Everything You Need to Know About Resetting Your iPhone

How To Restore Backup To A New IPhone

Adrian Grahams began writing professionally in 1989 after training as a newspaper reporter. His work has been published online and in various newspapers, including "The Cornish Times" and "The Sunday Independent." Grahams specializes in technology and communications. He holds a Bachelor of Science, postgraduate diplomas in journalism and website design and is studying for an MBA.

How To Back Up An IPhone Using Mac, ICloud Or PC

Backing up your iPhone will come in handy if you ever lose your phone or need to transfer contacts to a new device. Your iPhone probably contains thousands of pictures of places you visited, the moments you shared, and adorable pet photos you captured.

Backups are also a good way to restore your phone if something happens to iOS, or you're sick of dealing with a buggy beta. We recommend creating regular backups of your phone to avoid losing pictures, contacts, and any important files that you've downloaded.

Thankfully, backing up an iPhone is easy, and you can update your backup automatically. This guide shows you how to back up an iPhone using Finder, iTunes, and iCloud.

MacOS Catalina or newer: Use Finder

Apple did away with iTunes as we know it on MacOS Catalina. In its place is a new Music app with the iTunes logo. However, it's not used for iPhone backups. Instead, Apple moved that functionality to Finder.

Step 1: Plug your iPhone into your Mac running MacOS Catalina or newer. Note that on modern MacBooks, you'll need a USB-C adapter or a USB-C-to-Lightning cable.

Step 2: Open Finder and select the iPhone listed on the left.

Step 3: Click the blue Trust button displayed on the right.

Step 4: On the iPhone, a Trust This Computer prompt appears. Tap Trust and enter the passcode to continue.

Step 5: Back in Finder, click the Back Up Now button under the General tab.

A status bar along the bottom will show the backup progress. This may take some time, so go grab a snack during the wait. Take note that Finder also provides tools to encrypt the local backup (enabled by default), restore an iPhone from a backup, sync all media to the Mac, and so on.

MacOS Mojave and earlier, or Windows 10: Use iTunes

While Apple is phasing iTunes out, it still works on Macs running MacOS Mojave and earlier, and Windows 10 PCs. It can act as a great backup utility for your iPhone's most important memories. The following instructions are based on iTunes for Windows 10.

Step 1: Connect the iPhone to your Mac or Windows 10 PC's USB port. You may need a USB-C adapter or a USB-C-to-Lightning cable, depending on the PC.

Step 2: Open iTunes and click Continue on the prompt. It merely asks if the computer can access the connected iPhone.

Step 3: On the iPhone, a Trust This Computer prompt appears. Tap Trust and enter the passcode to continue.

Step 4: In iTunes, click the little iPhone button near the top left corner, as shown above. If iTunes doesn't appear to recognize your device, follow these Apple help steps.

Step 5: Select Summary listed on the left.

Step 6: Select Encrypt Local Backup, type a password, and then click Set Password if you want to encrypt the backup. Make sure to remember your chosen password or store it in a password manager.

Step 7: Click the Back Up Now button listed under Backups.

When the backup process is complete, look for an entry under Latest Backups to confirm whether the backup was successful.

How to use iCloud

Apple's iCloud service can control backups manually or automatically while quickly transferring your files to a remote cloud server. When you enable this particular feature, you don't have to stress about losing your images and other essential data if one of your iCloud-connected devices kicks the bucket. 

If you have a free account, you'll get only 5GB of data storage space. Chances are, that won't be enough room to back up every single media file you have. Still, Apple offers three premium storage options that give you a maximum of 2TB of space.

Step 1: Open Settings and tap on your name (aka Apple ID).

Step 2: Tap iCloud. If you've never linked your iCloud, you can go into it now and choose what applications it will automatically back up.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap iCloud Backup.

Step 4: Tap the Toggle next to iCloud Backup to turn it on (green).

Step 5: To manually back up the iPhone now, tap Back Up Now.You'll immediately get confirmation of the backup under the Back Up Now button. Check out our in-depth guide on using iCloud for more information on both iCloud and your iOS devices' platforms and operating systems.

Safe and secure

Proper backups are a surefire method to secure your private information and make sure it remains safe and sound. Meanwhile, your heavy-duty phone case will guard your phone's hardware against any potential damage. The only way you can be confident that you won't lose all your precious cell phone —apps, music, images, videos, and more—is to back up your iPhone on a regular basis. If you're interested in learning more, you can also read the handy guide we developed on how to reset an iPhone.

