Back Up and Restore iOS/iPadOS Data

iCloud can automatically back up most of the important data from your iOS or iPadOS device to Apple’s servers. This feature is usually invisible once you’ve set it up, but there are a few options you may want to adjust, and you’ll want to know how to Restore an iOS or iPadOS Device from a Backup should the need arise.

Understand How iCloud Backup Works

Backups are as important on an iOS or iPadOS device as on your computer—after all, your mobile device stores lots of crucial personal data, including photos and videos that may be irreplaceable. If it dies or needs replacing, backups can also save you time and aggravation.

But backing up an iOS or iPadOS device is a lot different from backing up a Mac or PC. Conventional backups methods won’t work, because each app is sandboxed—prevented from interacting with other apps’ data—and because iOS/iPadOS devices have no browsable file system (the Files app shows just a small portion). It’s possible to back up your iOS or iPadOS device by connecting it to your Mac or PC via Wi-Fi or with a USB cable and clicking Back Up Now in the Finder or iTunes. But with iCloud, you can back up over Wi-Fi directly to Apple’s servers. This means:

• You can back up your data while traveling or otherwise away from your computer—or even if you have no Mac or PC at all.

• You can restore an iOS or iPadOS device—such as one whose data was corrupted, or that had its data wiped as part of a repair—or set up a new device to use your existing data without a computer.

• As with Finder or iTunes backups, when you back up via iCloud, only the first backup copies all your personal data. Subsequent backups upload only information that’s new or different since last time, making iCloud backups faster on subsequent backup runs.

For all these reasons, I generally recommend using iCloud Backup. But, as I said in About iCloud Storage, backups can consume lots of space. To solve this problem, you can buy more storage, limit which types of data are backed up (as I describe ahead), or delete old backups. But if you’re short on space and unwilling to buy more, you might stick with Finder or iTunes-based backups.

Note: For the privacy implications of iCloud Backup, flip ahead to Protect Your Privacy.

What does iCloud Backup back up, anyway? It covers the following:

• The photos and videos you’ve taken on your iOS or iPadOS device—but only if you haven’t enabled iCloud Photos

• Photo albums you’ve created on the iOS or iPadOS device (but not those created on and synced from your computer)

• Documents and app settings, including Health (on an iPhone)

• All account data and iOS/iPadOS settings, which includes those configured in the Settings app, HomeKit configuration, and your Home screen and folder organization

• Conversations in the Messages app (iMessage, SMS, and MMS)—but only if Messages in iCloud is not enabled

• Your call history, ringtones, and Visual Voicemail password

• Apple Watch backups

• Your purchase history from Apple

Note: This list changes from time to time, and some items require qualifications. For the latest details, see What does iCloud back up?.

This list doesn’t include anything that’s already stored in the cloud thanks to some other aspect of iCloud—purchased music, TV shows, movies, apps, and books; photos and videos synced via iCloud Photos; plus your contacts, calendars, reminders, email, notes, bookmarks, and any documents handled by iCloud Drive.

Activate and Configure iCloud Backup

To set up iCloud Backup for your iOS or iPadOS device, do this:

1. Turn on iCloud Backup in either of the following ways:

   • On a Mac running Catalina or later, select your iOS/iPadOS device in the sidebar of any Finder window. Then, on the General tab, in the Backups section, select “Back up your most important data on your Device to iCloud.”

   • On a Mac running Mojave, open iTunes and select your iOS/iPadOS device. Click Summary, and then, in the Backups section, select iCloud and click Apply.

   Note: Regardless of your macOS version, you can turn on iCloud Backup if the device is connected via USB or if you’ve enabled Wi-Fi Sync and the device is on the same network as your computer.

   • On your mobile device, tap Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup, and turn on iCloud Backup. Tap OK to confirm.

2. Optional but recommended: Start your first backup manually so that it begins immediately. Go to the Backup screen on your iOS or iPadOS device (as above) and tap Back Up Now.

