Restarting, Preventing Crashes, and Resetting Your iPad

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An easy-to-follow guide that will help you restart and refresh an iPad

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: May 10, 2023 Tested

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Restarting

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Preventing Crashes

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Resetting to Defaults

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Q&A

Forcing your iPad to restart when it is frozen or sluggish can usually fix the issues you're having. If you are crashing often, you may be able to prevent them by freeing up some space on your iPad. For serious issues, performing a factory reset is usually the best option.

Things You Should Know

First, restart your iPad by holding the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons until the Apple logo appears on-screen.
Prevent your iPad from crashing by deleting unused apps and optimizing storage in Photos.
As a last resort, reset your iPad to factory settings in "Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings."

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Restarting

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The Sleep/Wake button can be found on the top-right side of the iPad. The Home button is the large button in the bottom-center.
The screen will turn off after a few moments. Continue holding the buttons.

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Your iPad will begin booting up. This boot-up process may take a minute or two.^{[1]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Preventing Crashes

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This may be in a folder labeled "Utilities."
The apps will be sorted by the amount of storage they take up. Deleting apps that you don't use can help free up a lot of space.
Tap "Delete App" again to confirm and delete the app. You can download it again at any time from the App Store.
Removing a lot of apps can give you space back and prevent your iPad from locking up.
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Delete music you don't listen to. Music can take up a lot of space on your iPad. remove old tracks to help improve performance:
- Return to the Manage Storage app list in your Settings app.
- Tap the "Music" option in the app list.
- Tap "Edit" in the upper-right corner.
- Tap the "-" and then "Delete" next to any music you want to remove.
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Use the iCloud Photo Library to free up space. The iCloud Photo Library will store your originals on your iCloud account, while keeping a low-quality copy on your iPad. This will free up a lot of space if you have tons of pictures. Be aware that this will count against your iCloud storage limit:
- Tap the Settings app.
- Tap "Photos & Camera."
- Toggle "iCloud Photo Library" on.
- Tap "Optimize Phone Storage."

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Resetting to Defaults

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If your iPad is crashing often, performing a factory reset may be the best way to get it working again. You won't lose anything if you back up to iCloud first, but you will have to resync any iTunes content from your computer.
You'll need to be connected to the internet to perform an iCloud backup. A wireless connection is recommended so that you don't use your data plan.
The back up process may take a while to complete. You'll see the date change to today's date underneath when it is complete.
Tap the "<" button in the upper-left corner twice to return to the list of settings.
You'll find this at the bottom of the list.
You'll need to enter your screen unlock passcode, as well as your Restrictions code if you have one.
This can take 20 minutes or so. You'll see a progress bar underneath the Apple logo.
Once the iPad is finished resetting, the new device setup process will start.
During the setup, log in with your Apple ID when prompted. This will allow you to restore your iCloud backup.
When prompted to restore or set up as new, select "Restore from iCloud." The iPad will download the backup and restore your settings.
The apps that you had installed previously will begin downloading to your iPad again. This can take a while if you had a lot of apps, but you can use your iPad while they install in the background.^{[2]
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Community Q&A

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Question

Why is my iPad not playing any videos?

Community Answer

This can happen for a few reasons. If your software is out of date, you may need to update it to be able to watch videos. If that still doesn't work, then you may need to take your iPad to a repair store as there may be an internal problem.

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Question

How do I delete applications on an iPad?

Community Answer

Press and hold on one of your application icons. After a few seconds, the icons will start to shake and an "X" will appear in the upper right corner of each icon. You can now rearrange the icons or touch the X to delete the app.

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Question

How do I refresh the contents in a game on my iPad?

Community Answer

In the settings of the game, there might be a reset button. If not, you can delete the game and re-download it.

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