You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
I'm trying to set up a new ipad and I keep getting a message: Cannot activate because the activation server is not available.
iPad Pro 9.7-inch WiFi, Cellular
There are multiple potential causes of this problem. If “waiting until later” has failed to provide satisfactory results, something other than availability of the Activation Server may be the cause. Here are some potential resolutions...
As an alternative to direct activation from the iPad itself, you might try activation by connecting the iPad to your PC (with iTunes installed) or a Mac (with iTunes or Finder).
It is possible that your WiFi router is unexpectedly blocking access to some internet/server resources - which might be resolved by a restart of your router.
To restart you home router, disconnect power - then wait at least 30 seconds before restarting. When you router has rebooted (which may take several minutes), force-restart your iPad:
It is also possible that your currently selected DNS servers(s) are not resolving, or a blocking, some resource addresses. Changing your DNS Server IP Addresses might resolve this problem.
For recommended DNS servers (configured at your home router and/or your iPad), you might choose one of the following highly regarded Recursive DNS Providers (IPv4 and IPv6 addresses included below). Where your local network is dual-stack, you should enter both the IPv4 and IPv6 redundant server addresses.
Quad9
9.9.9.9
149.112.112.112
2620:fe::fe
2620:fe::9
OpenDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
2620:0:ccc::2
2620:0:ccd::2
Cloudflare+APNIC
1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1
2606:4700:4700::1111
2606:4700:4700::1001
If restart of your home router - or changing your DNS Server settings do not resolve the issue, you should directly contact Apple Support for assistance
Should it be necessary to escalate your issue to Apple Support, the quickest route to engaging with Apple Support will be via the Contact Support link at top-right of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate a support case using the Apple Support App:
There are multiple potential causes of this problem. If “waiting until later” has failed to provide satisfactory results, something other than availability of the Activation Server may be the cause. Here are some potential resolutions...
As an alternative to direct activation from the iPad itself, you might try activation by connecting the iPad to your PC (with iTunes installed) or a Mac (with iTunes or Finder).
It is possible that your WiFi router is unexpectedly blocking access to some internet/server resources - which might be resolved by a restart of your router.
To restart you home router, disconnect power - then wait at least 30 seconds before restarting. When you router has rebooted (which may take several minutes), force-restart your iPad:
It is also possible that your currently selected DNS servers(s) are not resolving, or a blocking, some resource addresses. Changing your DNS Server IP Addresses might resolve this problem.
For recommended DNS servers (configured at your home router and/or your iPad), you might choose one of the following highly regarded Recursive DNS Providers (IPv4 and IPv6 addresses included below). Where your local network is dual-stack, you should enter both the IPv4 and IPv6 redundant server addresses.
Quad9
9.9.9.9
149.112.112.112
2620:fe::fe
2620:fe::9
OpenDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
2620:0:ccc::2
2620:0:ccd::2
Cloudflare+APNIC
1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1
2606:4700:4700::1111
2606:4700:4700::1001
If restart of your home router - or changing your DNS Server settings do not resolve the issue, you should directly contact Apple Support for assistance
Should it be necessary to escalate your issue to Apple Support, the quickest route to engaging with Apple Support will be via the Contact Support link at top-right of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate a support case using the Apple Support App:
Hi, I'm trying to activate a IPAD but I keep getting a message -could not activate because the activation server cannot be reached.
