How to Back Up Your iPhone to iCloud, MacOS, or Windows (2026)

You tin besides negociate erstwhile backups from present and take to sync antithetic types of media with your machine portion you’re astatine it.

iTunes is not dormant yet. The work is inactive disposable connected older OS versions, truthful you tin inactive backmost up everything there. Here's how:

1. Once your telephone is plugged into your Mac, unfastened iTunes and click the Device fastener astatine the apical near of the iTunes window.
2. Click Summary beneath your iPhone.
3. Select Back Up Now nether Backups. This creates a backup of everything connected your iPhone, including each your app data, truthful you don't person to log successful to each your accounts again. It besides saves your location surface arrangement, truthful you don't person to resistance a clump of icons around.
4. If you privation to encrypt your backups, click connected Encrypt iPhone backup and benignant a password, past click Set Password.

Pro tip: New backups present overwrite the aged ones, but if you click Manage Backups, right-click connected a backup, and prime Archive, you tin prevention aggregate backups implicit time. Just dive into iTunes Preferences, click connected Devices, and click Summary for your iPhone to spot a database of each backup. As agelong arsenic the 1 you request is there, you tin deed Restore Backup.

Backing Up to a Windows PC

You tin besides backmost up your iPhone connected your Windows PC utilizing iTunes. Here's how:

1. Connect your iPhone to your Windows computer.
2. Open iTunes and click the iPhone fastener astatine the apical near of the iTunes window.
3. Click Summary.
4. Select Back Up Now nether Backups.
5. If you privation to encrypt your backups, click connected Encrypt section backup and benignant a password, past click Set Password.

How to Turn On Wi-Fi Syncing

You astir apt don't privation to person to plug successful each clip you backmost up files. Luckily, you tin crook connected Wi-Fi syncing betwixt your iPhone and machine with these steps:

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer.
2. On a Mac, unfastened Finder and prime your iPhone successful the sidebar. Click General astatine the top, and take Show this iPhone erstwhile connected Wi-Fi. On a Windows PC, unfastened iTunes, click the iPhone fastener adjacent the apical left, past Summary, and take Sync with this iPhone implicit Wi-Fi successful Options.
3. Click Apply.

Backing Up to Other Cloud Services

We each instrumentality a clump of pictures with our phones, and we privation to beryllium capable to look backmost connected those moments astatine a aboriginal time. Backing up to iCloud oregon your machine volition get the occupation done, but it doesn't wounded to prevention each your household photos and abrogation pictures successful a 2nd spot.

The Google Photos app is simply a large mode to marque definite your photos enactment safe, since you get 15 GB of retention for free. As a bonus, the app lets you wide your iPhone's camera rotation erstwhile each your photos are backed up—nice if your telephone is debased connected storage. If you'd alternatively debar Google, we've rounded up respective alternatives here, and determination are galore different unreality retention services to take from.

Backing Up Locally

Maybe you’d similar not to usage the unreality oregon Apple’s services for your backup. You tin ever usage the methods listed supra for Mac oregon Windows to download files, past manually determination them onto a portable hard thrust oregon USB flash drive, though it’s a spot of hassle.

If you person web attached retention (NAS), there’s apt an app that tin automatically backmost up immoderate of your files erstwhile you are connected to location Wi-Fi. Synology, Asustor, and astir different NAS makers person apps for photograph and video backup and wide files. You whitethorn besides see thing similar iMazing oregon PhotoSync, though you whitethorn request to wage to entree each features.

Backing Up Within Apps

Some apps, mostly messaging apps, person their ain backup systems built-in. Here are a mates of examples, but cheque connected your favorites.