Troubleshoot sync and performance

A score, annotation, or recording is missing on another device

Sync between devices goes through your own iCloud account. Before treating a missing item as deleted, confirm both devices are talking to the same iCloud backup and run one explicit pass in each direction.

1. On both devices, open Settings and select the Sync tab.
2. Confirm the iCloud Backup & Sync toggle is on. Under it, the account row must read Signed in to iCloud. If it shows anything else, see Sync shows a warning first.
3. On the device that has the content, tap Send to iCloud now and wait until the state row returns to Library backed up.
4. On the device that is missing the content, tap Import from iCloud and wait for Restoring from iCloud… to finish.
5. Keep the app open in the foreground with a network connection during both passes. Send to iCloud now and Import from iCloud are unavailable while a pass is already running — wait for it to finish rather than repeating it.
6. If the item still doesn't appear, check the library's active collection, filters, and search field before concluding it is gone. A piece hidden by a filter looks identical to a missing one.

Note — The Apple Account section in Settings › General is a separate sign-in (Sign in with Apple) used for score conversion and public library contributions. It plays no part in iCloud sync: signing in or out of it does not change what syncs, and signing in to iCloud does not sign you in there.

Important — Do not delete and reimport a piece as a first remedy. A fresh import can create a new piece identity, leaving the existing takes, calibration, and annotations attached to the old one.

Sync shows a warning

The row under the iCloud Backup & Sync toggle reports the account state. Each state has one fix:

• No iCloud account — sign in to iCloud in the iPad's own Settings app, then return here.
• iCloud is restricted — Screen Time or a device-management profile is blocking iCloud on this device; sync cannot run until the restriction is lifted.
• iCloud temporarily unavailable or iCloud status unknown — iCloud could not be reached. Check the network, leave and reopen Settings, and try again later.
• Backup issue followed by a message — the last pass failed; the message names the cause. Run Send to iCloud now again once the cause (usually network or iCloud storage) is resolved.

Automatic sync hasn't run

Scheduled sync is opt-in and only runs while the app is open.

• Routine sync (in the Sync tab: Off, Daily, Weekly, Every 2 weeks, Monthly) fires the next time you open the app after the interval has elapsed, at or after the time of day set in Run around.
• Sync when I leave the app pushes only new changes a few seconds after you leave the app without coming right back.

Limit — iOS does not let the app run on a timer while fully closed, and never tells an app the moment it is force-closed. A routine pass therefore waits for the next launch, and a quick app-switch or force-quit will not trigger the leave-the-app push. If you need the backup current right now, use Send to iCloud now.

The reader is slow or closes tabs

Work through these in order — the cheap steps first.

1. Close score tabs you are not using. Every open tab keeps its pages live.
2. Stop work you don't need right now: Follow, a recording, take playback, or a running Smart Score conversion or analysis job.
3. Open Settings › General and turn on Performance mode. The Your iPad card below it shows what the app measured about this device and its suggested settings; Use recommended applies them in one tap.
4. With Performance mode on, set Open tab limit (2–8) to the recommended count or lower. Opening a tab beyond the limit automatically closes the least recently used ones — this is expected under Performance mode, not data loss; reopen the piece from the library.
5. For more headroom, use the three extra switches under the limit: Disable the Lab turns off the heaviest optional surface (real-time DSP and graphics — the tracker and reader are unaffected), Limit movement menus skips per-tab movement scans in the reader chrome, and turning off Background duplicate scan keeps library matching from competing with Follow and playback.
6. Test the problem page at normal zoom. Very large scanned PDFs and images use the most memory when zoomed far in.
7. Restart the app after stopping or finishing background work.

Note — Performance mode removes no features permanently. Turn it off and everything returns.

Storage is high on this device

Open Settings › Sync and scroll to the Storage section.

• On this device shows the total the app occupies, broken down by folder (scores, recordings, versions, annotations, index), so you can see what is actually taking the space.
• Free up space now merges duplicate copies of the same score created by re-imports and deletes files no score in your library points to. It asks for confirmation (Clean up now) before touching anything, then reports exactly what it merged, removed, and freed. Scores, annotations, and recordings stay.
• Cached data (safe to clear) shows how much regenerable data is held: cloud-score copies, thumbnails, and temporary files. Clear cache removes only that; the app may re-download or rebuild it later. It does not remove scores, recordings, or annotations. Clear automatically runs the same clearing on a schedule you pick.

iCloud storage is high

Two controls in the Sync tab use iCloud space beyond the backup itself:

• iCloud Drive folder (visible in Files) keeps a second, browsable copy of your scores in iCloud Drive — roughly the size of your library. Turn the toggle off to remove that copy; your library and the private backup are unaffected.
• Delete this app's iCloud backup… permanently removes the backup Page Turner keeps in its own iCloud space and turns backup off. Nothing on the device is deleted, and the rest of your iCloud (Photos, Drive, other apps) is not touched — but any other device relying on that backup can no longer import from it.

Important — Before deleting the iCloud backup or clearing a library, save an independent copy with Export my library (.zip) in the Sync tab. The export is a portable file — PDFs, versions, annotations, anchors, system maps, recordings, and a metadata manifest — that you keep in Files or anywhere else. It is a snapshot: edits made after the export need a fresh one. A green Library backed up row is not a portable archive.

If the issue persists

Note the device model, iPadOS version, free storage, the exact text of the account and state rows in the Sync tab, the affected piece, and the last action that worked, then contact Support. The How does this work? row at the bottom of the Sync tab explains what the backup contains and where each copy lives.