iPadOS 26 Finally Makes the Files App Worth Using
For years, the Files app on iPad was little more than a token effort — a gesture toward desktop functionality that never quite delivered. You could move files around, rename them, and pretend it was a real file manager, but in every iPadOS update it always seemed to fall well short of what pro users were needing. With iPadOS 26, Apple has finally turned it into something dependable. This update doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it makes Files a tool you can actually rely on day to day.
So aside from the ‘liquid glass’ that Apple have introduced into this update, what can you expect from the Files app now?
Better Organisation and Dock Access
The list view — once painfully basic — now behaves like a proper file browser. You can resize columns, collapse folders, and sort everything by name, type, size, or date. It’s the difference between glancing at a messy folder and actually being able to find what you need.
Apple has also added a small but genuinely helpful touch: folder customisation. Every folder used to look the same dull blue. Now, you can colour-code them or even assign an emoji or icon. It sounds like a gimmick, but once you tag your main projects with bright, distinct colours, navigation becomes noticeably faster.
One of the most practical upgrades is the ability to pin folders directly to the Dock. This means you can keep your current project folder always within reach, no matter what app you’re in. Working on a document in Notes or browsing in Safari? That folder is right there at the bottom of the screen, ready to drop files into. It’s the kind of workflow feature the iPad has been missing for years.
Default Apps, Preview, and External Drives
Perhaps the most overdue addition is the option to set default apps for specific file types. You can finally choose which app opens a file without having to tap “Open in…” each time. PDFs can launch straight into the a PDF app of your choice instead of the Preview app, and text files can open in your preferred editor. Once you set it, iPadOS remembers — exactly as it should have from the start.
Preview itself is a huge win for productivity, expanding on what the Files app could previously do. Before iPadOS 26, Files could only display PDFs or images with very limited markup tools. Now, Preview allows full annotation, form filling, and signatures directly within the built-in app, removing the need for third-party editors and making PDF handling far more complete. It’s very similar to the lightweight but capable tool Mac users have had for years. It’s not designed to replace heavy-duty editors like PDF Expert, but it’s perfect for everyday use and, crucially, it’s first party and baked in.
External storage also behaves more predictably. You can now erase and reformat drives directly within Files, choosing between APFS, exFAT, or FAT/MS-DOS formats (though it still seems you need a Mac to initialise an SSD on first use). Just be careful — formatting wipes the drive completely. Some portable SSDs may need their own power supply, such as those that are part of a hub set-up and require more than 4.5W to run). iPadOS also only recognises only a single data partition, so multi-partition setups won’t show all volumes. Even so, it’s miles better than the clunky handling of earlier versions.
Cloud Improvements
Cloud integration has matured too. Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud Drive all appear in the sidebar—as previously—but the “Keep Downloaded” toggle now behaves more reliably. Tap it, and those files genuinely stay on your iPad for offline use, something that wasn’t always guaranteed before. If you rely on a NAS or shared server, SMB support remains solid, and you can pin your network folders to the sidebar for faster access.
All the usual tools are still here: renaming, duplicating, moving, zipping, tagging, favouriting, and searching (though Apple suggest search is now better). Files also keeps deleted items for 30 days before permanently removing them, which gives you a bit of safety if you accidentally trash something. The only lingering weakness is version history. Pages and Numbers have it built in, but most third-party formats still don’t, so it’s worth making duplicates of important files before editing.
Final Thoughts
Despite a few caveats like power-hungry drives, limited partition support, and no support for file aliases (a niche requirement) — Files in iPadOS 26 now feels … grown up!
It’s stable, reliable, and finally practical. Between the smarter list view, colourful folders, Dock access, default app settings, and integrated Preview, Apple has turned Files from a checkbox feature into a genuine productivity tool.
If you gave up on it years ago, now’s the time to give it another go.
*This article is based on a video uploaded to my YouTube channel on the 13th October 2025 - LINK
Please support my work and enable me to keep writing content like this by tapping here: BuyMeACoffee
