How to transfer from iPad storage to iCloud storage

You don’t and you can’t. iCloud storage is not really off device storage. iCloud is just a syncing service. You still need space on Apple’s servers to sync content with iCloud but you can’t store content there and use if for archival storage.

You can save some space on your device using iCloud Photos when you optimize storage, but you can’t upload content to iCloud, and then delete it on your device to save space.

About storage on your device and in iCloud - Apple Support

iCloud storage is a supplemental, secondary, online, offsite pseudo data storage and data sync-ing and data backup service.

iCloud does NOT magically give your iPad more internal data storage.

Any iOS device has an internal flash memory data storage drive of a fixed amount that cannot never, EVER be increased!

If you need additional internal iPad data storage there are ONLY two things to do.

Purchase a larger data storage capacity iPad OR backup, then remove stuff off of your existing iPad.

If you need to free up free data storage space on an iPad/iDevice, you need to start by backing up your iPad to either Apple's iCloud ( you may need to pay for additional, monthly storage space ) or by connecting your iDevice to a computer running the latest iTunes and/or some other offsite, “cloud” data storage/backup services, like Google Drive/Photos, DropBox, BOX, Amazon Cloud Drive, Flickr ( for photos/images ), etc.

Then, delete any installed apps that you no longer use or use infrequently enough that they aren't missed (you can always reinstalled any purchased or free apps at some time later, as you need them).

In addition, uninstall any games that appear to be using a sizable chunk of your iPad's internal storage, as well!

A disclaimer to the immediate advice above, if you own a 8 or 9-year old iPad, you SHOULD ONLY delete apps that you have ever seldom used or no longer use as there is NO WAY now, in 2020, to retrieve these old apps from the iOS App Store, any longer.

( Third party iOS app developers have permanently removed all of their older, legacy apps from Apple's iOS App Store servers forever!

There are NO more older, common and popular third party apps for old 8 and 9-year old iOS devices, any longer! )

Then, thin out/delete any music/videos/movies/TV shows/podcasts/screen recordings/images/eBooks/

eMagazine/iBooks/audio books/Documents/PDFs, etc.

If you use a POP email account on your iPad, delete/thin out any old saved emails that maybe saved to your iPad.

To permanently delete photos/images off of your iDevice go into the Photos app and find the Recently Deleted folder/album and permanently delete any photos/images stored in that folder/album.

Also, you can check to see what other stuff is eating up all your valuable data storage space by going into the Settings App,,General Settings Panel, in the right hand column, tap Storage & iCloud usage panel ( in iOS 11, it’s iPad Storage ), in the top Storage Panel, tap the Manage Storage panel, wait for a list of apps to generate that will tell you how much space each app is taking up on your iDevice.

Then, for older iPads or iPads with a Lightning connector, do a hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

OR

The new hard reset procedure for newer iPad Pro models

Try the new hard reset procedure for the new 2018/2020 iPad Pro models.

1. Press and Release the Volume Up button.

2. Then immediately Press and Release the Volume Down button.

3. Then, Press and Hold the Power Button at the top. You will see the Slide to Power off button, but keep on holding down the Power Button until you see the Apple logo, then let it go.

Once you have performed all the steps, wait for a few seconds and your 2018 iPad Pro will boot up completely to the iPad Pro’s Lock screen.

iOS devices and iOS/iPadOS need to maintain, at the very least, a minimum of between 2-4 GBs of free data storage space, AT ALL TIMES, to insure normal/nominal functionalities/operation and general overall performance of any iOS device running iOS/iPadOS.

If not all of this solves your iPad storage issues, your ONLY other option is to do a complete backup, erase and restore of your iPad model.

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

How to erase your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

Good Luck to You!

Thanks, but I think the other lady and I still need to know HOW to make the back-up to iCloud happen, please???? I bought addl memory (up to 50GB from free 5MB) yesterday, so there should be plenty enough space now. Also, on this website it calls my device iPad (2)... what does that indicate? I have one iPad, one iPhone, a really old unused iPod, and 2ea PCs. Nan

You can initiate an iCloud backup by going to Settings>Your Name>iCloud>Apps using iCloud>iCloud Backup>On. In the next screen, tap on Backup Now.

You can automatically backup with iCloud every day if you plug the iPad into power to charge, stay connected to WiFi, and lock the iPad - let it go to sleep. I do this every night. I plug my iPad into charge and it backups every night.

An iPad 2 is the second generation iPad. It is quite old by now. You can check to see exactly which iPad you have in Settings>General>About>Model Name.