How to set up iCloud on iPad?

March 15, 2020December 26, 2019 Kamal Kaur

iCloud is the name Apple gives to its range of cloud-based services, covering areas as diverse as email, contact, and calendar syncing, the location of lost devices like finding My iPhone/iPad and the storage of music in the cloud. The point of cloud services in general, and iCloud in particular, is to store information on a remote computer, known as a cloud server, rather than locally. This means you’re not taking up storage space on any particular device, and also means you can access the information from any internet-connected device.

So iCloud is Apple’s remote storage and cloud computing service and allows you to access your photos, contacts, email, bookmarks, and documents anywhere you can get online. It’s useful to manage and store your data with a free set of services, available to anyone with an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac; even Windows PC owners can get involved. If you are a new iPad user and wish to set up iCloud on iPad then here’s how to do it.

How to set up iCloud on iPad?

To set up iCloud on the iPad first you need to create an Apple ID because your iCloud account is based on your Apple ID. So if you haven’t got an Apple ID already, you’ll need to create one. There are two ways to sign up for an Apple ID: on your iPad or iPad, as part of the device’s setup process, or in a browser on any device at any time.

If you’re setting up a new iPad the simplest option is to create an Apple ID then and there. At the appropriate moment during setup, tap ‘Don’t have an Apple ID or forgot it’, and ‘Create A Free Apple ID’. Then enter your details.

But you don’t need to be on an Apple device, or even own an Apple device, to create an Apple ID: anybody, even curious Windows or Linux users, can create an account. You simply have to visit the ID section of Apple’s website and click Create Your Apple ID at the top right.

Apple advises you to make sure the device you’ll be using iCloud services on is running the most recent version of its respective OS. If your device is brand-new you shouldn’t need to update its OS, although it’s still worth checking in case some bug fixes have been released since it was boxed up.

For iPads, go to Settings > General > Software Update. iOS or iPadOS will either tell you that the operating system is up to date, or give you details of a newer version and let you download and install it.

Now Turn on iCloud on iPad which as with signing up for an Apple ID, this can be done during the setup process for your Apple device, or later on if you declined the option initially. Partway through the setup process for an iPhone or iPad, iOS will ask if you want to use iCloud. You’ll be given the self-explanatory options ‘Use iCloud’ and ‘Don’t use iCloud’. You’ll just need to tap Use iCloud, enter your Apple ID and password, and proceed from there.

If you didn’t activate it during setup, you can do this later in the Settings app.

Tap the headshot picture at the top of the main page or top of the left column. This will show your name and/or face, or a blank face and the words ‘Sign in to your iPad’, depending on whether you’re signed in. If you’re not signed in, you’ll be asked to enter your Apple ID and password, and possibly your passcode too.

Now tap iCloud and follow the onscreen instructions.

You’re all set up and ready to go.

Features of iCloud

iCloud lets you store information online and then access this information from all of your devices – iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, even Windows PCs.
Contacts: If you give permission, iCloud will sync Contacts across your iOS and macOS devices. This means you need to maintain only one list of contacts because any changes you make on your iPad will apply to Contacts on your Mac and other devices.
Calendar: Likewise, iCloud (if permitted) syncs events across all of your devices.
iCloud Drive: A simple way of storing files in the cloud. You can choose to save Notes locally, but syncing them across devices is brilliantly convenient. This is how we prepare notes for podcasts: type them into Notes on Mac, then take an iPad into the studio and read them off that.
iWork: You can use Pages, Numbers and Keynote as web apps, thanks to iCloud.
iCloud also allows you to easily save TextEdit documents to the cloud, and access them from other devices.

If you’d like to test out iCloud’s capabilities in an app such as Photos, make sure it’s activated. In iOS, open Settings and tap your ID at the top of the screen; you’ll see all the apps and services that can use iCloud. Tap your chosen app so the slider turns green.

iCloud pricing

iCloud is free to start with. You can set up an iCloud without paying a penny, but this comes with a limited amount of cloud storage: 5GB across all your devices.

If you want more and if you plan to back up multiple devices to the cloud, or store significant collections of photos, videos or documents off-device, then you’ll need a subscription plan to upgrade your iCloud storage.

50GB: AU$1.49
200GB: AU$4.49
2TB: AU$14.99

Upgrading your iCloud plan is easy which can be done on your iPad when you sign in to iCloud.