My iPad Pro not charging after updating

Begin with a forced-restart of your iPad - as this will often clear an isolated software issue:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

Force restart iPad (models with the Home button)

Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.

Otherwise, these support pages should help with troubleshooting battery and charging issues:

Charge and monitor the iPad battery - Apple Support

If your iPad won't charge – Apple Support

Troubleshooting generally requires substitution of the Power Adapter and cable for another known-good item. Most models of iPad require a Power Adapter rated at 12W (i.e., 2.4A @5V) or greater to reliably charge. 5W Power Adapters (1.0A @5V) intended for older models of iPhone are inadequate to charge an iPad; if the iPad charges at all, charging will be very slow. Recent models of iPad are supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter.

Some third-party USB-C power adapters (and portable PowerBanks) may not support USB PD (Power Delivery). Power Delivery mutually negotiates the charging voltage; the source, load and cable are all elements involved in the negotiation protocol. Unless the Power Adapter explicitly supports USB PD, it will almost certainly fail to charge the iPad; proprietary charging standards, such as QC (Quick Charge), are not supported.

Many computer USB ports also cannot source sufficient power to charge an iPad. Unless explicitly designed for charging connected devices, computer USB ports are typically limited to 0.5-1A @5V (i.e., 2.5-5.0W).

If you continue to experience difficulties when using an appropriate Power Adapter of 12W or greater, you might be best advised to seek assistance directly from from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate and manage your support cases from Apple devices using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad, Power Adapter and cable(s):

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

OK... for the past day I noticed my iPad 17.5.1 was not charging in spite of the many quick chargings I have experienced in the past. I did a forced reset several times and continued to have the problem. I contacted Apple support via chat and they did a diagnostic on my battery and said it was good (though they did not know the parameters of what "good" meant). I also noticed that when I did a forced reset it automatically went into an automatic start up. Thinking that perhaps this was a software problem I did not want the iPad to start up but rather wanted to see if it would charge without being in an active mode. I went to the settings page and found the "shut down" selection and did that. It started up automatically. :( All throughout my shut downs I notice I was getting a message asking me to enter my ID number to allow access to my "accessories". As far as I knew I didn't have any "accessories" so I found that to be annoying and skipped doing that (most of the time)... THAT IS THE KEY TO THE PROBLEM!!! The charger is now an "accessory". The solution is to go to settings, go to Face ID & Passcode. In the section ALLOW ACCESS WHEN LOCKED, SCROLL TO THE LAST SELECTION ACCESSORIES AND SELECT THAT TO BE ON. The reason for this, as mentioned above, your charger is now considered an accessory and will not work when your iPad is "locked" (like when you go to bed and plug in your iPad overnight). I hope this helps... so far, it is locked and charging for me, so I'm pretty sure this is the problem.

The charger is now considered an "accessory" and you have to allow the iPad access to this "accessory" when it is "locked". To do that, go to settings, Face ID & Passcode... scroll to the bottom of the list and click on Accessories (make it a positive, i.e. green selection).

Check out my reply from July 27, 2024.

The issue is it won't charge when the iPad is locked. Here is what worked for me and why.

The solution is to go to settings, go to Face ID & Passcode. In the section ALLOW ACCESS WHEN LOCKED, SCROLL TO THE LAST SELECTION ACCESSORIES AND SELECT THAT TO BE ON. The reason for this, as mentioned above, your charger is now considered an accessory and will not work when your iPad is "locked" (like when you go to bed and plug in your iPad overnight).

It's been charging just fine since I figured this out.

StevieeeeeB wrote:

Turn for the worst today however, as when I went to use it … it now has decided it’s 100% flat.. I can only presume it was left unplugged doing its chain boot up restart thing and has drained itself fully…

it now won’t even power on even when connected to a mains charger.. all PD compliant… 20+Volt fast chargers (multiple plugs and cables tried)

the most I get is it turns on, beeps to say it’s charging and immediately reboots 🤦‍♂️ this my options to get any power back into it seem zero as it uses more power in this loop than it charges.. and try as I may I can’t get it to stay turned off to charge up

Do you have access to a standard USB Type-A Power Adapter rated at 12W or greater? If you do, try charging your iPad with this Power Adapter. You will obviously require a USB Type-A to USB-C charging cable.

Many Users with charging issues successfully resolve the problem using the older type Power Adapter; once recharged, the iPad may then accept charging from your USB-C PD-compliant power source. Power Adapters with a USB Type-A connection charge devices at 5V - removing the complexity of USB PD and negotiated Power Profiles.

If your iPad can successfully charge using USB Type-A - but cannot subsequently charge using USB PD - you have a fault with the iPad's charge controller, its control software, or the USB-C Power Adapter.

I’m in New Zealand. I started having this problem this week (since I updated to the latest version of iOs 18.)

I’m using an ipad pro and ios 18.

I was using the same charger and charging cable since I got it. There is nothing wrong with the charger connection on the ipad. The ipad itself works fine (bar the problem of the continuously drainng battery, even when plugged in, and not in use.)

I thought maybe the charger had failed. So I tried a different 20W charger. No joy even after the ipad was plugged in overnight. The power kept going down.

Today I tried a different cable. That made no difference.

I tried reboot/powering off. No joy.

Then I read the tip (thanks folks) to go to Face ID and turn on the option (under when the ipad is locked) to turn on accessories when locked. That initially didn’t work. I added the other advice to 👉🏼reboot twice after changing tge setting). Now it seems to be charging normally.

Its too early to tell if this is a sustained fix.

