How to open multiple windows of the same app on iPad

Learn how to open multiple windows of the same app on iPad and increase your productivity with this step-by-step guide.

Multiple windows of an app open at the same time on iPad

Some iPad apps allow you to open multiple instances of the same app simultaneously, which is useful in various scenarios such as having multiple maps open in Maps, several views in Calendar, or even separate windows in Safari (in case you prefer not to use tabs).

Open multiple windows of the same app on iPad

1) Open the app that you want to have more than one window of and keep it on the screen. We’re going to use the Calendar app for our example.

2) With the app open on your screen, swipe up subtly from the bottom to invoke the Dock. If you swipe at full force, you could minimize your app, so use a light touch.

Dock open on iPad screen with Calendar app in background

3) Tap the same app’s icon in the Dock. Calendar in our case.

4) Tap New Window.

Tap New Window to open a new window for that iPad app

That app will open a new window. You can repeat the above steps to open subsequent windows of the same app. Or, use that action to quickly switch between those windows, which you can also do in the App Switcher.

Another method

1) Open the app on your iPad.

2) You can go out of the app to the Home Screen, Dock, or App Library to see this app’s icon or follow the steps in the above heading to bring up the Dock with the app in the background.

3) Touch and hold that app’s icon and choose Show All Windows.

Show All Windows option after touching and holding an app icon on iPad

4) Tap the plus icon (+) from the top left corner of the screen to open a new window of that app.

Tap plus icon to open new window of an iPad app

See all open app windows

There are three different ways to do that.

Method 1: Follow steps 1 to 3 of the first section, and you will see the thumbnails for all open windows. Tap one to jump in.

All open window of an iPad app as little thumbnails

Method 2: Touch and hold the app icon in the Dock, Home Screen, or App Library and choose Show All Windows. You will see all the open windows of this app.

Method 3: Finally, you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause to enter App Switcher, which will show tiles for all open apps and app windows.

Open windows of an app in App Switcher on iPad
iPad App Switcher showing open windows of the Calendar app.

Close an app window

Simply enter App Switcher to see all windows of the app and swipe up on one of the window tiles to close it. Doing this will only close that window and not that app or its other open windows.

Reopen closed window

You can reopen recently closed windows of an app as long as you have at least one open window of that app. In other words, you can reopen closed windows if you have not entirely quit the app.

1) Touch and hold the app icon from the Dock, Home Screen, or App Library, and tap Show All Windows.

2) Tap Reopen Closed Window from the top left corner of the screen.

Reopen Closed Window of an iPad app

Not all iPad apps support opening multiple windows

Not every iPadOS app supports Split View or Slide Over, and similarly, not all built-in or third-party apps allow you to open multiple windows. When you follow the above steps and tap the app icon in the Dock and instead of showing the New Window option, if the entire app’s current screen shakes, that means this app does not support the multi-window feature.

You can contact the app developer and request them to add this feature or look for an alternative.

Having more than one app open at a time is great, but having more than one window for the same app open at a time is even better. You can up your productivity a notch with this handy iPadOS feature.

For a similar article, take a look at how to switch between windows and apps on your Mac.

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