iPad Recovery Mode: How to Enter It, Exit It, and Keep Your Data

iPad recovery mode lets a computer reinstall iPadOS on an iPad that won’t start properly, gets stuck on the Apple logo, keeps restarting, or fails during an update. It’s a useful tool, but it’s also where a lot of people lose their data, because one of the two options it offers erases the iPad completely. Here’s how to enter recovery mode on every kind of iPad, the choice that decides whether your files survive, how to get out of recovery mode, and what it means when the iPad keeps going back to it.

Before you start

You’ll need:

• A Mac or Windows PC. On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, use Finder. On Windows, use the Apple Devices app, or iTunes on versions where Apple Devices isn’t available. On a Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier, use iTunes.
• A working cable that fits your iPad (USB-C or Lightning).
• The latest version of macOS, Apple Devices, or iTunes, if you can update it.

Connect the iPad to the computer and open Finder, Apple Devices, or iTunes before pressing any buttons.

How to enter iPad recovery mode

The button sequence depends on whether your iPad has a Home button on the front.

iPads without a Home button

This covers iPad Pro models with Face ID, and models with Touch ID in the top button, such as recent iPad Air, iPad mini, and the standard iPad from the 10th generation on.

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. Keep holding as the iPad restarts and past the Apple logo, until you see the recovery mode screen: an image of a computer and a cable.

Apple describes the volume buttons by their position relative to the top button, rather than as up and down, because where they sit differs between models. Each press should be quick; only the top button is held. If the iPad just restarts normally, try the sequence again.

iPads with a Home button

1. Press and hold the Home button and the top (or side) button at the same time.
2. Keep holding both past the Apple logo until the recovery mode screen appears.

If the iPad shows the Apple logo and then starts normally, you let go too early. Try again and keep holding.

Update vs. Restore: the choice that matters

Once the iPad is in recovery mode, the computer will say there’s a problem with the iPad that requires it to be updated or restored. You’ll see two buttons.

• Update reinstalls iPadOS and keeps your data. Always try this first, and it’s worth trying more than once.
• Restore erases everything on the iPad and installs a fresh copy of iPadOS. Once a restore starts, your photos, documents, and app data are gone. No lab, Apple Store, or software can bring them back.

Only choose Restore if your data is already backed up in iCloud or on a computer, or you’ve accepted losing what’s on the iPad.

If the download takes more than about 15 minutes, the iPad may leave recovery mode on its own. Let the download finish, then repeat the button sequence and choose Update again.

How to exit iPad recovery mode

If you entered recovery mode by mistake, or want to try starting normally, force restart the iPad:

• Without a Home button: press and quickly release the volume button nearest the top button, press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button, then press and hold the top button until the iPad restarts.
• With a Home button: press and hold the Home button and the top (or side) button together until the Apple logo appears.

If iPadOS is healthy, the iPad starts normally. If it goes straight back to the recovery screen, iPadOS is damaged and needs an Update from the computer.

When the iPad keeps going back to recovery mode

An iPad that loops back to recovery mode, or fails every Update, usually has one of these problems:

• A connection problem during the update. Try a different cable, a different port, and ideally a different computer. Avoid hubs and adapters where you can.
• Out-of-date software on the computer. Update macOS, Apple Devices, or iTunes and try again.
• An error code from the computer. Codes such as 4013 and 4005 usually point to a connection or hardware problem. Our iPhone error 4013 guide explains these codes, which work the same way on iPad.
• Hardware failure. A failing storage chip, liquid damage, or a fault elsewhere on the logic board can make every Update fail.

Our guide to an iPhone stuck in recovery mode walks through the same troubleshooting in more detail, and almost all of it applies to iPads. If the iPad won’t power on at all, see iPad won’t turn on instead.

What about DFU mode?

You may read about DFU mode, a lower-level mode than recovery mode. It’s used to restore an iPad when recovery mode doesn’t work, which means it erases the iPad. If you need your data, DFU mode isn’t the next step.

Your data and iPad recovery mode

iPad storage is encrypted, and the keys are tied to the iPad’s original logic board. That has two consequences:

1. The storage chip can’t simply be removed and read in another iPad or a computer.
2. Recovering data from an iPad that won’t start means getting the original board working well enough to boot, then unlocking it with your passcode.

Recovery mode itself doesn’t erase anything. Entering it, choosing Update, and exiting it are all safe for your data. Only Restore, or a DFU restore, wipes the iPad.

The bottom line

To put an iPad in recovery mode, connect it to a computer, then use the volume-volume-top sequence on iPads without a Home button, or hold Home and top together on iPads with one, and keep holding until the recovery screen appears. Choose Update, never Restore, unless your data is backed up. If Update keeps failing, change the cable, port, and computer before assuming the worst. Once the iPad is working, the 3-2-1 backup rule means a failed update can’t cost you your files again.

If your iPad is stuck in recovery mode and the data on it isn’t backed up, our iPad data recovery service repairs the original logic board enough to boot it and extract your data. You’ll need to know the passcode. It’s one flat $1,200 price for a single device, with free prepaid shipping, and you pay nothing unless the recovery succeeds.