Access features from the iPad Lock Screen

The Lock Screen, which shows the current time and date and your most recent notifications, appears when you turn on or wake iPad. From the Lock Screen, you can see notifications, open Camera and Control Center, get information from your favorite apps at a glance, and more.

You can personalize your Lock Screen by choosing a wallpaper, showcasing a favorite photo, changing the font of the time, adding widgets, and more. See Create a custom iPad Lock Screen.

The iPad Lock Screen showing the time, the date, and widgets along the left.

Access features and information from the Lock Screen

You can quickly access the features and information you need most from the Lock Screen, even while iPad is locked.

Open Camera: Swipe left. (See Take photos with your iPad camera.)
Open Control Center: Swipe down from the top-right corner. (See Use and customize Control Center on iPad.)
See earlier notifications: Swipe up from the center. (See View and respond to notifications on iPad.)
View more widgets: Swipe right. (See Add, edit, and remove widgets on iPad.) You can interact with widgets on the Lock Screen and the Home Screen to perform tasks—for example, tap an item in the Reminders widget to check it off, or tap the Play button in the Podcasts widget to play an episode.
Start drawing and taking notes: (on supported models) Tap Apple Pencil on the Lock Screen. Whatever you create is saved in Notes.
Control media playback: Use the playback controls (Now Playing) on the Lock Screen to play, pause, rewind, or fast-forward media playing on your iPad. (See View and control Live Activities on the Lock Screen.)

To choose what you can access from the Lock Screen, see Control access to information on the iPad Lock Screen.

Show notification previews on the Lock Screen

Go to Settings > Notifications.
Tap Show Previews, then tap Always.

Notification previews include text from Messages, lines from Mail messages, and details about Calendar invitations. See View and respond to notifications on iPad.

View and control Live Activities on the Lock Screen

You can view Live Activities on your Lock Screen—including live sports updates, order updates, timers, flight tracking, and media playing—so you can follow along right on your Lock Screen.

An iPad Lock Screen with a Live Activity—an airline flight tracker showing flight times and expected departure interval for a flight being tracked.

When you play music, a movie, or other media on your iPad, you can use the playback controls in Now Playing on your Lock Screen to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward.

You can also control media playback on a remote device (such as your Apple TV or HomePod) from your iPad Lock Screen.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide

Access features from the iPad Lock Screen

Access features and information from the Lock Screen

Show notification previews on the Lock Screen

View and control Live Activities on the Lock Screen