Editor's Note: Verified accuracy on April 6, 2023.

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How To Backup Your IPhone And IPad To Various Places

When you start to have several thousand photos on your phone, as well as documents and videos, making sure you backup every day becomes imperative. With an iPhone or iPad, it's a simple case of hitting the backup button (or schedule it), and everything goes straight to iCloud. But you can also backup to a computer. Here is how to backup your iPhone and iPad to various places.

QUICK ANSWER

To backup your iPhone or iPad to iCloud, log in to your iCloud account on the device. Go to iCloud Backup in your Apple ID and tap the Backup button. On a Windows or Mac computer, open iTunes or Finder, respectively, and plug in your device. You will then get a backup option in the main window.

JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

How to backup your iPhone and iPad to iCloud

The most secure method of backing up is to use iCloud. The following screenshots are all of an iPhone, but the process and screens on an iPad are absolutely identical. It goes without saying that you must have enough space in your iCloud account to cover the amount of data on your device. If not, you will need to upgrade.

Scroll down and select iCloud.

The next screen gives you a green toggle. Toggling it to green will schedule a daily automated backup, assuming that the iPhone is plugged into power, locked, and on Wi-Fi. Toggling off will cancel the automated backup, necessitating a manual backup instead. This is obviously not recommended as you will most likely forget to do it.

You will now get a status message telling you that it is backing up, along with an estimate of how long it will take to finish. You can also cancel the backup if you wish.

How to backup your iPhone and iPad to Mac

If you don't want to use iCloud, or you want to have a second backup, you can also backup to your Mac computer.

First, open Finder and plug in your iOS device with a cable (theoretically, you can also do it via Wi-Fi, but this is notoriously flaky).

After entering your PIN code into your iOS device, it should now appear in the sidebar under Locations.

In the main part of the window, look at the Backups section. Click Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac.

It is also recommended that you tick the box for Encrypt local backup, as your passwords will be included in the backup, and encryption protects them from prying eyes.

Bear in mind, though, that if you forget the password, your backup will be useless. There is no password recovery function.

When all is ready, click Back Up Now and just wait for it to finish. There's no real way to stop the backup process once it begins, so don't be tempted to pull the cable out or shut the computer.

How to backup your iPhone and iPad to Windows

If you have an iOS device, you really should be using iCloud for your backups. Considering how cheap it is, there's really no reason to be using iTunes on Windows these days. The app is virtually an antique now. But if you insist on using it, here's what you need to do.

Launch iTunes and attach your iOS device to your Windows computer with a cable.

If this is the first time doing this, you will need to go to Account >Authorize and authorize the computer to access your iOS device. You will also need to enter the PIN code into your iOS device.

You'll be asked on your iOS device screen if you want to trust the Windows computer. Obviously, say yes.

When everything connects, click the small smartphone icon at the top of the screen.

Mark O'Neill / Android Authority

You will now be brought to the main backup and restore area for your device.

In the main part of the screen, look at the Backups section. As with the Mac method, select This Computer as the backup location and tick Encrypt local backup.

You will be asked to enter and verify a password.

When all is ready, click Back Up Now and let iTunes do its work.

FAQs

Can I use an iPhone backup to restore my iPad, and vice-versa?

Since both the iPhone and the iPad run on the same operating system, you can use one to restore the other. However, any incompatible features in the backup will not transfer over.

If I am enrolled in the Apple Beta program, can I use a backup to restore an iOS device not enrolled in the beta program?

No, the backup containing the beta files will be incompatible with the older device.

How can I restore an iOS backup on my computer if I have forgotten the encryption password?

If you cannot remember the password, then the backup is useless. There is no password recovery function, and the password is needed for the backup to be used to restore a device.

How do I find an iOS backup I just made on my Mac computer?

Plug in your device to your computer and open Finder. Click your device in the sidebar, then go to General >Manage Backups. You can see all of your backups here, as well as archive or delete any.

How do I find an iOS backup I just made on my Windows computer?

In the Windows Explorer search box, type %appdata%. If you don't see your backups, enter %USERPROFILE%. Press Return and then double-click Apple >MobileSync >Backup.

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Everything You Need to Know About Resetting Your iPhone