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Can external hard drives work with iPads?
iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi
See this link --> Connect external devices or servers with Files on iPad - Apple Support
See this link --> Connect external devices or servers with Files on iPad - Apple Support
Your external HDD can be connected to your iPad with the Apple adapter appropriate for your model of iPad - if the HDD is both partitioned and formatted appropriately (i.e., a single partition - formatted as FAT32, exFAT or APFS+). However, iPadOS does not provide facility to play or directly access media from the external storage device; such content must be transferred to the iPad or iCloud.
You should also note that the iPad is not capable of providing sufficient power to run an HDD. If the HDD does not have its own source of power- then external power must be supplied to the HDD using the connecting adapter (e.g., an Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter and Apple Charger of at least 12W) - or by connecting both the iPad and HDD to a powered USB hub.
I hope you find this to be helpful in providing some useful clarity.
Yes, they need to be formatted, depends on which iPad as well
Hard Drive for Ipad
