I know that macOS can be replaced on my MacBook without erasing all the data and starting from scratch. I've been unable to find any information about doing this with my iPad. Is it possible, or must the iPad be totally erased to refresh the OS?
iPad Air 2, iPadOS 15
For iPad and iPadOS, reinstalling the OS entails restoring the iPad to factory settings - this process installs a fresh copy of the most recent version of iPadOS supported by your iPad model. The process will unavoidably fully erase/reset the iPad - however, you can avoid data loss simply restoring your iCloud or iTunes backup after restoring the iPad.
If your iPad is not operating as expected, try a forced-restart - 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:
If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:
How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support
When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:
Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings
If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:
Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support
After performing the reset, you'll need to setup the iPad afresh using your Apple Account credentials. During the setup process, you'll be offered opportunity to restore your iCloud backup. If you don't restore the backup during initial setup, you can manually restore your iCloud/iTunes backup:
Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support
For iPad and iPadOS, reinstalling the OS entails restoring the iPad to factory settings - this process installs a fresh copy of the most recent version of iPadOS supported by your iPad model. The process will unavoidably fully erase/reset the iPad - however, you can avoid data loss simply restoring your iCloud or iTunes backup after restoring the iPad.
If your iPad is not operating as expected, try a forced-restart - 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:
If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:
How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support
When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:
Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings
If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:
Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support
After performing the reset, you'll need to setup the iPad afresh using your Apple Account credentials. During the setup process, you'll be offered opportunity to restore your iCloud backup. If you don't restore the backup during initial setup, you can manually restore your iCloud/iTunes backup:
Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support
Back up the iPad, reset, and restore the backup.
The backup can be to a Mac or PC or iCloud.
The only way to mark data as being valuable is with a backup.
And if this iPad is already corrupted or flaky, I’d want to preserve a copy of this data.
I'm having some bug problems on the iPad, e.g. Copy/Paste not working in a text app. I've restarted it several times, which fixes the problem briefly, but then it happens again. So I'd like to refresh the OS to see if that's the problem. I recently did that on my MacBook, without having to erase the whole thing and begin again from scratch. So I'd like to refresh the OS on the iPad without having to totally erase all its data, if that's possible.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Is it possible to reinstall iPadOS 15 on iPad Air 2 without totally erasing the iPad?
