Force Quitting an App: If an app seems unresponsive or is draining your battery abnormally, force quitting it can help. For iPads with a Home button, double-press it to see your open apps, then swipe the app up to close it. For iPads without a Home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle, then swipe the app up.
Uninstalling an App: If an app continues to be a battery hog even after force quitting, consider uninstalling it, at least temporarily, to see if your battery life improves. You can always re-download it later.
The iPad screen is amazing, but it’s also one of the biggest power consumers. A brighter screen means more power used.
Simply lowering your screen brightness can make a noticeable difference in battery life.
Auto-Brightness adjusts your screen brightness based on ambient light. This is generally a good setting to have enabled, as it prevents your screen from being unnecessarily bright in darkened rooms.
To check if it’s on:
Your iPad uses power to search for and maintain wireless connections. When signals are weak, your iPad works harder, draining the battery.
While essential, keeping Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on constantly when you’re not using them can consume battery. You can toggle them on and off from Control Center.
However, be aware that tapping the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth icon in Control Center only temporarily disconnects them. To truly turn them off, you need to go into Settings:
Turning them off completely will save more battery, but remember to turn them back on when you need them!
If you have an iPad with cellular capabilities, using cellular data can be a bigger battery drain than Wi-Fi. If you’re at home or work where Wi-Fi is strong, it’s best to use Wi-Fi instead.
You can manage cellular data usage here:
Also, if you’re in an area with very poor cellular reception, your iPad will use much more power trying to find a signal. Airplane Mode can be a lifesaver in these situations.
Many apps use your iPad’s location to provide services like navigation or to tag photos. Each time an app accesses your location, it uses battery power.
You can control which apps have access to your location and when.
You can also turn off System Services (like significant locations, location-based alerts, etc.) if you’re willing to disable those features to save battery. For example, “Significant Locations” tracks places you visit most often, which can be a battery drain.
Every time an app sends you a notification, your iPad screen lights up, it makes a sound, and it uses a small amount of battery. If you get hundreds of notifications a day, it adds up.
Take control of which apps can ping you.
How long your iPad screen stays on before locking can impact battery. The longer it stays lit, the more power it uses.
Set your iPad to lock itself automatically after a shorter period of inactivity.
This ensures your screen turns off quickly when you’re not actively using it.
On some iPad models, simply picking up your iPad can wake the screen. While a neat feature, it can also inadvertently turn on your screen when you don’t intend to. You can disable this:
Apple often releases software updates that include battery performance improvements and bug fixes. Sometimes, a battery drain issue is a known bug that gets fixed in a new update.
Ensure your iPad is running the latest version of iPadOS.
It’s a good idea to connect your iPad to Wi-Fi and have it plugged into power before starting a software update, especially if it’s a major one.
Learn more about iPadOS updates directly from Apple here: How to update iPadOS.
Like all rechargeable batteries, the battery in your iPad has a limited lifespan. Over time, its capacity to hold a charge decreases.
You can check your battery’s maximum capacity percentage.
If your battery health is significantly degraded (e.g., below 80%), you might notice a substantial drop in battery life. At this point, the best solution is to have your battery replaced by Apple or an authorized service provider.
You can find more information on battery service here: iPad Battery Replacement – Apple Support.
iPadOS uses animations and visual effects to make the interface feel fluid and responsive. While pleasing to the eye, these can consume extra processing power and thus battery.
You can reduce the animations on your iPad to save a bit of battery life and make the interface feel snappier.
This will simplify some of the visual effects, like screen transitions and the parallax motion of icons. It might not seem like much, but every little bit helps!
Most email accounts on your iPad are set up to “Push” when new messages arrive or to “Fetch” them at set intervals. Fetching can be less battery-intensive than pushing.
Let’s optimize how your email is downloaded.
You can also disable “Push” for accounts that don’t need instant email delivery. For most users, setting accounts to fetch rather than push is a good compromise.
Beyond Background App Refresh, other system services can consume battery in the background.
