Turning off ipad

Sleep and shut-down (i.e., fully switch-off your iPad) are entirely different. When sleeping, background and general housekeeping tasks continue to run - whereas shut-down is a fully "off" condition.

Unless you don’t intend to use your iPad for many days, there is neither need nor technical benefit to fully shut-down the iPad; while sleeping, the iPad can continue to perform background housekeeping - including responding to notifications and alerts etc - while consuming minimal battery power. A sleeping iPad can easily sustain a week or more without requiring recharge.

Should you wish to fully shut-down your iPad, this is easily accomplished from iPad settings:

Settings > General > Shut Down

Alternatively, press-and-hold the Top (Sleep/Wake) button until the Shut-Down slider appears; when you see the slider, release the button, the slide your finger as indicated on the screen.

Restart iPad from the iPad User Guide shows you how to turn off iPad.

Turn iPad off ...

1. To turn off iPad, do one of the following:

• Models with the Home button: Press and hold the top button until the slider appears, then drag the slider.
• Other models: Simultaneously press and hold the top button and either volume button until the sliders appear, then drag the top slider.
• All models: Go to Settings  > General > Shut Down, then drag the slider.