iPad Personal Voice erased by iPadOS 26.3.1 update

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Level 1

4 points

iPad Personal Voice erased by iPadOS 26.3.1 update

I use an iPad (A16) as a dedicated Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) device when needed due to an intermittent speech disability. I created an Apple Personal Voice when I got the device so it would sound like me.

I updated to iPadOS 26.3.1 earlier this week. Yesterday, I lost speech, and when I went to use my iPad, I discovered that my Apple Personal Voice was completely erased from the device. I'm very upset because I hate the stock voices and don't want to pay for a better one.

Is there any way to get my Apple Personal Voice back, or am I just screwed until I regain enough speech capacity to record an entirely new one? It was very demanding for me to record those 150 sentences in the first place as a person with a speech disability.

I don't understand how or why Apple's software update would delete disabled people's voices, but apparently, I'm not the only one who experienced this problem with the latest iOS update.

iPad

Posted on Mar 14, 2026 3:14 PM

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Answer 1

brbo

Level 8

42,495 points

Apr 9, 2026 11:51 PM in response to pepperest

Hi pepperest,

welcome to this Apple (user-to-user) community.

Re: "iPad Personal Voice erased by iPadOS 26.3.1 update"

Apologies that there have been no replies to your post as yet.

Am no expert in this area myself, so can only commiserate. It is often people like yourself who make use of the software who are the experts.

If you haven't tried it: you might want to: Restart your iPad - Apple Support (deletes temporary files, updates recent setting changes, re-establishes connections, and more. Can often restore order when something is not working as expected.)

If re-starting your iPad hasn't helped recover the missing Personal Voice

This is a link to Apple support's article for iPadOS 26:

Record your Personal Voice on iPad - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"Your Personal Voice is saved securely on your iPad for you to use during Phone and FaceTime calls, in-person conversations, and third-party alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) apps.

Important: Personal Voice can be used only with Live Speech and with third-party apps that you allow, such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps."

Wondering if the access to your Personal Voice, and the (AAC) app(s) you use it with may just need restoring ... or it may be that the apps have updates available to keep them up-to-date with the iPadOS version.

If help is still needed after the time that has passed since March 15th:

You may want to reach out to on Apple's Accessibility Support team.

See: How to contact Apple for help with accessibility features - Apple Support

All the best :-)

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