iPad Air: Restore from iPad 10th gen backup greyed out

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iPad Air: Restore from iPad 10th gen backup greyed out

I bought a new iPad Air to replace my old iPad gen 10. During the setup of the iPad Air, I got an error message saying that I could not transfer contents between the two and I had to setup the new iPad Air as new and then restore from the backup of my iPad gen 10 (I do not know why). So I backed up my iPad gen 10 to my mini Mac, and setup my iPad Air as new. Now when I tried to restore my iPad gen 10 backup to my iPad Air, the restore backup button was greyed out. What should I do to transfer all my apps and contents to my new iPad?

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Jun 25, 2026 11:34 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 25, 2026 11:53 AM in response to Kamcyung

What iPadOS versions was your iPad 10th gen running when that backup was made?

You cannot restore a backup made with a newer iPadOS version onto a device with an older iPadOS version.

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Answer 2

Kamcyung Author

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Jun 25, 2026 12:13 PM in response to Phil0124

Good point. Thank you so much.

My iPad gen 10 is running iPadOS 27 beta. That is why the two iPads are not compatible. Now, can I restore my iPad gen 10 back to iPadOS 26.5?

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Answer 3

Jun 25, 2026 12:23 PM in response to Kamcyung

Kamcyung wrote:

Good point. Thank you so much.

My iPad gen 10 is running iPadOS 27 beta. That is why the two iPads are not compatible. Now, can I restore my iPad gen 10 back to iPadOS 26.5?

Yes, but you would need to erase it which would make the restore moot as it would have no data to restore onto the new one at that point.

Best bet, is to setup the new iPad Air, update it to iOS 27 and then restore it and set I up again. This time you will be able to use the iOS 27 backup.

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Answer 4

Kamcyung Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 25, 2026 12:27 PM in response to Phil0124

That's a good advice. I now know what to do. Thank you again.

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