My iPad is disabled and telling me to connect to iTunes

An iPad passcode cannot be recovered, reset or modified from another device.

iPadOS 15.2 or later with a forgotten Passcode

Apple has introduced a new procedure with which to reset an iPad or iPhone with a forgotten Passcode - allowing you to use your AppleID and associated Password to reset your device.

How to reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when you forgot your passcode - Apple Support

You will be able to restore data from a pre-existing iCloud backup without the use of a computer, but will require a PC/Mac to restore data from an iTunes backup.

iPadOS 15.1 and earlier - and all devices that are Disabled



If your iPad is disabled, or you have forgotten your iPad passcode, you have no alternative other than to follow this process:

If you’ve forgotten the passcode on your iPad, or your iPad is disabled – Apple Support

You’ll need access to either a PC (with iTunes installed) or a Mac (with iTunes or Finder - as appropriate for the installed version of MacOS).

Download and use iTunes for Windows – Apple Support

Update to the latest version of iTunes – Apple Support

Use of a PC or Mac is unavoidable. If you don’t have access to a suitable computer of your own, that of a helpful friend or family member will suffice. Alternatively, the technicians at the Genius Bar of your local Apple Store will be delighted to assist.

You may also need your AppleID and associated password. If these have also been forgotten, they can be recovered here:

https://iforgot.apple.com

To recover your credentials, you’ll need access to one of the following:

• Your primary email address mailbox that corresponds with your AppleID
• Any of the secondary/recovery email addresses that should be configured for your AppleID account
• Any of the trusted telephone numbers (fixed line or Cellular/Mobile) that are associated with your AppleID

Unless you AppleID account has not been fully/correctly configured, or has been seriously neglected, recovery of the AppleID and password should not be difficult.

More information about recovery of your AppleID:

If you forgot your Apple ID - Apple Support

More information about recovery of your AppleID password:

If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support

When you recover access to your credentials, you would be well advised to log-in to your AppleID account from a web browser - and verify/update any email addresses and trusted telephone numbers:

https://appleid.apple.com

1. Turn off your iPad. You can do this on an iPad with a Home button by holding the Lock button at the top of the iPad, then swiping on the Power Off slider that appears. On an iPad without a Home button, hold the Lock button and either Volume button, then swipe the Power Off slider.

2. Plug your iPad into a computer and then put it into Recovery Mode.

• If you have an iPad with a Home button, press and hold both the Home and the Lock buttons at the same time until you see the Recovery Mode screen appear.
• If you have an iPad without a Home button - this type of iPad uses Face ID - quickly press and release the Volume Up button, press and release the Volume Down button, and then hold the Lock button until you see the Recovery Mode screen appear.

3. If you're on a PC, open iTunes and click the tiny iPad icon in the top-left. If you're on a Mac, open a Finder window and click your iPad's name in the sidebar.

4. You should see a pop-up explaining that your iPad has encountered a problem and needs to either be updated or restored. Select Restore, and confirm your choice.

6. Once it's done, your iPad should restart automatically. At this point, it should act as if you're setting it up for the first time. Go through the steps to set it up, and if you have a backup saved to iCloud, use that to recover your data.

Alternatively, you can open Find My on the iCloud website, select your iPad, and click Erase. As long as your iPad is connected to the internet, this should delete everything on it - including the passcode.