Whether you’re installing the iOS 17 update or getting a new iPhone 15 or 15 Plus (or even the iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max), it’s probably wise to back up your current iPhone. Taking a few minutes to safeguard valuable memories like photos, videos and text messages can spare you a future regret. Even better, there’s several ways you can do it.
The easiest way to back up your iPhone is through iCloud, but Apple’s online service does have its limits. You might see the dreaded “not enough iCloud storage” error message, which won’t allow you to back up, but don’t fret.
I’ll also walk you through backing up your iPhone to iCloud to both Mac and Windows, which don’t require cloud storage. And I’ll even show you how to troubleshoot and work around some of iCloud’s limits.
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For more, check out this checklist of things you should do before updating to iOS 17 before it drops today. (Spoiler: Backing up is definitely one of them.)
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iCloud: When everything works like it’s supposed to
iCloud is a free service (more on that later) that’s tied to your Apple ID and that you can use to back up your iPhone. However, it doesn’t back up everything on your phone. Things you buy with your Apple ID, such as apps or music, won’t back up because Apple has a receipt that you already bought them so you can download them again for free. Email, contacts and calendars are usually synced with your email account like Gmail, but in some cases, you might also sync these things with iCloud.
You can double-check all this by going to Settings and then going into either Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes or Reminders. In any of these settings, you can tap Accounts to view your various accounts. Under each account, you can see what’s being synced: mail, contacts, calendars and so on.
To start a backup to iCloud, connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi and then go to Settings and tap the Apple ID/iCloud tab at the top, which also has your name. If you’re not signed in, take a moment to do so and then tap iCloud. On the next page, scroll down and tap iCloud Backup, enable iCloud Backup, and then tap Back Up Now to start.
