How to delete files and folders on an iPad

Apple is slowly but steadily moving towards making iPads as powerful as Macs and other desktop platforms, including adding a proper file system. Here’s how you can take advantage of that to delete files and folders at will.

How to delete files and folders on an iPad

The key to this is the Files app, which lets you browse on-device folders as well as ones from connected cloud services like iCloud Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. Be careful — some files may be used by apps and services, and if you delete something from cloud storage, that deletion will propagate across everything signed into the same storage account. There is a built-in recovery option we’ll cover in the next section, but it’s limited.

• To delete a single file or folder, tap and hold on it, then choose Delete.
• To delete multiple files or folders at once, tap Select at the top of the screen, then pick what you want to remove. Finish by tapping Delete at the bottom.

Whenever the Delete option is missing, that’s because an item is critical to an app. You’ll have to delete the app to remove the associated file.

Note also that while you can sometimes find photos and videos in the Files app, your main library is managed through the iPadOS Photos app. You’ll have to delete media there.

How to permanently delete files on an iPad

Since mistakes happen, the Files app includes a Recently Deleted sidebar folder where scrubbed iCloud Drive and On My iPad items are saved for 30 days. You can restore files by selecting them in Recently Deleted and choosing Recover.

If you’re ready to permanently delete a file or folder, use the same steps as in the previous section, just within Recently Deleted. If you choose Delete or Delete Now (depending on the context), the item will vanish forever.