Quick Guide to Back Up iPhone/iPad to Cloud/Computer with iTunes & iCloud
Last Updated on October 17, 2023 by Jack RobertsonHaving a fancy iPhone or iPad is like being in paradise - you’re now holding the world’s NO.1 mobile company’s creation. With it, you can enjoy all the benefits you can ever imagine. However, while using it, there’s always one thing you should bear in mind: do a regular backup for your iOS device.
People carry a phone anywhere and anytime and use a tablet for entertainment or professional issues. All the important personal data is in that tiny Apple gadget. If you don’t do a backup of your precious iPhone/iPad data, you will regret not doing it while your device is broken, water-damaged, disabled, missing, or even stolen.
To get an Apple device is never tough, but getting your data back without backup is. So, if you don’t want to lose your data while accidents arrive, follow my lead and I will show you multiple ways of backing your iPhone/iPad.
iPhone Backup:
- Method 1: Back Up iPhone/iPad with iCloud;
- Method 2: Back Up Your iPhone/iPad to computer via iOS Data Backup;
- Method 3: Back Up your iPhone/iPad to PC using iTunes;
- Method 4: Back Up your iPhone/iPad to Mac via Finder;
Method 1: How to Back Up iPhone/iPad to iCloud
First, let’s take a look at Apple’s official backup service, iCloud. Being a lot of Apple users’ first choice for backup, iCloud can back up your iPhone and iPad data automatically every time you connect them to a Wi-Fi, unlock it, and charge it. So, you don’t need to do it manually.
Now, let’s enable it for your iPhone/iPad’s auto-backup!
Step 1:
On your Apple device, go to Settings, click on your Apple ID. If you haven’t signed in, sign in first.
Step 2:
Entering the account management page, tap on iCloud. Scroll down and find Backup. See if it’s On. If not, tap on it and turn the iCloud Backup option on to enable the auto-backup.
You can actually tap on the Back Up Now option below to back your iPhone up right away.
Step 3:
After the iCloud Backup is enabled, you better decide what kind of data on your iPhone and iPad you want to back up.
Tap Back, there, you can see a list of data Categories, like Photos, Calendars, Messages, Notes, Safari, and some of your apps, etc. Disable any if you'd like to.
Tip: You can only back up 5GB of data to iCloud
All those on the list are the data sources that iCloud will back up automatically. You better disable some of them when iCloud offers 5GB of free storage, once the quota is fulfilled, no more auto-backup. So, if you add too many sources for iCloud backup, it will hit the 5GB limit soon and the auto-backup will stop.
If that really happens, to restart the auto-backup, you can either delete some data from the backup or pay for bigger storage.
Method 2: Back Up Your iPhone/iPad to computer via iOS Data Backup
Besides cloud storage, we can surely back up our iPhone and iPad data to a computer, be it a Windows PC or Mac. To do that, we need a professional iOS backup program, echoshare iPhone Data Backup & Restore.
Being a real pro in iPhone, iPad, and even iPod data backup, echoshare can keep your data safe and sound to the computer or other physical drives like a USB drive, HDD, or SSD.
Decide what iOS data you want to back up
With it, you can back up whatever files you want as it offers a selective backup option. You can:
- Choose the type of data separately and save it to the computer, or in bulk.
- Keep the important data you need like the photos, bookmarks, messages, WhatsApp history, etc, and cast the rest away.
Encrypt your iPhone/iPad backup
Also, you’re able to encrypt your backup file with a password that only you know. In this case, you can keep your secret data untouchable like the pics, messages, notes of your ex, your important business docs, etc.
Start to Back Up your iPhone or iPad to Computer
Step 1: Get the App ready
Download and install the prorgram on your computer.Choose from the buttons below.
Launch this iOS data backup program, choose iOS Data Backup & Restore from the interface. Next, select iOS Data Backup to proceed.
Step 2: Get your iPhone or iPad ready
Take out a USB lightning, and use it to connect your iPhone or iPad to the computer.
Step 3: Set up the iPhone/iPad backup
On the interface of the program, choose one backup mode you love: Standard or Encrypted. Click Start after you make the choice.
If you choose Encrypted, you need to enter a password for your iPhone backup file. Click OK to proceed.
Next, select the types of data you want to back up to the computer. Uncheck those you don’t need and keep the rest checked.
Click Next and echoshare will prompt you to choose a folder on the computer to save the backup. You can either choose the local folder or insert an external drive into your computer and use it as the destination.
Step 4: Finish the backup
After choosing the destination, click Backup to start. Wait for a while and echoshare will save all the selected data from your iPhone/iPad to the computer.
Method 3: Back Up your iPhone/iPad to PC using iTunes
If you’re using a Windows computer or running an old system version on your Mac computer, iTunes is a pretty good choice for iPhone/iPad backup.
Steps for using iTunes to back up your iPhone
Step 1: Download iTunes on your computer
- For Windows users, simply go to Microsoft Store and search iTunes, download it anyway.
- For Mac users, it’s already on your old macOS system. Search for it.
Step 2: Sync your iPhone/iPad to iTunes
Use a USB cable and connect your iOS device to the computer. By default, iTunes will detect your iDevice and launch automatically. If not, launch it by yourself.
Step 3: Back up your iOS data to the computer
On the iTunes interface, get into the Summary page. Tick the To This Computer option and click Back Up Now to save all your iPhone/iPad data to this computer.
Note that you’re unable to select the types of data for this backup. iTunes will back up all the data and settings in bulk.
Method 4: Back Up your iPhone/iPad to Mac via Finder
For the new Mac computers, the built-in Finder is such a good option to back up iPhone and iPad data. It’s free, quick, and pretty handy though it’s similar to iTunes - Finder won’t let you choose the data for backup. It will save all the data and settings.
Now, let’s try this handy iOS data backup tool.
Step 1: Launch a Finder window
On your Mac, locate File at the top left corner, choose to Open A New Window from the drop-down menu. Next, look down to the dock and find the popping Finder app, double click to open it.
Step 2: Sync your iOS device to Finder
Now, connect your iPhone or iPad to the Mac via the USB lightning. Make sure the connection is stable. Then, on the Finder window, select the plugged-in device.
Step 3: Back up your iPhone/iPad data to the Mac
Tick the “Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac” option, click Back Up Now to complete.
FAQs
If you back up your iPhone with iCloud, check that out here: Go to Settings, Apple ID, iCloud, and iCloud Backup. There, you will see the latest backup record. If that time doesn’t match the last time you made a backup, your attempt fails. Simply tap the Back Up Now option to finish that.
If you back up your iPhone with iTunes, just go to the destination folder and see if there’s a backup file there.