10 Hacks Every iPad User Should Know

The boundaries between the Mac and iPad have blurred in recent years—especially with the release of iPadOS 26 . Apple's tablet now has a capable windowed multitasking system, a better file management app, and powerful apps. But the software can still sometimes be a limitation. It is, after all, a sandboxed environment, and the touch-first interface can hide a lot of pro-level features. But those pro-level features are still there, if you know where to look. Whether you're a casual or a pro iPad user, you can make the most out of your tablet with these 10 hacks. Use this hidden gesture to drag and drop multiple items at once Credit: Khamosh Pathak You might be familiar with all the ways you can swipe and slide around iPadOS to get things done. But if you're still dragging and dropping files and photos one-by-one, you should know you can move multiple items at once. When you tap and hold to select one item, drag your fingers out from the file to "pick" it up, but don't let go just yet. With another finger, tap to pick up as many more files, photos, or links as you wish. They'll all get collected under the finger you're holding on to. Then, use your free hand to go to the Home Screen and open the app you want to drop everything off (like Notes or Mail). Once you let go, all the files will follow suit. This works within the Files app as well, which makes it a great way to move multiple files together. If you're using the latest iPadOS version, you'll also see a progress bar for transferring files at the top of the screen. You May Also Like Use "Windowed Apps" to turn your iPad into a computer Credit: Khamosh Pathak With iPadOS 26, Apple finally introduced true windowed multitasking . You can now have up to 12 apps open at the same time, all with their own free-floating windows. But it's not the default state, so if you're still using your iPad as-is, you'll have to shift gears into Windowed Apps mode. You can do this from Settings > Multitasking & Gestures , but there's a faster way from wherever you are in iPadOS. Open Control Center, tap the new Multitasking toggle and switch to Windowed Apps mode. Now, every app on the screen, even a full-screen one, will have a little handle in the bottom-right corner, which you can pull to make the window larger or smaller. You can grab the top toolbar from any app to move it around. Apple also included the "Stop Light" controls from Mac here: Tap on them to close, minimize, or maximize the app. If you tap and hold the Stop Light buttons, you'll also get an option to move or arrange the window into a grid layout, like the Mac. Use this gesture for quick side-by-side app views Credit: Khamosh Pathak Coming from the iPhone, you might be familiar with some multitasking gestures. You swipe up to go Home, and you can swipe on the Home bar to switch between apps. These exist on the iPad too, but iPadOS adds more gestures to the mix. One of the best new gestures added in iPadOS 26 is the flick gesture. Pick up a window when you're in Windowed Apps mode, and just flick it to the right or the left of the screen. The window will then automatically resize itself to fit to half of the screen. When two apps are docked like this, you'll see a new handlebar appear. You can drag it to resize the window split (going to a 70/30 split is a great ratio for multitasking, as one app essentially goes down to iPhone size). There are more gestures to know about, too. Using four or five fingers, swipe left or right on the screen to switch between apps, or app pairs. Swipe up and hold to enter app switcher mode (and to see a preview of all open apps). And of course you can swipe up with four fingers to go home. You can also swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the Menu bar at any time. Change this setting to make the Files app more like Finder on Mac Credit: Khamosh Pathak The iPad's Files app is not exactly like the Finder on the Mac, but with iPadOS 26, it's more similar than ever. You finally have background processing, so you can monitor large file transfers from the top toolbar in the Files app, or from Live Activities. But to get the most out of the Files app, you should turn to a different view. From the top toolbar you can now switch from the default Icons view to either a List view or a Column view. Column view is like Finder, where you can drill down into a folder structure while still maintaining easy access to top folders in columns to the left. On the other hand, if you manage a lot of files, and you like to see all file information, along with sort options, you should try List view. You can sort based on name, date created, date modified, size, or tags. And you can add or remove columns to customize exactly what shows up. Use "Sidecar" to turn your iPad into a second screen Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you work on your Mac most of the time, you can still use the iPad as a copilot. Apple has a built-in feature called Sidecar that turns the iPad into a second screen&