As mentioned earlier, this feature tracks places you frequent. While it can be used for personalized services, it does consume battery.
While you’re in System Services, take a look at other toggles like Location-Based Alerts, HomeKit, Find My iPad, etc. Only keep enabled those you actively use and find essential.
Understanding where your battery is going is key. Here’s a general idea of what uses the most power:
| Activity | Battery Impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Screen On (High Brightness) | Very High | The display is a dominant power consumer. |
| Cellular Data (Poor Signal) | High | iPad’s modem works overtime to find a signal. |
| Background App Refresh (Complex Tasks) | Moderate to High | Apps fetching large amounts of data or updating frequently. |
| Location Services (Always On) | Moderate | Continuous GPS tracking for multiple apps. |
| Gaming / Video Streaming | Moderate to High | Intensive processing and screen usage. |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth (Active Use) | Low to Moderate | Higher when searching for connections. |
| Push Notifications | Low (cumulative) | Each notification uses a small amount of power. |
If you’ve tried everything else and your battery is still draining, sometimes a settings reset can clear out corrupted or conflicting settings that are causing power drain. This is not a factory reset; it won’t delete your apps or data.
This process will revert all your custom settings to their defaults, including Wi-Fi passwords, VPN configurations, and notification settings. You’ll need to set them up again afterward.
Your iPad will then restart. After it reboots, check your battery performance. If the issue is resolved, you can reconfigure your preferred settings.
As we touched on, batteries degrade over time. If your iPad is several years old and its battery health is below 80%, it might be time for a replacement if software tweaks don’t help.
Apple offers battery service for iPads. You can check your eligibility and pricing on their official support page: iPad Repair – Apple Support.
It’s best to charge your iPad when the battery gets low, ideally before it drops below 20%. You don’t need to wait for it to die completely. Charging it overnight is generally fine as modern iPads have charge management features to prevent overcharging.
Generally, no. iPadOS is designed to manage apps efficiently in the background. Force quitting apps frequently can actually use more battery power because your iPad has to relaunch them from scratch next time. Focus on managing background refresh and identifying truly problematic apps instead.
Using your iPad while charging will generate more heat. If done excessively, this heat can degrade the battery faster over time. However, for occasional use, it’s usually not a significant issue. For best battery health, it’s ideal to let it charge without heavy usage.
Even new iPads can experience rapid battery drain if certain settings are maxed out or if a newly installed app is misbehaving. Check your battery usage by app (Settings > Battery) to see if one app is responsible. Also, ensure Background App Refresh and Location Services are managed reasonably.
Yes, absolutely. Both very hot and very cold temperatures can temporarily reduce battery life or cause permanent damage if sustained. Avoid leaving your iPad in direct sunlight or in a freezing car for extended periods.
Battery Health indicates the current capacity of your battery compared to when it was new. Over time, chemical aging causes batteries to hold less charge. A lower battery health percentage means your iPad will naturally last less time on a full charge, and it might also lead to unexpected shutdowns. You can check this in Settings > Battery > Battery Health.
If you plan to store your iPad for an extended period (months), charge it to about 50% before turning it off. Store it in a cool, dry place. Avoid extreme temperatures. This “half-charged” state helps preserve battery health during long-term storage.
Seeing your iPad battery drain faster than it should can be a real buzzkill, but as we’ve explored, it’s rarely an unsolvable mystery. By systematically going through settings like Background App Refresh, Screen Brightness, Location Services, and Notifications, you can identify and resolve most common battery drain issues.
Remember that your iPad is a powerful tool designed to make your life easier, and a healthy battery is key to that experience. Don’t forget to check your battery usage by app regularly and keep your iPadOS updated for the latest optimizations. If you discover your battery health is declining significantly, a replacement is the next logical step to restoring performance.
By implementing these tips, you can transform your iPad from a power-hungry device into the reliable companion it’s meant to be. Now go forth and enjoy your extended battery life – whether for work, study, or play!
