Huge red dot without number on apps and settings icon

I can’t give a definitive answer as to why this occurred in your specific circumstances, but this behaviour is relatively rare. It is usually linked with an iCloud synchronisation issue. We occasionally see similar reports in this Support Community.

I too have experienced something similar on one occasion - where the “unread messages” badge on the Mail icon differed between my iPad and iPhone - despite synchronisation being otherwise correct. In my case, a forced-restart was insufficient in clearing the problem, instead requiring that I log-out from iCloud (and then restart) to clear the issue. This is where we were heading next if the restart didn’t initially help you.

In conclusion, this issue is generally benign - and is believed to be a simple synchronisation glitch between the iCloud back-end resources and the affected device.

I hope this reassurance is helpful - and that your problem is now resolved.

The badge that appears on icons usually indicates the number of items needing attention. Something is clearly amis...

A force-restart iPad should resolve the problem:

• On an iPad with a Home button: Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.
• On an iPad with Face ID: Press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button, then press and hold the top button. When the Apple logo appears, release the button.

No,it just comes back after an hour or so. I’m not reassured