How to Restore A Bricked iPad

If you turn on your iPad only to discover a black screen with a picture of a white cable and the words "iTunes," then follow these instructions to restore your iPad.

You will need access to a computer with a current version of iTunes on it. You do not have to have an iTunes account. You will also need the USB cable to connect your iPad to the computer.

• Turn device off.
• Launch iTunes.
• Hold down the Home key.
• Then plug in the cable while holding down the Home key to enter recovery mode.

When the process is finished, your iPad should turn on. At that point, your iPad will be like a blank slate. Click through the first few screens which ask you t

o set language preferences and location, and then when you get to a screen that asks you if you want to set up your iPad as a new device or restore it from the cloud, choose "Restore from iCloud."

That should get you back to a working machine until you can bring it to the Taub Center.

-Taub Center, October 2013

As documented by Apple at "iOS: Forgotten passcode or device disabled after entering wrong passcode", the procedure above is also necessary if you get an iPad disabled message (with no try again in ? minutes) because you entered your lock screen passcode in too many times. You receive a warning with minutes to wait AND DON'T KNOW your passcode, DO NOT keep trying as your iPad will eventually be disabled and require a reset. If you contact the Taub Center (help at d-e.org) BEFORE it is permanently disabled, we may be able to unlock it for you remotely.