Charge and monitor the iPad battery

: June 7, 2024
: Apple

Table of Contents

Charge and monitor the iPad battery

Charge and monitor 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.

WARNING: For important safety information about the battery and charging iPad, see Important safety information for iPad.

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 Accessories included with iPad.

Note: Connecting iPad to a power outlet can start an iCloud backup or wireless computer syncing. See Back up iPad and Sync iPad with your computer.

Connect iPad and your computer with a cable.

If your Mac or PC 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.

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.

Important: If iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off, the iPad battery may drain instead of charge. Look for on the battery icon to make sure iPad is charging.

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.

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.

Show the percentage of battery remaining in the status bar

Go to Settings > Battery, then turn on Battery Percentage.

View your battery usage information

Go to Settings > Battery.

Information about your battery usage and activity appears for the last 24 hours and up to the last 10 days.

Insights and suggestions: You might see insights about conditions or usage patterns that cause iPad to consume energy. You might also see suggestions for lowering energy consumption. If a suggestion appears, you can tap it to go to the related setting.
Last Charge Level: Indicates how fully the battery was last charged and the time it was disconnected.
Battery Level graph (in Last 24 Hours): Shows the battery level, charging intervals, and periods when iPad was in Low Power Mode or the battery was critically low.
Battery Usage graph (in Last 10 Days): Shows the percentage of battery used each day.
Activity graph: Shows activity over time, split by whether the screen was on or off.
Screen On and Screen Off: Shows total activity for the selected time interval, for when the screen was on and when it was off. The Last 10 Days view shows the average per day.
Battery Usage by App: Shows the proportion of the battery used by each app in the selected time interval.
Activity by App: Shows the amount of time each app was used in the selected time interval.

Note: To see battery information for a specific hour or day, tap that time interval in the graph. To deselect it, tap outside the graph.

Rechargeable batteries, like those found in iPad, have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. The iPad battery should be replaced 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.