If you are like most people, you probably bought your iPad with grand visions of productivity. You imagined yourself breezing through emails at a coffee shop, sketching out brilliant ideas, and managing your entire life from a single sheet of glass. But the reality? Often, it becomes a very expensive Netflix screen or a device strictly for browsing the web.
Here is the secret that power users know: the iPad is an absolute productivity beast, but only if you know how to tame it. The key lies in Shortcuts. We aren’t just talking about keyboard combinations (though we will cover those, too); we are talking about Apple’s built-in Shortcuts app. It is a tool that allows you to string together multiple tasks and execute them with a single tap or a voice command.
If the word "automation" makes you nervous, don't worry. You don’t need to be a coder or a tech wizard to use these. By the end of this post, you will be saving minutes every hour and actually enjoying your workflow.
1. The Shortcuts App: Your New Personal Assistant
Pre-installed on your iPad is an app simply called "Shortcuts." Many users delete it or hide it in a folder because it looks complicated. Please, go find it and open it up! Think of a Shortcut as a recipe. Instead of manually opening your calendar, checking the weather, and then opening your email, a single "recipe" can do all three instantly.
The best place to start is the Gallery. Inside the app, look for the "Gallery" tab at the bottom. This is Apple’s curated store of pre-made shortcuts. You don’t have to build anything; you just have to click "Add Shortcut."
Pro Tip: You can add any Shortcut to your Home Screen so it looks just like a regular app icon. Tap the three dots on a shortcut, select the share icon, and choose "Add to Home Screen." Now, your complex workflow is just one tap away.
2. Essential "One-Tap" Workflows for Everyday Tasks
Let’s look at three specific examples of how the Shortcuts app can speed up your day-to-day life immediately. You can find versions of these in the Gallery or build simple versions yourself.
The "Meeting Mode" Shortcut
Walking into a meeting usually involves a scramble: silencing your device, opening your notes app, and perhaps pulling up your calendar. You can create a shortcut called "Meeting Mode" that does all of this instantly:
- Turns on "Do Not Disturb" so you aren't interrupted by notifications.
- Sets your screen brightness to a specific level.
- Opens a new note in Apple Notes (or GoodNotes) ready for typing.
The "Convert to PDF" Tool
How often do you find a webpage, a photo, or a note that you need to save as a PDF to email to someone? Instead of hunting for online converters, you can use the Share Sheet. By adding a "Make PDF" shortcut to your share menu, you can turn almost anything on your screen into a PDF file with one tap, and immediately pop up an email draft with that PDF attached.
The "Running Late" Text
This is a classic for a reason. With one tap, this shortcut checks your current location, calculates the travel time to your next calendar event (or home), and sends a pre-written text to a specific contact saying, "I’ll be there in [Time] minutes!" It’s a lifesaver when you are rushing to the car.
3. Mastering Multitasking: Split View and Slide Over
While the Shortcuts app is powerful, "speed" on an iPad also comes down to how you navigate the screen. If you are constantly closing one app to open another, you are killing your momentum. Apple has refined multitasking significantly in recent updates.
To truly speed up your workflow, you need to get comfortable with Split View and Slide Over.
- Split View: Tap the three dots at the very top center of an app window. Select the split view icon (the one with two side-by-side rectangles). The current app moves aside, letting you pick a second app. This is essential for research—having Safari open on the left and Notes on the right.
- Slide Over: This is for apps you need for just a second, like Messages or a Calculator. These apps float over your main work. You can swipe them away off the right side of the screen and swipe them back in when needed.
Did you know? You can drag and drop content between apps in Split View. Try opening Photos on one side and Mail on the other. You can simply drag a photo from your gallery and drop it directly into the body of the email. No attachment menus required!
4. The "Globe" Key and Keyboard Power
If you use a physical keyboard with your iPad, such as the Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth alternative, you have a secret weapon: the Globe Key (usually located at the bottom left, near the Control key). Many users ignore this key, but it is the gateway to system-wide speed.
Holding down the Globe key brings up a cheat sheet of shortcuts for whichever app you are currently using. However, there are universal shortcuts that work everywhere:
- Globe + H: Go to Home Screen (no more swiping up!).
- Globe + Left/Right Arrow: Switch between open apps instantly.
- Globe + Q: Open a "Quick Note." This opens a small floating notepad regardless of what app you are in. It’s perfect for jotting down a phone number or an idea without losing your place in your main app.
- Command + Space: This opens Spotlight Search. This is the fastest way to launch an app. Don't swipe through pages of icons looking for Zoom; just hit Cmd+Space, type "Z", and hit Enter.
5. Quick Notes and Corner Gestures
Even if you don't use a keyboard, you can speed up your input using Corner Gestures. By default, swiping diagonally up from the bottom-right corner of your iPad screen with an Apple Pencil (or your finger, if enabled in settings) will instantly launch a Quick Note.
Why is this helpful? Imagine you are on a video call and someone gives you a recommendation for a book. Swipe up from the corner, scribble the name, and swipe it away. The Quick Note saves automatically. Later, when you open the Notes app, it’s waiting for you.
You can also configure the bottom-left corner swipe. Many users set this to "Take Screenshot." This allows you to snap a picture of a document, mark it up with your finger or pencil, and send it off in seconds.
Start Small, Then Build
The world of iPad productivity can feel overwhelming if you try to do everything at once. Don't try to memorize every keyboard combination or build complex automation scripts today.
Start with one change. Go to the Shortcuts Gallery and download the "Running Late" shortcut. Try using Split View the next time you are writing an email. Once these small changes become muscle memory, you will find that the iPad stops feeling like a giant iPhone and starts feeling like the powerful computer it was designed to be.