iPad Need to Free Up Space for iOS 8 on my iPad 3

[Flight Plan]

Hello. My 64 GB iPad is completely full and won't install iOS 8 until I make some room.

I have several options; here are my two favorite ones.

Option 1 - Remove only the music from it. I have 9,000 songs; this will free up 90% of it. I'm not sure the best way to do this. I'm afraid that if I delete songs from the iPad, then they'll vanish from my PC iTunes library the next time I sync.

Option 2 - Back it up, do a factory reset, upgrade it, then restore from the backup.

I'm leaning a little bit toward #2.

But I don't know if the backup ACTUALLY backs up non-Apple application files, such as those belonging to my various flashcard and Goodnotes apps.

Can anybody advise me on the best way to free up space for the upgrade?

 

[C DM]

If you upgrade via iTunes it shouldn't need much space on the device.

 

[Flight Plan]

If you upgrade via iTunes it shouldn't need much space on the device.

Sorry, not enough room. Won't upgrade without action on my part. I would not have wasted my time and yours starting this thread if I didn't get an actual message.

 

[C DM]

Sorry, not enough room. Won't upgrade without action on my part. I would not have wasted my time and yours starting this thread if I didn't get an actual message.

How much is it telling you that you need?

 

[Max(IT)]

I would do a factory reset and then reinstall only what I need.
It would take time, but it would leave you with a clean installation.

 

[Flight Plan]

I would do a factory reset and then reinstall only what I need.
It would take time, but it would leave you with a clean installation.

Yeah, I'm thinking this is the best solution, because it's also a decluttering step.

But my question about restoring files still unanswered. For example, Goodnotes. How do I know for sure that all those notes are actually backed up?

Finding out AFTER the reset that there are no backups for some of my non-Apple application data...well, that would really suck. I have a lot of homework in Goodnotes format, as well as other application formats.

Update:

I could not sync nor apply iOS 8.2.

I exported all of my Goodnotes ".not" files folder-by-folder to iTunes.
Next, I did a backup to iTunes.
As a precautionary measure I tried to also back up to iCloud, but that kept erroring out, so I had to proceed without an iCloud backup.

I reset the device, then restored from the iTunes backup via a USB cable.

Right now, I'm applying iOS 8.2. The download is running long, but that's not unexpected.

After that, I'll install my apps and import my Goodnotes content. I won't sync as much music this time around because my 128GB iPhone 6 Plus holds twice as much data. So if anything, all I would really need is just one or two genres for travel and study.

I did find that Goodnotes has a new version that includes a new automatic backup feature. As I understand it, Microsoft OneNote still doesn't support drawing and handwriting on iPad, so I'll probably upgrade to the newest version of Goodnotes.

So far so good. Hopefully 8.2 won't screw up my iPad...