How can I download files directly from Safari to ”on my iPad”? I am using the latest iPad Pro model and iPadOS, and I’m still new to how iOS handles files and such.

Whenever I try to download a file (e.g. a pdf article), hit the option ”save to files”, and choose a location for the file on my iPad, I am greeted with a popup telling me that the action is not permitted, and the download is aborted. I’ve tried Googling for how to do this as well as looking in the digital user manual, but I just can’t figure out how to get the files directly from Safari to the local storage.

On the other hand, I can easily download it to third-party apps and drives, such as Google drive or Notability, and even AirDrop it to the local file storage of my iPhone, to then AirDrop it back to the local storage of my iPad!

How do I download files from Safari directly to ”on my iPad”?
It's anybody's guess what could be the problem. But restarting the ipad is always a good thing to try when you run into inexplicable behaviour.