Your initial backup may take several hours or more, but subsequent backups should be speedy. Backups occur automatically, once per day, as long as your iOS or iPadOS device is connected to power, has an active Wi-Fi connection, and is locked. Other than backups you initiate by tapping Back Up Now, you’ll never see a backup in progress. (However, you can see when your last backup occurred at the bottom of the Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup screen.)

After your initial backup is complete, you can see how much space various types of data occupy, and you can selectively delete backups of individual data types:

1. Tap Settings > Your Name > iCloud. The screen (Figure 34, left) displays overall statistics for your iCloud account at the top.

   

   Figure 34: Left: The Storage section of the iCloud screen shows an overview of what is consuming space in your iCloud Drive account, including any iCloud backups. Right: From this screen, tap Backup to see and delete backups of particular kinds of data from this device.

2. Tap Manage Storage, and you’ll see something like the screen at the right in Figure 34, above. The Backup category indicates the total size of backups for all your iOS and iPadOS devices. Tap Backups to see how this breaks down by device. Tap the name of the device you’re holding to delete its entire backup or enable or disable backups of particular data types. To turn off future backups of a data type and delete existing backups of that data, turn the appropriate switch off and tap Delete to confirm.

Note: Although you can turn off backups of data for specific apps, you can’t turn off backups of other device data without turning off iCloud Backup altogether.

Tip: You’ll have more room for backups if you aren’t using so much space in your iCloud storage allotment for other things. For help with handling your storage, read Manage Your Storage, later.

Restore an iOS or iPadOS Device from a Backup

Let’s say you’ve backed up your iOS or iPadOS device to iCloud. Now, you want to restore that backup to a new device—or your device is missing crucial data and you want to restore that data from a backup. What do you do?

If you need to restore your data to a new iOS/iPadOS device, you’ll get a chance to select it while you set up the device. But restoring data to an existing device is not so obvious. Curiously, there’s no Restore button anywhere in the Settings app, and no apparent way to get your data back! Furthermore, restoring is an all-or-nothing affair: you must restore all your data from a backup—you can’t restore just your photos, or just data from a particular app.

To get your iOS or iPadOS device to a state where you can restore a backup, first, if possible, verify that you have a backup that you want to restore from, as described earlier in this chapter. With your device connected via USB to your computer, the General tab (in the Finder) or the Summary pane (in iTunes) lists your latest backups to both iCloud and “this computer” in the Backups section. You can check on iCloud backups on the device by tapping Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backup.

Now that you’ve confirmed that you have a backup to restore from, tap Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings, enter your passcode if prompted, and then tap Erase Device (twice) to confirm. (If Find My Device was active, you may also be prompted for your iCloud password.)

This resets your iOS or iPadOS device to “factory fresh” status. When you next turn it on—or if you’re setting up a new device—you’ll go through these steps:

1. Follow the prompts to answer a few questions, such as your default language, country, and Wi-Fi network (entering its password, if necessary), and Location Services preference.

2. Tap Restore from iCloud Backup.

3. Enter your Apple ID and password.

4. Tap the backup you want to restore (likely your most recent one), and tap Restore.

iCloud backups tend to be quite slow to restore (typically, much slower than restoring local backups), so be prepared for a bit of a wait. After the backup has been downloaded, your device restarts and applies the backup.

That’s not the end of the process, though. When your device finishes restarting, you will see when you unlock it that many apps are unavailable, and your media libraries—like iCloud Photos—are incomplete.

iOS and iPadOS make your device available for use even as apps, music, photos, and other items download, which could take from tens of minutes to several hours to complete, depending on your bandwidth and unknown factors that seem to hold up Apple’s end.

Under apps that aren’t yet downloaded, the label “Waiting…” appears; as they load, they display the circle-filling pattern you see with App Store downloads. Tap an app to bump it up in the queue to download sooner than it’s unknown current position (which appears to be the order of installation, whenever you installed).

There’s no prompt when these post-restart downloads are done.

Warning! iCloud backups don’t last forever, and are not intended for long-term archiving. If you disable iCloud backups or if your device is unable to back up for an extended period of time, Apple deletes the backed-up data for your device 180 days after its last backup.