Charge the iPad battery
iPad has an internal, lithium-ion rechargeable battery. Lithium-ion technology currently provides the best performance for your device. Compared with traditional battery technology, lithium-ion batteries are lighter, charge faster, last longer, and have a higher power density for more battery life.
To understand how your battery works so you can get the most out of it, see the Apple Lithium-ion Batteries website.
About charging the battery
![Battery icon with a lightning bolt indicates that the battery is charging.](https://help.apple.com/assets/6758C0F05C38883A170CE6F4/6758C0F55C38883A170CE700/en_US/6fd28e9308dec77c114f288f86656d2c.png)
The battery icon in the top-right corner of the status bar shows the battery level or charging status. When you’re syncing or using iPad, it may take longer to charge the battery.
If iPad is very low on power, it may display an image of a nearly depleted battery, indicating that it needs to charge for up to 10 minutes before you can use it. If iPad is extremely low on power when you begin to charge it, the display may be blank for up to 2 minutes before the low-battery image appears. See the Apple Support article If your iPad won’t charge.
Charge the battery
To charge your iPad battery, do one of the following:
Connect iPad to a power outlet using the included cable and power adapter. See Power adapter and charge cable.
Connect iPad and your computer with a cable.
Make sure your computer is turned on—if iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off, the battery may drain instead of charge. Look for
on the battery icon to make sure iPad is charging.
If your Mac or Windows device doesn’t provide enough power to charge iPad, a Not Charging message appears in the status bar.
Note: Don’t try to charge your iPad by connecting it to your keyboard, unless your keyboard has a high-power USB port.
Connecting iPad to a power outlet can start an iCloud backup or wireless computer syncing. See Back up iPad and Sync supported content.
WARNING: If you suspect there may be liquid in the charging port of iPad, don’t plug the charging cable into it. For information about exposure to liquid, and other important safety information about the battery and charging iPad, see Important safety information for iPad.
Battery life and charge cycles vary with use and settings. The iPad battery should be serviced or recycled by Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. See the Battery Service and Recycling website.
To understand how your battery works so you can get the most out of it, see the Apple Lithium-ion Batteries website.