Several readers report a problem with their iPad Air charging slowly or not at all, especially the Air 2. And sometimes even showing a message “Not Charging.” Users further report that they cannot fully charge their iPads even after leaving the device plugged in overnight.
So if you are having problems charging your iPad or your iPad Air is charging slowly, here are some tips and steps to help fix this problem.
Contents
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First Things First
- Always update to the latest iOS version, even if it’s a minor update. There might be a software update in there that solves your problem. But remember to backup first before any iOS update!
- Clean the Lightning Port. What gets stuck in there is sometimes very surprising! Lint is the most common, but plenty of other junk gets in that small connection. Lint and other dirt in your port break the contact with the charger and your iPad or iDevice. So make sure to clean that Lightning port
- Don’t fold your cables–just don’t. Wrap them in a circle or oval, very gently and following the cables natural placement. Don’t force a cable to bend in a way it doesn’t want to.
- Try another outlet or port. Don’t spend a bunch of time troubleshooting your device when it might just be one problematic port or outlet
- Try another charging cable. These cables are prone to failure, fraying, and of course damage due to pets, pests, children, and even us adults (not intentionally, of course!)
Problems Charging Your iPad Air
Are you having problems charging the iPad Air despite being plugged directly into the wall outlet?
Check your cables, adapters, and even the outlet itself to rule out that you don’t have a problem with these. The problem may NOT be your iPad or your charging unit (though it could be the cable.)
Check your power outlets first. Turn on any wall switches that may control an outlet. And check if that the circuit breaker or fuse is intact and that no GFCI outlet controlling the branch circuit has tripped.
Finally, test your outlets with a voltmeter or multimeter–they are relatively inexpensive. There are even apps that turn your iOS device (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) into a digital multimeter!
Once you rule out problems with your power source (outlets,) THEN check for other issues.
Take a Look at Your Charger
- Make sure to use your original iPad charger that came with the device to charge. You should use the supplied dock connector that came with your iPad and charge it with the wall charger to get the best results.
- If that’s not available, use an Apple Branded iPad charger (a ‘genuine’ Apple adaptor) and not a third party brand
- Ask a friend if you can use their charger or visit an Apple Store
- Check that the cable is Apple branded too
- If that’s not available, use an Apple Branded iPad charger (a ‘genuine’ Apple adaptor) and not a third party brand
- Charge your iPad using the charging unit and always plug the charger into a decent surge protector, never straight into the wall if possible
- Most USB ports do not supply enough power to charge your iPads and iPad Airs
- If USB is your only option, make sure you charge via a USB 2.0 or higher port
- If charging via USB, make sure your computer is on while charging your iPad or any iDevice
- If you connect the iPad to a computer that is off or in sleep or standby mode, your iPad battery continues to drain
- Do not use an iPhone charger, if you own an iPhone. The iPhone chargers are not designed to charge an iPad or iPad Air. The iPad requires a higher current for optimum charging
- If you purchased your iPad in a different country and received that country’s power adapter, buy a new charger for your country’s power specs from Apple (a ‘genuine’ Apple adaptor)
Check Some Settings
- Restart the iPad
- On an iPad with no Home Button and iPhones X or later: press and hold the Side/Top/Power button and either volume button until the slider appears.
- On an iPad or iPhone with a Home Button and iPod Touch: press and hold the Side/Top/Power button until the slider appears
- Drag the slider to turn the device off and after the device turns off, press and hold that Side/Top/Power button again until you see the Apple Logo.
- With iOS 11 and above, restart using Settings > General > Shut Down
- Your issue may be a software problem so let’s restart your device
- On an iPad with no Home Button and iPhones 8 or later: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Then press and hold the Side/Top/Power button until the device restarts.
- On an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold both the Side and Volume Down buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
- On an iPhone 6s and earlier, iPad with a Home Button, or iPod touch: Press and hold both the Home and the Top (or Side) buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
- Reset your iPad’s settings by tapping Settings > General > Reset All Settings.
Choosing to Reset All Settings shouldn’t delete any content from your device. - This type of reset is usually the last resort since it resets all your personalized features back to factory defaults
- It also resets to default everything in Settings, including notifications, alerts, brightness, and clock settings like wake up alarms. And it reverts all your personalized and customized features like wallpapers and accessibility settings back to factory defaults.
- Performing this action does not impact any of your personal device data, including photos, texts, documents, and other files
- You need to reconfigure these settings once your iPhone or iDevice restarts
- In some cases, you may notice that your the iPad does not charge after using the Camera Connection Kit. Disconnecting and reconnecting the iPad from the charger resolves this issue
Restore in iTunes
Okay, onto the big gun fixes. If nothing worked thus far, restore your iPad in iTunes. Stick with iTunes instead of iCloud for the restore.
We recommend this method mainly because iTunes removes, reinstalls, and then reloads all your information.
To Restore in iTunes
- Connect your iPad to iTunes
- Click on the Device tab at the top left
- Click on Backup
- Wait for the backup to finish
- Click on Restore
- Wait for the restore to finish
Once iTunes fully restores your iPad, try and see if it starts charging again. If this didn’t do the trick, it’s time to visit or call Apple Support.
For a Faster Charge
Your iPads charge faster when you do the following
- Reduce the brightness of your the screen
- Turn your device off
- Do not use the device when charging
- Don’t let the battery charge drop to less than 5% EVER
- Try always to keep your battery charged between 40% and 80%
- Avoid frequent full discharges
- Remove any cases when charging the battery
- Cases prevent adequate ventilation and increase temperatures when charging
- Turn off Push email and notifications
- Turn off WiFi and Cellular Data
Replace the iPad Battery
If nothing helps the situation, it’s likely you need a battery replacement. Set-up an appointment with an Apple Store Genius to run a battery test and other diagnostics on your iPad. 
If battery needs replacing, hopefully, you are still under warranty or purchased Apple Care+. Use this warranty checker to confirm your device’s warranty status.
Summary
If you are using the Apple supplied wall adapter and plugging into the wall socket as Apple recommends you should not receive the “not charging” message. If you plug the iPad into a USB port on your computer, you may still see the message, but the iPad may be charging although at a very slow rate.
If you are still having problems after trying everything above, contact Apple Support or visit an Apple Store.