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
Set up and turn on Switch Control on iPad
To set up Switch Control, you need to connect and add one or more switches, then assign an action to each switch. You can choose a scanning style and fine-tune other settings to suit your needs. After you turn on Switch Control, you may need to change the assigned actions or readjust the settings. If you have difficulty performing these steps, you can get personalized help at your nearest Apple Store.
Step 1: Connect an external switch (optional)
If you want to use an adaptive accessory, joystick, game controller, or MFi device for Switch Control, you need to first connect it to iPad by following the manufacturer’s instructions. If the switch connects using Bluetooth®, you need to pair it with iPad.
Turn on the switch.
Go to Settings
> Bluetooth, turn on Bluetooth, tap the name of the switch, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Step 2: Add switches and assign actions
You can use only one switch, or you can use multiple switches to accommodate different actions. Each switch performs an assigned action, such as selecting an item or moving the cursor to the next item.
Go to Settings
> Accessibility > Switch Control > Switches.Tap Add New Switch, then choose External, Screen, Camera, Back Tap, or Sound.
If you’re trying to add an external switch but it isn’t shown in the list, make sure it’s connected to your iPad as described above in Step 1: Connect an external switch (optional).
Assign an action to the switch.
The action for the switch depends on the number of switches you have and the scanning style you choose in Step 3: Choose a scanning style, below. If you don’t know which action to assign, choose Select Item, which is compatible with Auto Scanning (the default scanning style). You can return to this setting later to change the assigned action.
Tip: Turn your iPad into a game controller that uses gestures you’ve already set up, like the same switch (or alternative input method) that you navigate and control your iPad with.
Step 3: Choose a scanning style
By default, the cursor automatically moves from one item to the next after a specified duration. If you prefer to move the cursor manually, you can choose a different scanning style.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control > Scanning Style, then choose one of the following:
Auto Scanning: The cursor automatically moves to the next item after a specified duration. This is the default scanning style.
If you use Auto Scanning with just one switch, make sure the Select Item action is assigned to the switch.
Manual Scanning: When you activate your Move to Next Item switch, the cursor moves to the next item.
Manual Scanning requires at least two switches. Make sure the Move to Next Item action is assigned to one switch, and the Select Item action is assigned to another switch.
Single Switch Step Scanning: When you activate the Move to Next Item switch, the cursor moves to the next item; if no action is taken within a specified duration, the current item is automatically selected.
This scanning style requires only one switch. Make sure the Move to Next Item action is assigned to the switch.
Step 4: Fine-tune Switch Control settings
You can adjust the behavior of Switch Control in a variety of ways, to suit your specific needs and style. For example, you can change the scanning speed or have iPad speak the highlighted items.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control, then adjust any of the following:
Auto Scanning Time: Adjust the item scanning speed.
Pause on First Item: Set scanning to pause on the first item in a group.
Loops: Choose how many times to cycle through the screen before hiding Switch Control.
Move Repeat: Set the delay before moving to the previous or next item while a switch is pressed.
Long Press: Set whether a different action occurs when you press and hold a switch, and how long to wait before performing that action.
Tap Behavior: Choose a tap behavior and set the interval for performing a second switch action to show the Scanner menu.
Focused Item After Tap: Choose whether Switch Control resumes scanning at an item you tap or from the beginning.
Hold Duration: Specify how long you need to press and hold a switch before it’s accepted as a switch action.
Ignore Repeat: Ignore accidental repeated switch triggers.
Sound Effects: Turn on sound effects.
Speech: Speak items as they’re scanned.
Menu Items: Choose the actions shown in the Scanner menu and the order in which they appear.
Group Items: Group items for faster navigation.
Large Cursor: Make the highlight more prominent.
Cursor Color: Choose a different highlight color.
Step 5: Turn on Switch Control
Important: When Switch Control is turned on, you can’t use the standard gestures on the touchscreen to exit Switch Control.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control, then turn on Switch Control.
Tip: You can add Switch Control to Accessibility Shortcut, then quickly turn it on or off by triple-clicking the Home button (on an iPad with a Home button) or the top button (on other iPad models).