Ipad restore and lost passcode

kevinjmaz wrote:

the ipad looks for a passcode assigned to the supplied email address

• A passcode is assigned to your iPad. If that’s what you forgot, read and follow the article linked above.
• A password is assigned to an email account. If that’s what you forgot, use the email service provider’s methods to recover.

Much of your iPad’s advanced functionality simply won’t work unless a Passcode has been initially set - such as TouchID/FaceID and Keychain - and for this reason alone it is perhaps likely that a Passcode has been previously set.

When restoring the iPad from a backup, you may be prompted to provide the Passcode that was used with the device when the backup was created - as the passcode is needed to unlock the associated encryption keys that secure encrypted file data. Without the associated Passcode, the restore from backup process cannot be successfully completed.

If you cannot supply the correct passcode, you’ll not be able to restore from the backup - and will potentially have to resort to setting-up again “as new”. If using the same AppleID credentials, any data previously synchronised with iCloud will be accessible after completing setup. Data not synchronised with iCloud, or that you have not have backed-up elsewhere, will be irretrievably lost.