Whether you use one for work or entertainment, the iPad is one of the most revolutionary devices of the 21st century. But, without a dedicated operating system, the iPad felt more like an extension of your phone than a standalone device. Thankfully, Apple’s new iPad OS has been designed from the ground up to provide the best tablet experience possible.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to check your tablet for compatibility, back up your device, and install the new operating system.
Have an iPhone and want to install iOS 13? Check out our guide on how todownload and install iOS 13.
Compatible devices
Before installing iPadOS, you’ll need to make sure your iPad is compatible with the new operating system. Apple is known for supporting devices for a long time, but some older models won’t get the update, so it’s worth checking the list below to see if your iPad will get support.
Downloading and installing iPadOS
Installing iPadOS onto your device is really super simple. Here’s how to get iPadOS on your iPad. Note, if you think you might not like iPadOS and might want to roll back to iOS 12, then it’s worth creating a backup before you start. Check out the instructions below on creating a backup.
Back up your iPad
Think you might want to roll back to iOS 12 after updating your device? In that case, you should make a backup before upgrading.
There are two ways to back up your iPad — using iCloud, or through iTunes.
Backing up using iCloud
Backing up your iPad using iCloud is the easiest method. Here’s how to do it for yourself.
If you’re unsure as to whether the backup is complete, you may head toSettings, then tapiCloud > iCloud Storage > Manage Storage, then tap on the device on the list.
Backing up on a Mac running MacOS Catalina
MacOS Catalina no longer has iTunes, so backing up your device on a Mac is a little different than it used to be. If you’re running MacOS Catalina, you’ll instead use the Finder app. Here’s how it’s done.
Backing up on a Mac or PC with iTunes
If you have a Mac with Mojave or older, or a PC with iTunes, then you’ll use iTunes to back up your iPad. Here’s how to do it.
Rolling back from iPadOS to iOS 12
If you created a backup of your device before upgrading to iPadOS, you can downgrade back to iOS 12. Here’s how to roll back from iPadOS to iOS 12.
Restore from an iCloud backup
Here’s how to restore your device from an iCloud backup from before you updated to iOS 12.
Restore from an iTunes backup
Did you make an iTunes backup instead? Here’s how to restore from an iTunes backup.
