Mobile phones today are archives of personal information that can be invaluable to the owner. Just think of the photographs taken at a particular moment, which perhaps are not shared on social media, but which remain important memories, not to mention the messages, both SMS and Whatsapp. In addition, in smartphones we find applications, downloaded and installed over time, configured according to our tastes and needs, which we often have to reconfigure if we change smartphones. If we want to avoid losing everything when changing mobile phones or if a reset and reset from scratch is necessary, we can make a backup to save the data stored on our faithful iPhone, using both the tools integrated in the phone and using a computer and iCloud . Let's see how to backup an iPhone .
IPhone backup
For Apple iPhone mobiles there are two options for backing up your devices: iCloud on your phone and iTunes from PC.IPhone backup via iCloud
iCloud is Apple's cloud-based storage system, already integrated into the device (therefore we will not have to install apps). Apple only grants 5 GB of free space for each user, so you have to use it sparingly.To activate this backup, open the Settings app, tap on our Apple ID at the top, then go to iCloud .
We can start creating our backup by activating the buttons next to the items in the App section that use iCloud ; in particular, we recommend activating Photos, Contacts, Calendars, Messages and Safaris, so as to save most of our multimedia contents and browser favorites online.
If instead we intend to make a full backup of the phone (complete with app and operating system), we will have to scroll in this window until we find the iCloud Backup item, enable the iCloud Backup item and tap on Run backup now .
The backup thus created will be saved within iCloud as soon as we are connected to a Wi-Fi network (given the size that the file can reach, it is better to be connected to a fast home network, avoiding the use of hotspots). ICloud makes online backup of iPhone or iPad which is largely automated, so we will not have to do anything in particular if we do not often connect to a fast wireless network, so as to always synchronize everything.
To restore a backup made via iCloud, insert our credentials on the restored iPhone, check that there is a compatible backup in the path Settings> [your name]> iCloud> Manage space> Backup then go to Settings> General> Restore and click on the item Initialize content and settings .
In the following screen we select Apps and data, we touch on Restore from iCloud backup and, after confirming our access data, we choose the most recent backup to restore on our device.
Backup iPhone with iTunes
If you want to make a backup on our PC, we will have to use iTunes, available for Windows from the official website; if we use macOS, the program is already included so we won't have to install anything.
Once iTunes is installed, we connect the iPhone via USB cable to our computer, start the program and, after a few seconds, click on the small phone-shaped symbol, present under the heading Controls, then go to the Backup section.
We put a check mark on the item This computer, then press the Back up now button to save a working backup on the PC. If we want to add a password to our backup, we can do so by placing a check mark (before making the actual backup) under the item Local backup encryption and choosing the password by clicking on Change password . If, on the other hand, we want the backup to be carried out automatically every time we connect the iPhone to the PC, make sure to put a check mark on the item Synchronize automatically when iPhone is connected .
To restore a backup saved with iTunes, connect the previously restored and connected smartphone again, go to the same screen, choose this computer, indicate which backup to restore then click Restore backup .
If, on the other hand, we have a backup on iCloud and we want to restore it via iTunes, all we have to do is connect the restored iPhone to the PC (via USB), click on the phone symbol at the top then put the check mark on the iCloud item, present under the Backup section. After selecting the item, we click on the side on Restore backup, so we can recover the previously saved backup from the Internet and start the restore procedure, so that we have our iPhone ready for use.
Conclusions
In this guide we have shown you all the methods that we can use to make a complete backup of our data and the operating system included in the iPhone, both using the cloud technology offered by Apple and using the iTunes management program.
For iPhone there are also other programs to backup your smartphone, which also include applications. Therefore, if we are looking for valid alternative to iTunes for iPhone backup, we recommend you read our guide on how to synchronize iPhone or iPad with PC without iTunes .
In order not to waste space (since 5GB are frankly few), we can backup other things, such as photos, using other much more "capacious" apps, such as those recommended in our guide to apps that automatically backup photos taken with the camera ; the best app is definitely Google Photos, since it offers unlimited space at a predetermined quality.
