Backup iPhone And iPad: For the summer holidays it is good to make a copy of your data. Backup of iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, allows to have a copy available to use in case of replacement, loss or damage of the device.
Backing up iPhones and iPads is always essential and near the holidays with a few extra days off is definitely one of the tasks to be fulfilled.
How To Backup iPhone And iPad
If you lose your device, if they steal it from you or if something goes wrong, you will have the security of having a restore point somewhere on the copy creation date. Backing up is also essential if you buy a new iPhone or iPad and want to transfer data from the old device .
It is difficult to have an excuse not to back up the iPhone. Apple offers us easy and free methods to run it that you probably already have full knowledge of, but which we summarize below.
Two backup methods
There are essentially two full backups that can be performed from iOS devices: with iCloud or with iTunes . The first method, which is based on the Apple service, is useful, in fact, also to back up, of which we have created a very thorough guide.
It offers up to 5 TB of storage (free) and allows you to create and use backups anywhere via Wi-Fi; the second method allows you to store backups on your Mac or PC and stores data according to the space available on your computer.
Back up with iCloud
With a fast connection to the Wi-Fi network, you can back up your device via iCloud. No need to connect your device to your computer or be at home to back up via iCloud.
Here’s how to proceed:
- Connect the device to a Wi-Fi network.
- Go to Settings> [username] and touch iCloud. If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings, scroll down and tap iCloud.
- Select “iCloud Backup”. If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, select “Backup”, make sure “iCloud Backup” is activated, touch “Back up now”. Keep the connection to the Wi-Fi network until the procedure ends
- Make sure the backup is finished: just go to Settings> [username]> iCloud> Storage space on iCloud> Manage space, then select your device. If you use iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings> iCloud> Space> Manage Space, then select the device. The backup should be displayed in detail with the time and size.
It should be noted that backing up to iCloud can be very slow , regardless of the speed of your Wi-Fi network. Depending on the size of the back up you need to do it could take many hours, if not days. The same thing if you happen to restore from iCloud.
In addition, as we have specified elsewhere, the free 5 GB of back-up available for free is almost always insufficient, this also disabling all the heavier elements.
Alternatively you can try to optimize the space on iCloud , but the operation will hardly be conclusive in the long term.
How to back up with iTunes
From Mac or PC it is possible to backup iPhone and iPad using iTunes. Synchronizing the device with a computer and performing a backup are two separate operations.
Almost all data and almost all device settings are included in an iTunes backup (iTunes does not include items such as iTunes Store content and Photos already stored in the cloud, such as My Streaming Photos and Photo Library in iTunes). iCloud). Here’s how to proceed:
Open iTunes and connect the device to the computer with the Lightning cable
If a message asks for the device code and you want to authorize the computer, follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
Select the iPhone, iPad or iPod when viewed in iTunes.
If you want to save the Health and Activity data of the iOS device or the Apple Watch and passwords, you need to perform the encryption of the backup by ticking the box “Encode backup [device]” indicating a password that is easy to remember. If you do not want to save the Health and Activity data, you can create a non-encrypted backup. Just click on “Back up now”.
At the end of the procedure, it is possible to verify that the backup has been completed correctly in iTunes by going from it to Preferences> Devices (if you use iTunes on Windows, select the item Edit> Preferences> Devices from the menu bar at the top of the window of iTunes). You should see the device name with the date and time iTunes created the backup. If you have chosen the “backup encoding” option, you should also display a padlock icon next to the device name.
What is recorded in the back up?
In the back up the entire content of the iPhone is put, from the preferences to the emails, from the photos to the passwords. To all preferences, but if you are using iCloud or iTunes 12.8 and later, applications are never transferred directly.
They must be downloaded again from the App Store and this time will be added to the backup time. If you have applications that you don’t need, delete them before backing up on the new device. You can download iTunes 12.6.5 which still contains both the App Store and the ability to backup applications locally.
Restore an iPhone from back up
If you need to restore an iPhone or iPad from a back up, you can follow our detailed guide at this link . In summary here of
If you want to restore data from iTunes, you must connect the iPhone to the Mac or PC with the cable
- Choose restore backup and then choose the correct backup. You may have more back ups, make sure you choose the right one. You may also be asked to update your phone’s operating system
- If the backup has been encrypted, you must enter the password
- After the restore procedure, perform the device configuration steps.
To restore from iCloud you will need to access iCloud with our password, then when requested, choose the correct backup (check date and size). You may be asked to upgrade the operating system:
- Access iCloud with your Apple ID and password.
- When prompted, choose a backup. Check the date and dimensions of each backup to make sure you choose the correct one. If you are asked to upgrade to a newer version of iOS you will need to upgrade
- If you have purchased content on the iTunes Store or the App Store using multiple Apple IDs, you will be asked to access each one.