i forgot ipad password but don't want to lose data

Not unless you've been backing it up. If you haven't been backing up, it's too late to preserve your data.

See this link about how to erase your iPad using your home computer with iTunes --> If you forgot the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled - Apple Support

No, by design there is not. The one and only way to reset an iPhone or iPad screen lock passcode is to restore it in iTunes to erase the device and set it back to factory settings. iOS and iPadOS are deliberately designed that way so that no one, nobody at all, can gain access to a device’s data without the screen lock passcode.

As long as you have an iCloud or iTunes backup, you’d restore that after resetting it to get your data back. But without a backup, data loss is unavoidable.