Q: Why won't my iPad turn off when I close the cover?

In preferences > General, is Cover Lock / Unlock on? If so, is your cover smart cover compatible?

Closing the smart cover puts the iPad to sleep and locks the iPad. You should hear a click sound when the cover is closed. When you open the cover the iPad unlocks and comes back awake. But it is very sneaky because opening the cover just a little turns the screen on and it appears that the iPad never slept.

This is consoled in Settings > General > iPad Cover Lock/unlock > On or Off

Where are you guys seeing a cover lock/unlock option in Settings>General? I'm running iOS 5.1 and I only see where it says Auto-Lock and the time settings for it.

Settings >> General. The 5th block is Auto-lock, Passcode lock and iPad Cover Lock/Unlock. It's adjacent to the Twitter button.

I don't have it there. Is this a feature that's enabled only when you have a smart cover installed on your iPad? I have an iPad 2 with the Otterbox Defender case.

TBH, I'm not sure, as I've always used a smart cover. But even if the cover isn't attached, the option is still there (I just tested). You may need to do a backup, wipe and restore.

I understand now. The smart covers have a magnet in them that turns the feature on in Settings>General. Since I don't have a smart cover, the option isn't even visible in my iPads settings.

I think since you've had it on there (whether you take it off temporarily or not), you've activated the feature on your iPad. I've never had a smart cover of any kind on mine.

It should. I've just looked at the Otterbox website and they say that the magnets necessary for it are included.

Otterbox wrote:

Magnets on the shield stand activate the device's sleep mode when the cover is snapped on the front of the screen.

Yes, if you donot have a Smart Cover you will not see that feature in Settings.

I see where it says that on their site, but the Defender case they have on there now looks a bit different from mine. Perhaps that's a new one they've released since the iPad 3 has come out (which also works on the iPad 2) and it has the magnets, whereas my generation of Defender case is the older one, which doesn't. I'll try calling Otterbox to see what they say.

This is the Defender case that I have on my iPad 2 and in the description it mentions nothing about the ability to lock the iPad when covered. Notice in the pictures how it looks a bit different from the new one they've released for both the iPad 2 and iPad 3.

http://www.otterbox.com/iPad-2-Defender-Series-Case/APL2-IPAD2-D9-E4OTR_A,defaul t,pd.html

This leads me to believe that only the newest Defender case can do this.

I had this happen to me. Make sure that the ipad is oriented in correct manner. Make sure that the camara is oriented so that the camara has the hole infront of it.

That worked for me on an iPad Air 2 with a Belkin Ultimate Keyboard, which had previously been reported as not able to turn off the iPad, when closed.  Thank you very much for posting