Updates are a key part of the entire smartphone experience as they bring feature changes as well as fixes and security patches that are crucial to the functionality and improvement of a device. The same is true for iPadOS updates.

While you’ll receive a notification on your iPad if a new update is rolled out and you can check for it manually via the device’s settings too, it’s possible that due to some bug or WiFi module malfunction, you are unable to download or install the latest iPadOS update. In such cases, Apple iTunes can also be used to update your iPad to the latest version.

Here we’re going to guide you through the process of updating your iPad to the latest version of the iPadOS in iTunes on your PC. The software update will be verified with Apple by iTunes.

Also read: How to use Find My on your iPhone or iPad?

Updating iPad on iTunes

Make sure iTunes is installed on your laptop or PC and working fine. Then connect your iPad via the lightning to USB cable to your laptop and wait for the sync to begin. Make sure you give the necessary permissions via your iPad and laptop to sync — you’ll see notifications if you haven’t on your iPad and laptop.

Once your iPad and iTunes have synced, if there is an iPadOS update available, iTunes will show a notification (refer to the screenshot below) prompting you to either Download and Update or Download Only the update. If your iPad data is backed up to the computer or cloud then select Download and Update to start the update. However, if you haven’t created a backup yet, it’s recommended to select Download Only and proceed with backing up the data before updating your iPad.

It’s possible that due to internet connection or some other issue, the pop-up indicating pending updates doesn’t show up. In that case, follow the steps mentioned below to update your iPad on iTunes.

Step 1: Once your iPad is connected to the laptop, it’ll show the name of the device under the Devices heading in the left sidebar. Look for the phone icon at the top-left of the iTunes window and click on it to open your iPad’s Summary page — in the toolbar that’s second from the top.