Old iPad

Your iPad is FULL!

You need to free up free data storage space on your iPad.

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 or, if a newer Mac with a much newer macOS, use the macOS Finder to do the device backup and/or some other offsite, “cloud” data storage/backup services, like Google Drive/Photos, BOX, DropBox, 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 an nearly 8-9-year old to nearly 10-year old iPad, you SHOULD ONLY delete apps that you have ever seldom used or no longer use as there is NO WAY now, from 2020 onward, 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, VIRTUALLY, NO more older, useful, popular, third party apps for over 8-10-year old iOS devices, any longer! )

Your iPad model is 9-years old!

Then, thin out/delete any music/videos/movies/TV shows/podcasts/screen recordings/photos-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 and later, it’s now called 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 iPad models with a Home button, 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.

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.

Best of Luck to You!

Mnitetb1 wrote:

It says i have 1.2 GB available.

That is very different from the 12.6 GB you mentioned in your first post!

Anyway, if you have a 16GB iPad or larger, having 1.2 GB available is insufficient, as you always need a minimum of 10% of the storage free.

How to check the storage on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Your question is much like asking: “I have red hair, and I feel sick. Solutions?”

We don’t know what “has 12.6 GB” means (has this much storage available? Used? Out of how much?), or what possible relevance this has to your issue.

We don’t know anything at all about your other, perhaps more relevant specifics. What might you have been doing when this occurred? What iPadOS version? etc. ….

See >>> Writing an effective Apple Support Commun… - Apple Community