Syncing across devices / used this iCloud on this device before or not

Scenario:

I have two iCloud accounts. At one point, I was signed into one of them on my iPad. Later, a friend of mine logged into the iPad, and we were both present when she logged out of the iCloud account that was active at that time. I didn’t pay close attention to which account was currently signed in.

After that, when I tried to log back into my main iCloud account (the one on my iphone), I wasn’t entirely sure which account was previously active on the iPad. When I opened my main iCloud account on the device, I saw a message saying something like “View iCloud on your new iPad”, as in the picture above.

My concern is whether this message means the iPad is now being treated as a new device for my iCloud account, and whether my Voice Memos and recordings might have been affected by my friend logging in with her account.

Additionally, my iCloud for this account has been full since October 5, 2024, which might affect syncing.

So what I want to know:

Questions / Clarifications:

1. Does the message “View iCloud on your new iPad” indicate that this iPad has never been linked to my iCloud account before?
2. Could my Voice Memos or other recordings have been lost, merged, or uploaded to my friend’s iCloud account when she signed in?
3. Are my recordings safe in my iCloud account despite the storage being full since October 5, 2024?
4. How can I confirm whether my iPhone recordings ever synced with this iPad before my friend logged in?

so…

Regarding “initially signed up on this iPad”:

• By “initially,” I mean the first time I signed into this iCloud account on this iPad.
• This iPad had been used before, but I’m not certain if it was ever signed in with this iCloud account prior.
• It was not wiped or factory reset before I signed in — I just added my iCloud account.

Regarding whether this iPad is considered “new” for my iCloud account:

• I’m asking because I saw the message “View iCloud on your new iPad” and wondered if that meant this iPad had never been linked to this exact iCloud before.
• Yes, I’m trying to preserve my Voice Memos and recordings and confirm they weren’t lost or merged into my friend’s iCloud when she logged in.

What I am trying to accomplish:

• I want to verify if my recordings from my iPhone (synced to my iCloud) were ever synced to this iPad, and whether they could have been merged into my friend’s iCloud when she logged in.

Regarding iCloud storage:

• My iCloud on this account has been full since October 5, 2024, but my main concern is ensuring that my recordings are safe and not accidentally lost or synced to another account.

Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful response, it helped clarify a lot.

I’d like to follow up with a couple of detailed scenarios and questions to ensure I fully understand how iCloud syncing works:

Suppose I have been using one account for both, my iphone and my ipad…

Scenario 1: If “Merge” Was Pressed

Let’s assume that when my friend logged into her iCloud account on my iPad, she pressed “Merge.” Before that, I had been using the same iCloud account on both my iPhone and iPad, and syncing was enabled for all apps and services on both devices. However, I had never pressed the “Continue” button for syncing between the iPhone and iPad, because I believed syncing would not start automatically without that confirmation.

In this case, would the presence of syncing being active across both devices mean that data (like Voice Memos synced from iphone to ipad) was still safe, or could pressing “Merge” have caused anything to be lost or uploaded incorrectly into her iCloud account?

Scenario 2: If “Don’t Merge” Was Pressed

Alternatively, if she had selected “Don’t Merge” when signing into her iCloud on my iPad, would that action automatically remove my data from the iPad, or would it have remained local until I signed back into my own account?

Important Context:

Please note that these scenarios are hypothetical. I’m not entirely sure what she selected, and I’m trying to understand what might have happened.

About iCloud Being Full and Local Data

Since my iCloud storage has been full since October 5, 2024, I want to confirm my understanding:

• If iCloud is full, new recordings made on my iPhone wouldn’t sync to my iPad, correct?

• And when I logged out of my iCloud account on the iPad, does that mean that (if iCloud wasn’t full) the recordings would have been deleted from the iPad because of syncing? Or would they have stayed as local data on that iPad until I signed back in?

Thanks again for your patience and detailed guidance, your answers have been extremely helpful!

Based on what you said, I’d like to confirm my understanding with this example:

Let’s suppose I had Voice Memos that were synced from my iPhone to my iPad and were visible on the iPad when my iCloud account was signed in. Then my friend logged out of my iCloud account and signed in with her own account.

In that situation, would any of my Voice Memos be transferred into her iCloud account or her Voice Memos app just by signing her account in on the iPad?

Or would they simply disappear from the iPad or by being copied to her account?

Understood, thank you loads!!

I am worried to be honest if local Voice Memos were on the iPad (not sure cuz they were recorded on my iphone not on my ipad directly and my icloud is full since 5 of October 2024) and if she pressed Merge, would they remain local but not upload to her iCloud?! Or uploaded as a copy and I would keep a copy… Or what ever the scenario is….

Anyways..

That is all what I’m worried about, thanks a lot I appreciate it.