How do I disable the Liquid Gas display in the new iPad update?

iOS/iPadOS 26.1 introduced a new setting that subtly charges the appearance of Liquid Glass:

Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass - select Clear or Tinted

Sadly, for iPad, this new setting makes very little difference for those that struggle with (or simply dislike) both the appearance and overlapping screen elements introduced with Liquid Glass .

If you are experiencing difficulty with the new Liquid Glass UI, there are other settings that can significantly improve the appearance and suppress the majority of unwanted effects:

1. Settings > Accessibility > [Vision] Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency - set to ON
2. Settings > Accessibility > [Vision] Display & Text Size > Increase Contrast - set to ON
3. Settings > Accessibility > [Motion] Reduce Motion - set to ON

Each if these settings can be used individually, or in combination. Setting Reduce Transparency alone (1) will likely suppress the majority of your issues. The Reduce Motion setting (3), if used, will eliminate the "lensing" effects of the Liquid Glass UI. Experiment; you should find a combination that works for you.

I suggest that you begin with setting Reduce Transparency to ON - and then, if needed, experiment with additional use of one or more of the other options.

NB: The new Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass setting can only be changed/toggled while Reduce Transparency is set to OFF. You might find that setting Liquid Glass to Clear, prior to enabling Reduced Transparency to ON, may give the best result.

Liquid Glass is here to stay - and will likely evolve throughout the lifespan of iOS/iPadOS 26. Hopefully, Apple will provide additional controls over time with which to selectively eliminate aspects of the new UI to better meet the functional and visual needs of the wider user population. Liquid Glass is very "pretty" - but for some is arguably form over function, reducing legibility and usability for some users.

Apple invites submission of constructive comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. For iPad:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

If you would like to see additional controls to suppress Liquid Glass in a future update to iPadOS, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to express your wishes.

Also you may want to try one of the darker/solid Wallpapers. Some of the "busy" ones are just more distracting and a darker/solid color provides a simpler and cleaner look when viewing your Home Screens.