How to Install iPadOS 17 Public Beta on iPad

Now that the iPadOS 17 public beta is widely available for anyone to install, you may be interested in running the iPadOS 17 public beta on your iPad. With a customizable Lock Screen, interactive widgets, FaceTime video voicemail, and much more, there’s a lot to like in the iPadOS 17 version of system software.

It’s important to remember that beta system software is much less stable than final versions, thus you should either be a more advanced user, or have a secondary device that you are willing to tolerate less reliable software on. Apps may crash, performance may be subpar, and some apps may not work at all – this is all expected and typical behavior for betas. If you’re OK with that, read along and you’ll be installing the iPadOS 17 public beta on your iPad in no time at all.

Does My iPad Support iPadOS 17?

First you’ll want to make sure your iPad is compatible with iPadOS 17. iPad models that are compatible with iPadOS 17 include all 11″ iPad Pro models, iPad Pro 12.9″ 2nd generation and later, iPad Pro 10.5″, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 6th generation and later, and iPad mini 5th generation and later.

How to Download & Install iPadOS 17 Public Beta

1. Before anything else, first backup iPhone to iCloud and also backup to a computer with Finder on Mac or to a Windows PC – do not skip this, failure to backup could result in permanent data loss
2. Now to go to https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram on the iPad you want to enroll to join the beta program and sign-in with your Apple ID, enrolling in the iPadOS public beta program
3. After your Apple ID has joined the iPadOS 17 public beta program, your device has access to beta system software options
4. Now open the Settings app > go to General > go to Software Update
5. At the “Software Update” settings, choose “Beta Updates”
6. Choose “iPadOS 17 Public Beta”, then tap the Back arrow to return to Software Updates
7. iPadOS 17 Public Beta will appear as available to download, choose “Download & Install” to begin downloading and installing the public beta on your iPad

The iPad will restart to complete installation.

Future updates to iPadOS 17 public beta will come via Software Update, just like any other system software update you may install.

It’s important to have backed up your device before installing the public beta, because if you ever wish to downgrade from iPadOS 17 beta back to iPadOS 16, you will need to use the backup made from iPadOS 16. This is because backups are not backwards compatible, and a backup from ipadOS 17 can not be restored to iPadOS 16.

I installed the iPadOS 17 developer beta, can I join the iPadOS 17 public beta?

If you were one of the many users who installed iPadOS 17 developer beta already, you may be wondering if you can switch to the public beta. The answer is yes, you can switch from the developer beta to the public beta. However, there is no reason to do so, because the beta builds are the same. In fact, the developer beta usually gets updates slightly before the public beta.

All versions of beta system software can be updated to the final release iPadOS 17 when it is made available in the fall.