How to Back Up Your iPhone to iCloud, MacOS, or Windows (2024)

Your iPhone is truthful overmuch much than conscionable a surface for texting. Smartphones are however we get enactment done, enactment connected apical of the brainsick quality cycle, stone out, support successful interaction with friends and family, and seizure life’s astir important moments. Carrying each of that accusation successful our pockets is incredibly powerful, and it makes getting done our days a small easier. It besides means that your astir important information tin get mislaid erstwhile you hide your telephone connected the bid oregon person an unfortunate spat with the sidewalk.

If you privation to debar frantically trying to retrieve the champion shots from a friend’s wedding, you indispensable backmost up your iPhone. It’s an particularly bully thought if you program connected updating to a caller iPhone. There are a fewer ways to bash this, depending connected your needs and habits. After you’re each backed up, cheque retired our usher to choosing the champion iPhone.

Updated September 2024: We verified the steps for the latest mentation of iOS and added much accusation astir backups.

Backing Up to iCloud

Your easiest option, and Apple’s archetypal recommendation, is to backmost up your iPhone to iCloud.

The process is beauteous simple:

1. Connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Go into Settings and pat connected your name, past iCloud.
3. On the iCloud page, scroll down and pat connected iCloud Backup. Make definite the power is toggled connected truthful you’ll get automatic backups each 24 hours erstwhile your iPhone is charging, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi. Then pat Back Up Now to unit a backup.
4. Check things similar Photos that you privation iCloud to backmost up (you tin uncheck different categories).

Apple gives you 5 GB of iCloud retention for free, but that’s astir apt not capable to screen each of your data. You tin ever bargain much iCloud storage, though that volition draw you deeper into Apple's ecosystem. Luckily, successful iOS 15 Apple introduced a impermanent mode to backmost up your information to iCloud, adjacent if you are retired of storage, to let you to switch iPhones. If you similar not to usage the cloud, determination is different way.

Backing Up to Your Mac

If your telephone is loaded with pictures, songs, apps, and years of substance messages, you mightiness privation to marque a section backup. If you person a machine with immoderate gigs to spare, you tin plug successful your iPhone and click a fewer buttons to marque definite each your phone's information is safely tucked away. But the nonstop method depends connected your mentation of MacOS.

If you're not definite which Apple operating strategy you have, click the small Apple icon successful the apical near country of your Mac desktop and prime About This Mac. Another model volition popular up, telling you what mentation you're running.

Backing Up to MacOS Catalina 10.15 oregon later

The upgrade to MacOS Catalina (2019) did distant with iTunes, replacing it with 3 abstracted apps for music, podcasts, and TV. The backup enactment is present located successful Finder, wherever you tin hunt folders and different drives. The steps to backmost up your iPhone are astir the aforesaid arsenic with iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to your machine with a cable.
2. Open Finder and prime your iPhone nether Locations successful the sidebar.
3. Click connected General and take Back up each of the information connected your iPhone to this Mac.
4. If you privation to encrypt your information and password support it, prime Encrypt section backup.
5. Click Back Up Now.