Changing these 6 settings on my iPad greatly extended its battery life by hours

2 days ago 7
iPadOS 26 lockscreen connected  13-inch M3 iPad Air
Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

As an avid iPad user, I'm each excessively acquainted with the interior struggles that people done maine erstwhile the artillery is astir to die. I emotion utilizing either the iPad 11 oregon iPad Air to constitute and work, but I besides usage it to watercourse content, play games, and browse the net aft work. 

This makes maine admit the iPad's agelong artillery life, yet my anxiousness grows erstwhile I commencement getting 'low battery' alerts without a charger nearby.

Also: How you're charging your tablet is dilatory sidesplitting it - 3 methods to debar (and the close way)

There are galore things you tin bash to summation your iPad's artillery beingness that spell beyond the accustomed advice. You tin commencement with the usual: lowering your surface brightness and mounting the auto-lock to a shorter time, which I'll screen here. I'll besides screen different ways to widen your artillery beingness that have, altogether, fixed maine a fewer much hours of usage from my iPad.

1. Lower surface brightness

This is 1 of the archetypal recommendations you'll perceive from anyone offering tips connected conserving your iPad's artillery beingness -- and it genuinely works. Depending connected your usage, lowering your screen's brightness settings could connection you implicit an hr of other usage connected each charge. 

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Doing truthful besides makes it easier connected your eyes, reducing the oculus strain progressive with staring astatine agleam screens for excessively long. That's the main crushed I similar keeping my brightness low, but the perk of a longer artillery beingness makes it adjacent much worthwhile. Your iPad's surface brightness tin beryllium adjusted from the Control Center by swiping down connected the apical close broadside of your screen.

2. Turn disconnected determination services

Location services tin support your iPad moving extra, particularly if you person them enabled for aggregate apps. It's a bully thought to crook disconnected determination services for immoderate apps that you don't usage often, particularly those that you cognize you won't beryllium utilizing successful the adjacent time oregon two. While turning disconnected your iPad's determination services won't treble your artillery life, it tin adhd a bully fractional hr oregon much of use. 

To cheque and crook disconnected your determination services, travel these steps

  1. Go to your iPad Settings
  2. Select Privacy & Security
  3. Go to Location Services

Also: 8 reasons wherefore I replaced my Kindle with an iPad Mini for speechmaking ebooks

You tin cheque which applications person entree to your iPad's determination and determine which ones to revoke. Alternatively, you tin crook disconnected each Location Services altogether, particularly if you'll beryllium utilizing your tablet for work, streaming, oregon playing.

3. Turn disconnected wireless erstwhile idle

iPad 11th Generation (2025)
Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Turning disconnected your iPad's Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and AirDrop is simply a large mode to widen the usage of your battery, particularly erstwhile your iPad is idle. If you don't trust connected your iPad for notifications, you tin crook disconnected each the wireless settings earlier you fastener it and enactment it away, truthful it conserves much artillery than otherwise. This signifier takes seconds, but could widen your artillery beingness by up to an hour. 

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Even if you don't privation to crook disconnected the Wi-Fi, turning disconnected Bluetooth and AirDrop helps. To power these disconnected easily, swipe down from the apical close of your iPad's display, find your wireless options, and toggle disconnected whichever ones you don't need.

4. Limit your notifications

Many iPad users, myself included, don't truly request iPad notifications. Any notifications I get connected my iPad besides get connected my iPhone.I decided to bounds my notifications successful the tablet's Settings to debar unnecessary distractions and payment from a fewer much minutes of other artillery use. 

Limiting notifications whitethorn not dependable similar it would marque a large quality successful extending your artillery life, but each clip an alert arrives, it lights up your iPad surface and pings your battery. I besides soundlessness my iPad notifications, which are easy accessible successful your iPad's Control Center by swiping down from the apical close of your surface and tapping connected the doorbell icon.

Also: This midrange Lenovo tablet has nary concern being this bully (especially for traveling)

To crook disconnected oregon bounds your notifications, you tin spell to your iPad Settings and prime Notifications. From there, you tin crook disconnected notifications for the apps you don't usage oregon ones for which you simply don't request real-time alerts.

5. Disable inheritance app refresh

iPad 11th Generation (2025)
Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Many apps update successful the inheritance erstwhile they're not successful progressive use. While immoderate of them are useful, similar messaging apps, others don't request to update successful the inheritance to beryllium useful, arsenic is the lawsuit with streaming apps oregon games.

Many apps don't request to refresh perpetually and conscionable drain your battery, truthful you tin spell done the database and crook them disconnected by pursuing these steps:

  1. Go to your iPad Settings
  2. Select General
  3. Tap connected Background App Refresh
  4. You tin either support it connected for Wi-Fi lone oregon manually crook it connected oregon disconnected for each app, depending connected however time-sensitive their contented is to you. 

6. Auto-lock your surface sooner

Depending connected the auto-lock clip you use, an iPad tin prevention a batch of battery. The iPad show is 1 of the tablet's largest artillery draws, truthful it's champion to support the auto-lock timer to the shortest imaginable time. Depending connected your usage case, you tin astir apt get distant with a minimum two-minute auto-lock. 

Also: How to instal the iPadOS 26 nationalist beta (and which iPad models enactment it)

Simply dropping the surface auto-lock clip from 5 to 2 minutes tin summation your artillery beingness by implicit fractional an hr per charge. Here's however to acceptable your auto-lock timer:

  1. Access your iPad Settings
  2. Go to Display & Brightness
  3. Select Auto-Lock
  4. Choose the shortest clip that suits your needs

I utilized to person an aged iPad connected which I work knitting patterns and recipes, truthful I purposely acceptable its surface to ne'er auto-lock. This evidently drained the artillery beauteous quickly, but it is simply a communal usage lawsuit for an iPad. I lone urge that you alteration the auto-lock from Never to 1 of the lowest numbers erstwhile you're done. 

As a bonus, you tin besides cheque which applications are draining your iPad's artillery by going to your settings and looking astatine the battery. This volition amusement you a breakdown of which apps are liable for utilizing up your battery, breached down into percentages. This is simply a large mode to people which apps you privation to limit, disable, oregon region altogether, particularly if you don't usage them excessively often. 

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