Your iPad may not be as capable as a full-blown computer, but it’s no slouch when it comes to multitasking. iPadOS lets you view and work with two or three apps on the screen at the same time, allowing you to drag and drop text, images, links, and even files from one app to another.
Your iPad offers two different multitasking modes: Slide Over and Split View. Slide Over lets you view two apps on the screen with one app in a narrow pane floating on top of the other.
Split View allows you to display two apps on the screen in their own resizable panes. You can then add a third app, which resides in the floating pane.
Both Slide Over and Split View are supported by the iPad Pro, the 5th generation iPad and later, the iPad Air 2 and later, and the iPad mini 4 and later. Certain older model iPads will work with Slide Over in a limited fashion but not with Split View.
Upgrade Your iPad
With iPadOS 15, Apple has eased the process by which you position multiple windows. Instead of having to move them with your fingers, you can use a multitasking toolbar at the top of the screen. This toolbar allows you to quickly move a window into Slide Over mode, Split View mode, or full-screen mode.
To take advantage of the latest features, make sure you’re running iPadOS 15 or higher. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. You’ll be told that the OS is up to date or be prompted to download and install the latest update.
Open Slide Over Mode
Opening multiple windows using the drag-and-drop method with your finger is easier if at least one of the apps you want to juggle resides in the dock. For this reason, you may want to move the apps you plan to open to the dock before you start. Open your first app—let’s say Notes—and then swipe up from the bottom of the screen just enough to display the dock.
Hold down the icon for the second app—this time, Mail—and drag it to the right side of the Notes screen until it turns into a small vertical window. Release your hold on the Mail app and it should slide into place as a floating pane on the right. That places the new app in Slide Over mode. Swipe left to move the pane to the left. Swipe it all the way to the right to dismiss the floating app and then swipe left to get it back again.
Open Split View Mode
Slide Over mode works fine if you don’t need to see much information in the second app. However, if you want to increase the width of that app to view more of it, you’ll need to jump into Split View mode, where you can resize the two app windows.
With the Notes app on the left and the Mail app on the right in Slide Over view, press down on the top banner of the Mail app window and drag the window to the right, but not too much. The Notes window shrinks in size, allowing the Mail window to slide into place so both apps share the screen in a split view.
You can also change the width of the two windows while in Split View mode. Hold down the small vertical gray bar in the center of the border between the two windows and move the border to the right. The screen for the window on the right shrinks. Release your hold when each window is the size you want.
How to Use the Multitasking Toolbar
The update released with iPadOS 15 makes it easier to use the Slide Over and Split View modes thanks to the addition of a new multitasking toolbar. Now you can open an app, such as Notes, and tap the three-dot icon at the top to display the toolbar.
The first icon places your current app full screen. The second lets you open another app and moves your current app into Split View mode. The third icon lets you open a second app with the two in Slide Over mode.
If you tap the Slide Over icon, the current app moves out of the way and allows you to select another app from the home screen. Open another app, such as Mail, and the new app opens in full, while the Notes app slips into Slide Over mode.
Now, if you want to transition to Split View mode to see the two windows side by side, tap the three-dot icon and open the multitasking toolbar. Tap the Split View icon on the toolbar, and the two apps then appear in Split View mode.
View Three Apps at Once
Your iPad can display three apps at once by combining Slide Over and Split View mode. With two apps in Split View mode, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to display the dock. Hold down your finger on a third app and pull it out of the dock and onto the center of the screen, then release your hold.
Your two current apps remain in Split View, while the third app resides in Slide Over mode. The new floating app will appear on the left or right after you drag it to the center. If you drag it to one side of the screen, it will replace the app on that side.
Open Multiple Windows in an App
Some apps display more than one window to accommodate what you may be doing. For example, when you create a new email in Mail, the app opens the New Message screen over the Inbox view. If you open the multitasking toolbar, you will notice there are now four options.
You have the option to display the New Message window full screen, display the New Message window and the Inbox window side by side in Split View mode, or show the New Message window in a floating pane in Slide Over mode. There is also a fourth option that allows you to see the New Message window on top of the Inbox window again.
View the Same App More Than Once
You can open two or even three separate instances of the same app at the same time. This maneuver works in either Slide Over or Split View mode for certain supported apps, including Microsoft Word, Notes, and Safari.
For example, you can open Safari and then grab the Safari icon from the dock and drag it into Slide Over or Split View mode. This can also be done through the multitasking toolbar. Open Safari, then tap the toolbar icon and select Split View. When asked to select another app, choose Safari again to view two websites side-by-side. You can even grab the Safari icon again and open a third instance of the app in Slide Over mode.
View Thumbnails of Multitasking Windows
If you switch to another app while multitasking, the windows arranged in Split View or Slide Over mode are saved and can be accessed again via thumbnail. To do this after you’ve already arranged two or three windows, swipe up to return to the home screen, then swipe up again to reveal thumbnails of all previously opened apps. You will see the multitasking arrangement you previously created preserved in thumbnail form. Just tap the thumbnail to open the setup again.
Drag and Drop Between Windows
You can drag and drop content between two open windows. As an example, let’s open Notes and Mail in Split View mode. You can select text from a note and drag it over to a new email. You can double tap to select a word, triple tap to grab a sentence, or quadruple tap to get an entire paragraph. You can then expand or shrink the section you plan to take by moving the line at the end of the selection.
Hold down the selected text for a second and then move your finger to the spot in your email where you want to drop the text. You should see the text displayed in a balloon with a green + button in the upper-right. Release your finger to drop the selected text.
If there is a hyperlink you wish to drag and drop in Split View or Slide Over mode, hold down on the link and drag it over to the other window. You should see the link displayed in a balloon with a green + button in the upper right. Release your finger to drop it in, and the page will display as a clickable link.
You can even drag a link and open it in Split View mode or Slide Over mode in much the same way you would open multiple apps. Hold down on the link and drag it over to open the link as a new window side by side with your current web page.
You can also drag and drop images from one app to another. Find an image in your browser, for instance, and hold down on it for a second. With more than one window open, drag the image into another open app, then release your finger to drop it.
Images from the Photos or Files app can also be moved to other apps from thumbnail view. Multiple photos can be grabbed in one shot if you hold down on one photo, then move it slightly to start dragging it. You can then tap on each of the other photos you want to drag before moving them over to the other app.
If you wish to drag and drop an entire file, you can do this from the Files app. If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to set up the app with access to one or more online file storage services, such as iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box. Open one of your online services and navigate to a folder with multiple files inside the app.
With more than one app open on the screen, hold down on a file and then drag it to its new location. You can also grab multiple files at a time. Start to drag a file from the Files app, then tap on a few more files to add them to the mix. Drop them in the other app, and you should see all the files you dragged as attachments.