But I have some observations:

1. Apple should not bury something as functionally important as settings that will determine whether a device will charge when not in use, under some other obscure setting. (I know there are experts here who say this does not happen, but the fact there are so many people complaining means it is happening)
2. It’s fine for Apple to give options to turn on / off accessories when the item is not in use. (Who wants the extra drain on their battery if its unnecessary? Though artists might want to charge their pencil.)
3. BUT it is mad to regard the things necessary to charge the ipad as accessories, even if to Apple they are accessories, and bury this option under Face ID - which not everyone uses or is willing to use.

kimberlee124 wrote:

My daughters was dead. I couldn’t do anything to change any settings. I went Amazon and bought at high wattage block and cable. I bought the kind that’s certified. I know the block is Samsung brand. I can’t remember the cord brand. I just bought what could get here same day. Plugged that in and within a couple minutes, it charged enough to open it up and check settings. Should be we charged with that…we haven’t had any more issues.

What is important when using USB-C Power Adapters is that they support USB PD (Power Delivery). Some third-party USB-C power adapters (and portable PowerBanks) may not support USB PD.

Power Delivery is in part controlled by software - and mutually negotiates the charging voltage; the source, load and cable are all elements involved in the negotiation protocol. Unless the Power Adapter explicitly supports USB PD, it will almost certainly fail to charge the iPad; proprietary charging standards, such as QC (Quick Charge) - often used by Samsung - are not supported by Apple.

These support pages should help with troubleshooting battery and charging issues:

Charge and monitor the iPad battery - Apple Support

If your iPad won't charge – Apple Support

Troubleshooting generally requires substitution of the Power Adapter and cable for another known-good item. If you are using a standard USB power adapter, most models of iPad require a Power Adapter rated at 12W (i.e., 2.4A @5V) or greater to reliably charge. 5W Power Adapters (1.0A @5V) intended for older models of iPhone are inadequate to charge an iPad; if the iPad charges at all, charging will be very slow. Recent models of iPad are supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter.

If you continue to experience difficulties when using an appropriate Power Adapter of 12W or greater, you might be best advised to seek assistance directly from from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate and manage your support cases from Apple devices using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad, Power Adapter and cable(s):

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Update #2. I connected my iPad Pro to my iMac (new this year running MacOS Sierra with the latest upgrade available ) with a USB C to USB C cable.  I had to trust my iMac and download some software from Apple to connect. Then I got a few error pop up windows (I remember one said something about a third party software that was blocking the connection). Sadly I didn’t screen shot the error messages before I closed them. It seemed like the iPad didn’t connect at first but when I checked my Finder sidebar it was there. I peeked under the hood (double clicked it) to get a different perspective on the info on my iPad. Then I just pulled the cable, without disconnecting it (no error message) and figured nothing had changed but it had!  My iPad Pro now charges every time I plug it in using the same cables and brick I was using previously when it would not charge. It’s been more than a week now and my iPad has been charging reliably. I noticed that the iPad shows up in my iMac Finder sidebar all the time now as well. Try connecting your iPad to your computer if nothing else has worked. 

Resets, restarts and setting “Accessories” on did not solve my iPad Mini 6 failure to charge after iPadOS update.

what did: switching from my high-wattage fast charger (that works just fine, as long as the iPad does not “sleep,”) to a charger that only puts out 2 Amps max allowed the iPad to fully charge, even when it auto-locked.

After two hard resets, it now seems to be charging. It’s up to 43% now and was stuck on 28% for over a day.

So in my case, I was able to get it to charge with one of my usb-c connectors, an ACON thunderbolt 3 cable. It doesn't work with any of my other cables (including several Apple usb-c cables and ones from other vendors), only this one. I'm not suggesting buying this particular cable as a fix, as I suspect this is probably peculiar to my own situation, but I would recommending trying other cables, including thunderbolt 3 cables (not just standard usb-c cables).

I took it to the Apple Store for repair, and they told me this could not be repaired, and the iPad would need to be replaced. When buying a replacement I looked into seeing if they would give me something for the broken iPad but the web site said it needed to charge for them to give me anything. I guess Apple knows this is a problem with these devices.

For your case, if you can't get it to charge with any other cables, and the data is what's most important to you, I'd try to see if Apple or another repair shop can recover the data from your device. The iPad itself may be a total loss I'm afraid.

My daughters was dead. I couldn’t do anything to change any settings. I went Amazon and bought at high wattage block and cable. I bought the kind that’s certified. I know the block is Samsung brand. I can’t remember the cord brand. I just bought what could get here same day. Plugged that in and within a couple minutes, it charged enough to open it up and check settings. Should be we charged with that…we haven’t had any more issues.

I have an iPad Pro 11” 2nd generation purchased in 2020. I have had power cord connection issues off and on since June 2024. It got really bad just this week when none of my cables or bricks would work to charge easily. Sometimes a cable would just randomly connect and charge after multiple attempts. I tried all the ideas in this post, even the USB A to USB C solution (which did not work at all for me) but nothing would reliably work. So frustrating. At first I updated to iOS 17.7 which was the update offered at first to me. No change. The iOS 18 update was not prominently offered to me but I found it at the bottom of the updates screen and selected it. It worked for me!! Now all my cables connect and charge when inserted right away and all the bricks work too. The battery charges super fast now, too. It’s like my old iPad is back!

For anyone who runs into this issue in the future, I was having this issue on my 2024 iPad Air. I was getting the message "not charging" in the upper right-hand corner where the battery normally shows. I changed my Face ID/Passcode settings as others had suggested by going to Settings>Touch ID/Passcode>Allow Access When Locked for Accessories: On, and THEN I restarted my iPad twice, and now it is charging.

Ah... I see now you were replying to me... sorry it didn't work for you. :(

I went through all that forced reset stuff - didn't work for me either. But since allowing the accessories to be ON when the iPad is locked it has been charging like it did before iOS 17.5.1.

Same thing here.. It took two hard resets to get the battery level to start moving up instead of falling while showing the charging was connected.