No products in the cart.
How to put iPad into recovery mode
If you find your iPad is frozen, become unresponsive, or has stopped working during a software update, before seeking an iPad repair, it might be worth putting it into recovery mode might help to fix the issue. Putting an iPad into recovery mode allows you to easily reset it, or re-install the iOS.
Be mindful that if your iPad needs to be reset, and software re-installed, this will delete everything off it so it’s important to get into the habit of making regular backups (that you can restore after the reset) to avoid this happening. The process of putting your iPad into recovery mode will be different depending on which model you have. It’s best to ensure your iPad has enough charge so won’t turn off mid-way through the process.
Put iPad into recovery mode – models with a home button
These instructions work for older models with a home button made before 2018. If your iPad has no home button, see the instructions further down. If able, turn iPad off before starting this process.
- Force restart your iPad by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake and the Home button (at the same time). The Apple logo will flash onscreen.
- Keep holding until the recovery mode screen comes up.
- Connect your iPad to a computer using a USB model.
Put iPad into recovery mode – models after 2018 with no home button
The newer model iPads (after 2018) no longer have a home button so a different series of buttons will access recovery mode.
- Turn off your iPad by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button at the top and the volume up or volume down button until you see the power-off slider.
- Slide the power-off slider to turn off.
- While holding the Sleep/Wake button at the top, connect your iPad to your computer with a USB cable.
- Keep holding until the recovery mode screen comes up.
What to do with iPad recovery mode
Once your iPad is in recovery mode, you will have about 15 minutes before it automatically exits. If you find this happens just follow the same process as above to get it back into recovery mode.
Once in recovery mode and connected to your computer, you will have the option on your computer screen to ‘Restore’ or ‘Update’ your iPad. If you are unsure what is wrong with your iPad, the first option to try is ‘Update’ as you won’t lose any of your data or settings. If this doesn’t work, next try the ‘Restore’ option. Remember that this will delete everything off your iPad so it’s strongly advised that you have a recent backup to prevent this.
Whichever option you choose, once it is successfully completed, you will be prompted to set up your device.
iPad Data Recovery
If you find this process doesn’t fix the issue or you don’t have a backup to restore after deleting all data from your iPad there is still hope. We suggest you contact a reputable repairer to help recover your data. Here at Phone Expert, we have repaired 1000’s of iPads and recovered data from them even when everything seems lost. Please request a quote or contact us to discuss your issue.