Justin Sullivan/Getty Images To change your iCloud account on an iPad, you need to know your Apple ID passwords.
- You can easily change the iCloud account currently associated with your iPad by signing out of your old account and into your new account in the Settings app.
- You can also maintain two different accounts: one for syncing your iCloud storage, and another for iTunes and App Store purchases.
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iCloud is extremely helpful for syncing data across all of your Apple devices. When activated, items like your photo library and apps will sync on your iPhone, iPad, and Macbook laptop whenever you're connected to the internet. The feature is also used for Apple Pay and backups.
While having constant access to this data is great, you may want to use a different account specifically for song and app purchases.
This is especially common if you're using Apple's Family Sharing feature, where one member's account (and credit card) is used for all iTunes & App Store purchases.
To change your iCloud account on an iPad, you can sign out of your current account and sign in to a new account in the Settings app. There, you can also specify separate accounts for data syncing and purchases.
If you've never signed in to an iCloud account on your device before, you can skip the "Sign out" step and scroll down to the "Sign in" steps.
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How to change the iCloud account on your iPad
Sign out of your current iCloud account
1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap on your name at the top of the left sidebar. This will bring you to your Apple ID account page, which includes your iCloud, iTunes & App Store, and Family Sharing details. You can also see a list of all the devices on your account.
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Tapping your name in the Settings app will bring you to your account details.
3. Scroll down and tap "Sign Out." If you're currently using the "Find My" service, your device may prompt you to enter your Apple ID password to first turn this function off.
4. A pop-up will then ask, "Keep a copy of your data on this iPad?" You can opt to keep a copy of your Calendars, Contacts, Keychain passwords, Reminders, and Safari pages if you so choose.
5. After selecting any data you may like to keep, tap "Sign Out" in the right hand corner of the pop-up.
6. You will be prompted with, "Are you sure?" Tap the red "Sign Out" option to confirm.
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Your iPad will ask you to confirm signing out of your iCloud account before removing data from your device.
It may take up to a minute to finish removing all of your iCloud data from your iPad. Once complete, this essentially restores your iPad to its original settings, albeit with the data you saved, and you can now log in with a new iCloud account.
Sign in to your new iCloud account
1. Navigate back to the Settings app, where your iPad is no longer signed into an account.
2. Tap "Sign in to your iPad" at the top of the left sidebar.
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It's easy to find the "Sign in to your iPad" option in your Settings app.
3. Enter your Apple ID and password.
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Enter your Apple ID and password to sign in to your new iCloud account.
4. You may be asked to enter a verification code sent to another device as a security measure. Enter that code if needed (usually sent to your iPhone).
5. You may also have to enter your iPad's passcode if your device's lock screen is secured.
It may take a few minutes to load all of the photos and apps synced from your new iCloud account onto your iPad.
Signing in automatically links the iCloud account to everything on your iPad, including the iTunes & App Store. If you want to use a separate account for these purchases, you can easily differentiate with two different accounts.
How to change the iCloud account on an iPad for iTunes and App Store purchases
1. Once again, go to Settings app on your iPad and tap your name at the top of the sidebar.
2. Tap "iTunes & App Store."
3. You can also access this page by scrolling down the sidebar and tapping "iTunes & Apple Store" there. Both options will bring you to the same page.
4. If an Apple ID is currently signed in for the iTunes & App Store, tap on the blue "Apple ID" at the very top of the page and then select "Sign Out."
5. Tap "Sign In" once you're logged out.
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Tap on the blue "Sign In" and enter your info.
6. Enter the Apple ID and password for the account you want to use for purchases when prompted.
This switch ensures that a specific iCloud account is used for just iTunes & App Store purchases, but the rest of your iPad is still linked to another account for backups and syncing data across multiple devices.
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