iPad data recovery for dead, dropped and water-damaged iPads.

Signs you need this repair

Sound familiar? The diagnosis is always free.

• Won’t turn on, and your photos aren’t in iCloud
• Stopped working after a spill or water damage
• Smashed after a drop and can’t be unlocked
• Stuck on the Apple logo or restarting in a loop
• Your last backup is months or years old
• A computer recognizes it but it won’t start

Check your backups first

Before paying for recovery, make sure the data isn’t already safe somewhere else:

• If iCloud Photos was on, your photos may already be in iCloud. Check on another Apple device or sign in at icloud.com from a computer.
• On another iPhone or iPad signed into the same Apple Account, go to Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and look for iPad backups and their dates.
• If you ever connected the iPad to a Mac or PC, check Finder or iTunes for a local backup.
• Messages, Notes and some app data may sync through iCloud separately from a full backup.

If what you need is already there, you may not need a recovery at all.

Why iPad data recovery means repairing the iPad

Every iPad encrypts its storage, all the time. The encryption keys are tied to the processor on that specific logic board and to your passcode. The storage chip itself is soldered to the same board.

That has a big consequence: removing the storage chip and reading it in another device doesn’t give anyone your photos. Without the original processor and your passcode, the data on the chip is unreadable. So the only real route to the data on a dead iPad is to repair its own board until it powers up, then unlock it with your passcode and copy everything off.

It’s also why recovery software can’t help a dead iPad. Those tools need the iPad to power on and be unlocked first, which is exactly the part that has failed.

That’s why data recovery here is board-level work: diagnosing power faults, cleaning corrosion, and replacing failed components under a microscope. It’s the same work described on our iPad won’t turn on page, aimed first at getting your data out.

How we recover your data

1. Free diagnosis: we find out why the iPad won’t start and whether the board can be brought back.
2. You approve the price before any work begins.
3. We repair the board. If the screen or battery is too damaged to use, we may connect a test screen or battery just to get the iPad running.
4. Once it starts, the iPad asks for your passcode. With it unlocked, the data is backed up.
5. We agree with you how the data comes back: in the repaired iPad itself, or copied to a drive you supply.

If we can also make the iPad fully usable again, we quote that as an option. Sometimes the data is all that’s worth saving, and that’s a fine outcome.

Passcodes and privacy

Your passcode is needed once the iPad starts, because the iPad uses it to unlock your data. You can share it only for the recovery and change it afterward. We open only what’s needed to confirm the recovery worked. We never bypass passcodes or Activation Lock, and we never need your Apple Account password.

If the passcode is forgotten, the data can’t be recovered by anyone. The encryption is designed that way. We’d rather tell you that before you pay for anything.

What affects the price of iPad data recovery

Data recovery starts from $199. The final price depends on what failed on the board, how much liquid or impact damage there is, and whether temporary parts are needed to get the iPad running. The diagnosis is free, the price is confirmed before work starts, and if we can’t recover your data, you don’t pay for the repair.

How to improve your chances

• If it got wet, leave it off and don’t charge it. Power plus moisture is what spreads the damage.
• Don’t restore it from a computer. A restore erases the data you’re trying to save.
• Don’t heat it, open it, or let anyone pull the storage chip. Moving the chip makes recovery impossible.
• Send it soon. Corrosion keeps working inside the iPad even while it sits in a drawer.
• Don’t write your passcode on the iPad or in the box. We’ll ask for it when we need it.

Mail it in from anywhere in the US

No repair store near you? Book online and we'll email a free, prepaid, insured shipping label. We diagnose it within 24h of arrival, repair it once you approve the price, and ship it back insured. How mail-in works.

Questions

Written and checked by the repair team at Charlotte Tech Repair, repairing devices in Charlotte since 2013. Updated November 2026.