Yes, of course you want to back up your iPhone – despite, as we all know, phone cases, Gorilla glass, and careful engineering, disaster – in the form of broken screens, lost devices, and three-year-olds who think it’s fun. last sit on your phone – it could be. When this happens, you want all your data backed up.
The easiest way to go is to back up using iCloud, which is not only simple to set up but also makes it easy to set up a new phone if your old phone is no longer usable. (You can also backup to other services, like Google Drivebut not nearly as convenient.) Or if you’re an iPhone user who is committed to protecting your privacy, you can back up your iPhone to your Mac or Windows computer and have full control of your data backups.
Here’s how to backup to iCloud or to your laptop/desktop.
backup to iCloud
- Tap “Settings” > [your name] top button > “iCloud” > “iCloud Backup”.
- If “iCloud Backup” is off, turn it on. If it’s already on and you’re getting ready to wipe your old iPhone, you might want to tap “Back Up Now” just in case.
Backup to your desktop
- Connect your phone to your computer using the charging cable.
- If you’re using a Windows or Mac with macOS 10.14 or earlier, run iTunes; On a Mac with macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, use Finder.
If you’re using the Finder, open a Finder window (by clicking the Finder icon on your dock or choosing “File” > “New Finder Window” in the top Finder menu bar) and search for your iPhone on the left. Manual menu under “Locations”.
- In iTunes you should see a small iPhone icon in the upper left corner; select it. (If you can’t see it, you may need to authorize your system. Go to the top iTunes menu and select “Account” > “Authorizations” > “Authorize This Computer…” and follow the instructions.)
- After that, the process is pretty much the same for iTunes or Finder, although the look of the pages and the language are slightly different.
- If this is your first time doing this, when you click the phone icon, you may be asked if you trust the phone, first on the computer and then on the phone itself.
- First-time users may also be asked whether you want to set up your phone as a new device or restore from a previous backup. In this case, choose the first one.
- Select the “General” tab at the top and look for the category labeled “Backups”. Select “This computer” (in iTunes) or “Back up all data from your iPhone to your Mac” (in Finder).
- You will want to encrypt your backup for added security. Check “Encrypt iPhone backup” (in iTunes) or “Encrypt local backup” (in Finder) and enter a password. Do not lose this password; otherwise you will lose access to your data.
- When you set the encryption, the backup is likely to start automatically. Otherwise, click “Back Up Now”.
If you need to restore your backup, go to the same page and click “Restore Backup…”.
Note that you can back up your iPhone manually or automatically back it up every time you connect it to your computer. Search for “Options” just below the “Backups” section and select “Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected”.
After you set up your backup on your computer, you may want to delete all the backups you have made to iCloud.
To do this on your Mac:
- Click the Apple icon in the top corner of your system.
- Select “System Preferences” > “Internet Accounts” > “iCloud”.
- Select the “Manage” button in the lower right corner of the window, then select “Backups”.
- Select a backup to be deleted, click the minus icon in the lower left corner of the window and select “Delete”. This will both delete all your backups from iCloud and turn off any more backups.
To do this on your iPhone:
- Go to “Settings” and tap your name.
- Select “iCloud” > “Manage Storage” > “Backups”.
- Tap on “Delete Backup”.
- Tap on “Close & Delete”.
And you’re done!
Update September 15, 2021 at 10:20 pm ET: This article was originally published on January 23, 2020 and has been updated to add and update instructions for updating with iCloud.
