How to recover missing Pages and Numbers files from iPad?

Question

Level 1

4 points

How to recover missing Pages and Numbers files from iPad?

2 weeks worth of files dissappeared off my iPad. I don’t know how to get them back, I don’t see them in my iCloud restore files. Mostly pages docs, a numbers doc…represents 40+ hrs of work missing! Is there any other way to find them? What happened? Thank you!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Files dissappear from Ipad

iPad Pro, iPadOS 26

Posted on Feb 5, 2026 12:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Feb 5, 2026 12:38 PM in response to PastorBandon

On iPad, Pages and Numbers default to iCloud Drive unless you explicitly saved files On My iPad. If iCloud Drive was turned off, signed out, or syncing glitched, files can appear to “vanish” even though they still exist somewhere.

Other common causes:

iCloud Drive temporarily disabled
Signed out of Apple ID (even briefly)
Storage optimization removed local copies
Files saved inside an app folder you’re not looking in
Accidental deletion → not checked everywhere
iPadOS update indexing bug (very real

Reply