure
- Create and manage Hide My Email addresses
- Protect your web browsing with iCloud Private Relay
- Use a private network address
- Use Advanced Data Protection
- Use Lockdown Mode
- Receive warnings about sensitive content
- Use Contact Key Verification
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- Important safety information
- Important handling information
- Find more resources for software and service
- FCC compliance statement
- ISED Canada compliance statement
- Apple and the environment
- Class 1 Laser information
- Disposal and recycling information
- Unauthorized modification of iPadOS
- ENERGY STAR compliance statement
- Copyright
Use AssistiveTouch on iPad
With AssistiveTouch on iPad, you can adapt the touchscreen to fit your needs. If certain gestures don’t work for you, replace them with a tap or alternate gesture, or use a simple sound. You can also use AssistiveTouch when you need to press iPad buttons. You can use AssistiveTouch without any accessory or with a compatible adaptive accessory (such as a joystick).
You can use AssistiveTouch to perform actions such as the following:
Go to the Home Screen
Double-tap
Perform multifinger gestures
Perform scroll gestures
Activate Siri
Access Control Center, notifications, the Lock Screen, or the App Switcher
Adjust the volume on iPad
Shake iPad
Take a screenshot
Use Apple Pay
Speak screen
Adjust dwell settings
Control Analytics
Restart iPad
Set up AssistiveTouch
Siri: Say something like: “Turn on AssistiveTouch” or “Turn off AssistiveTouch.” Learn how to use Siri.
Or do the following:
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch.Turn on AssistiveTouch. The AssistiveTouch menu button
appears on the screen.To customize AssistiveTouch, tap any of the following:
Customize Top Level Menu: Tap an icon to change its action. Tap
or 
to change the number of icons in the menu. The menu can have up to eight icons.Single-Tap, Double-Tap, or Long Press: Assign custom actions that run when you interact with the menu button.
Create New Gesture: Add your favorite gestures.
Idle Opacity: Adjust the visibility of the menu button when not in use.
Virtual Trackpad: Turn a small region of the screen into a resizable trackpad. See Use an adjustable onscreen trackpad on iPad.
Confirm with AssistiveTouch: On an iPad with Face ID, use AssistiveTouch to confirm payments with Face ID instead of double-clicking the top button. Or on iPad (10th generation), iPad mini (6th generation), iPad mini (A17 Pro), and iPad Air (4th generation and later), use AssistiveTouch to confirm payments with your passcode instead of double-clicking the top button.
Tip: To quickly turn AssistiveTouch on or off, you can set up the Accessibility Shortcut, then triple-click the top or Home button.
Use AssistiveTouch
When AssistiveTouch is on, tap the AssistiveTouch menu button , then choose an action or gesture.
To return to the previous menu, tap the arrow in the center of the menu. To exit the menu without performing a gesture, tap anywhere outside the menu.
To move the AssistiveTouch menu button, drag it to a new location on the screen.
For a multifinger gesture, do the following:
Pinch and Rotate: Tap Custom, then tap Pinch and Rotate. When the two pinch circles appear, touch anywhere on the screen to move the pinch circles, then drag them in or out to perform a pinch or rotate gesture. When you finish, tap the menu button.
Multifinger swipe or drag: Tap Device > More > Gestures, then tap the number of digits needed for the gesture. When the circles appear on the screen, swipe or drag in the direction required by the gesture. When you finish, tap the menu button.
Control iPad with a pointer device
You can connect Bluetooth® and USB assistive pointer devices, such as trackpads, game controllers, and mouse devices.
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch.Turn on AssistiveTouch.
Below Pointer Devices, tap any of the following:
Devices: Pair or unpair devices and customize buttons.
Mouse Keys: Allow the AssistiveTouch pointer to be controlled using the keyboard.
Pointer Style: Adjust the size, color, and auto-hide settings.
Show Onscreen Keyboard: Display the onscreen keyboard.
Sound on Click: Play a sound when the pointer device is clicked.
Always Show Menu: Show the AssistiveTouch menu when a pointer device is connected.
Tracking Sensitivity: Adjust how quickly the pointer moves when you drag the mouse or your finger on the trackpad.
You can also change the appearance of the pointer.
Set up Dwell Control
iPad performs a selected action when you hold the cursor still on a screen element or an area of the screen.
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, then turn on Dwell Control.Adjust any of the following:
Fallback Action: Turn on to revert the dwell action to the selected fallback action after performing an operation.
Movement Tolerance: Adjust the distance the cursor can move while dwelling on an item.
Hot Corners: Perform a selected action—such as take a screenshot, open Control Center, activate Siri, scroll, or use a shortcut—when the cursor dwells in a corner of the screen.
Time needed to initiate a dwell action: Tap
or .
Use simple sounds to perform gestures
With AssistiveTouch, you can have iPad perform a gesture or other action when you make a simple sound, such as a mouth pop or an S-sound.
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, then turn AssistiveTouch on.Tap Sound Actions, then tap a sound.
Select the gesture or other action you want performed when you make the sound.
To perform the gesture or action, just make the sound.
Create custom gestures
You can add gestures you use often (such as touch and hold or two-finger rotation) to the AssistiveTouch menu. You can even create several gestures with, for example, different degrees of rotation.
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch > Create New Gesture.Perform your gesture on the recording screen. For example:
Touch-and-hold gesture: Touch and hold your finger in one spot until the recording progress bar reaches halfway, then lift your finger. Be careful not to move your finger while recording, or the gesture will be recorded as a drag.
Two-finger rotation gesture: Rotate two fingers on the iPad screen around a point between them. (You can do this with a single finger or stylus—just create each arc separately, one after the other.)
If you record a sequence of taps or drag gestures, they’re all played back at the same time. For example, using one finger or a stylus to record four separate, sequential taps at four locations on the screen creates a simultaneous four-finger tap.
If your gesture doesn’t turn out quite right, tap Cancel, then try again.
When you’re satisfied with your gesture, tap Save, then name the gesture.
To use your custom gesture, tap the AssistiveTouch menu button , tap Custom, then choose the gesture. When the blue circles representing your gesture appear, drag them to where you want to use the gesture, then release.