How to go full screen on iPad

what to know

  • You can't make the iPad full screen in all situations.
  • For Safari, you can hide toolbars and side panels to get more space. But there is always a small menu.
  • To get a full-screen video on iPad, click the square or arrow in the corner of the video player.

This article introduces the situation of full-screen display on iPad and how to operate it.

If you want the most immersive web browsing experience, making Safari full screen is attractive. While there's no full-screen button in Safari, there are several ways to use more of your tablet's screen. Here are your options:

  1. Click the aA button to the left of the page URL, then click Hide Toolbar . The page won't be completely full screen, but it'll be as close as possible.

    The next time you close Safari, the toolbar will reappear.

  2. Click the menu button in the upper left corner of Safari. This will collapse the menu and give you more space to view the web page.

  3. Click the three dots at the top of the browser and select Full Screen . This method also works on Chrome and other browsers if you're currently viewing the site in split-screen view mode.

  4. Add web pages to your home screen. This will create a shortcut to the page next to all other apps. When you click the shortcut, it will open the website in Safari, preferably in full-screen mode.

    This does not apply to all websites. If a web developer adds the correct code to their website, opening the shortcut will hide everything else on the page, making the website appear full screen.

  5. Another way to make Safari on iPad go full screen is to use some JavaScript. This method isn't ideal because it doesn't stick around when you click on the web page and it's easy to exit, but it can be useful in some situations.

    To do this, you need to create a normal bookmark and then edit it so that it points to this bookmark instead of the real URL:

    javascript:document.documentElement.webkitRequestFullScreen()

    Here's what the website looks like when displayed full screen in Safari:

Another way to go full screen on your iPad is to watch videos. Some apps offer actual full screen without a menu bar at the top, while others retain a menu bar. You have no control over which is which; that's up to the application developer.

To watch the video in full-screen mode, click the full-screen button on the video player. Different apps and websites use different buttons, but it's usually a square or a set of two arrows.

If you're watching a picture-in-picture video, tap the icon that shows two squares in the upper right corner.

If you want to go full screen on your iPad (that is, no clock, date, or battery icons at the top), we've got bad news for you: There's no way to do it. At least, not in all cases. Some apps allow it, some don't. Unfortunately, there's no system-wide full-screen button in iPadOS.