iPad Pro crashes whenever I try to move icons after updating to iOS 26

If your iPad is not operating as expected, try a forced-restart - as this will often clear an isolated or post-update software issue. If you haven't already done so since updating to iPadOS 26, your iPad will almost certainly behave differently having performed the restart:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:

Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings

If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Otherwise, you would be best advised to seek assistance directly from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively and perhaps easier, you can initiate and manage your support cases using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed on your iPad, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to assist with troubleshooting:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Until Apple addresses the issue, a temporary solution is to go to Settings>Accessibility>Motion and turn on “Limit Frame Rate” using the toggle at the bottom of the screen.

This returned the ability to move icons without screen freezes on an M4 iPad Pro 12.9

I can reproduce the same issue on my iPad Pro M4 13-inch (1TB, 16GB RAM). When I long-press the Home Screen to enter edit mode and swipe to the right, the device freezes. This seems to be a common iPadOS 26 bug on M4 iPads.

Interestingly, if you go to Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Limit Frame Rate (forcing 60fps), the problem does not occur. That makes it very likely an iPadOS 26 bug related to higher refresh rates.

So please, let’s focus on sharing actual findings and reproducible steps. Generic suggestions like “restart your iPad” or “reset settings” don’t help in this case and just clutter the thread. We need Apple to acknowledge and fix the bug in an upcoming update.

I was succesfully able to reproduce that behavior on my ipad pro m4 11 inch as well. As soon as i set the screens refreshrate to 60Hz it no longer freezes. But setting it back to 120Hz variable refreshrate it freezes again. So absolutely not a single-instance bug but an actual operating system error.

My guess would be its the adaptive refreshrate of the tandem oled thats not playing nice with the new liquid glass rendering.

Anyway. None of the troubleshooting steps that LotusPilot wrote helped in this case unfortunately. (Yes, i followed them down to the last detail. You don't need to point that out every time someone comments.)

When I set the refresh rate to 60 Hz, it seems as if the home screen no longer freezes. Can anyone confirm this?

That worked for me! Hope Apple fixes this but at least now we know how to rearrange our icons without it freezing.

yongkook162 wrote:

We need Apple to acknowledge and fix the bug in an upcoming update.

This is a user-to-user technical community. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitors nor participates within this Community. As such, your comments here will not be seen by Apple Support.

Apple invites submission of comments and bug reports via its Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

When submitting your report, ensure that you include your iPad model and installed version of iPadOS within the body of your report. 

When I set the refresh rate to 60 Hz, it seems as if the home screen no longer freezes. Can anyone confirm this?

jrickw1 wrote:

This is s software bug in iPad os26, not some user-specific issue. I am not the OP but I’m having the exact same problem, and yes I’ve done several forced restarts already because that’s the only way I’ve found to unfreeze my iPad.

You may have performed a forced restart - but seemingly have not progressed through the subsequent methodical troubleshooting steps...

The above “Lotus Pilot” response is not helpful. This is s software bug in iPad os26, not some user-specific issue. I am not the OP but I’m having the exact same problem, and yes I’ve done several forced restarts already because that’s the only way I’ve found to unfreeze my iPad.

I have the same issue with iOS 26.0.1. Everytime I try to I’ve an icon it freezes the whole iPad, nothing works. Eventually it resets to the login screen but that is it

ive done several forced restarts and nothing works.

I have a blank screen, a screen with just icons, and a third with folders. Never had this prior to 26

I’m having the exact same issue on my iPad Pro m4 11 inch. As soon as I swipe to another page while in Home Screen edit mode it freezes or rather the device becomes unresponsive. The wiggle animation still plays for about 30 seconds until it terminates the process and dumps me to the lock screen.

Anyway, on the 9th generation iPad, moving the icons around never caused any problems for me. This gave me the idea to set the frame rate to 60 and try again. Hopefully, the problem will be officially fixed.

bjorge wrote:

I'm having the same issue as everyone else here. iPad Pro M4.

Have you followed all of the troubleshooting steps offered in my reply to this thread of 19th September?

Unfortunately, I've observed the exact same problem. Especially when trying to move icons across multiple home screens, the system freezes for a minute or so. After a minute the home screen is back. A very annoying problem. (iPad Pro 11 M4 256GB IPadOS 26)

A Mod edited my original message, but failed to include an update that corrected spelling and gave credit to Charly. Here is what it should read-

“I didn’t. “Charly_93” posted that he had luck with it above, but his post didn’t get much attention. It seems to work. Credit to Charly.”