By Hally | Last Updated
Even though iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch provides a great user experience, it's possible to lose data on your device in unexpected circumstances. However, creating regular backups is always a reliable way to protect important data. Regardless of the cause of data loss, backups allow us to restore or at least minimize the damage.
In this article, we will introduce various ways to backup iPhone/iPad/iPod touch data, including iCloud, iTunes, Finder and third-party software. Now the following tutorial will take iPhone or iPad as an example.
iTunes can help you to back up data from iPhone/iPad/iPad no matter you are using Mac or Windows. But you can directly access the backup data unless you restore it to the idevices.
Step 1: Connect iPad to your computer via the USB cable. In no time, iTunes will launch automatically when iPad is connected. Sync process starts and makes a backup at the same time after your iPad trusts the computer.
Step 2: If iTunes fails to run automatically, you can manually open iTunes, click the iPad icon and then click the Summary button on the left sidebar.
Step 3: On the right side, you can view three sections: one is about the iPad information, one is Backups, one is Options. You can go to the Backups section; there are two options you can choose to backup data.
Generally, we prefer to make a full backup on computer. So choose the second option and click Back Up Now button. After that, iTunes will create a backup of your iPad data automatically.
Note: When you backup iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch data to Windows PC, if the backup content is "Activity", "Health" or "Keychain" and other sensitive information, you will be asked to set a password to encrypt the iTunes backup file.
After encryption, if you need to restore the backup file to the device, you must enter the correct password to turn off backup encryption in iTunes.
If your device is a Mac and it's running macOS Catalina or later, backing up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch should be done through the Finder, not iTunes. Since the Finder and iTunes are similar in functionality, the backup procedure is almost identical.
Step 1: Unlock your Apple Device and connect it to your Mac, launch the Finder. If prompted, click "Trust" to allow the system to access the data on your device.
Step 2: Select the name of the device you want to back up and click the "Back Up Now" button on the right sidebar.
Step 2: Wait patiently for the backup process to complete and ensure the backup files are stored safely. After resetting or erasing your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can use this backup to restore your device data.
If you have turned on iCloud backup on your iPhone/iPad/iPod, it will automatically backup iPhone/iPad/iPod data to iCloud when your idevice is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Step 1: Tap Settings> Your Name> iCloud> iCloud Backup.
Step 2: Turn on iCloud Backup. Thus, iCloud will perform the automatic backup daily when iPad is connected to power, locked and connected to Wi-Fi. If you want to manually back up iPad to iCloud, tap Back Up Now.
For the iPad with older iPadOS, they can enable iCloud Bakcup with the following steps:
1. Make sure your iPad is connected to a Wi-Fi network successfully.
2. Tap the Settings icon, then tap iCloud.
3. Login into iCloud with Apple ID.
4. Tap Storage - Backup, then Back Up Now. It might back up quickly, or it could take a while.
Each of them has its advantages. If you use computer frequently and don't have iCloud account, iTunes is a better choice. If you want to make a backup on iOS device directly, use iCloud please. But whether the recent report about the safety of iCloud has influenced your choice? If you are worried about data stealed from iCloud, please backup data on computer or protect iCloud account safe.
There is another easy way to back up your iPhone/iPad/iPod. You can use the professional iOS backup software, such as iSunshare iSyncGenius, to back up the data. With this software, you can choose to back up the entire data or only some of them. Also, you can self-define the destination to save the backup data. What’s more, it is convenient for you to access the backup data if you want to view them.
Step 1: Connect the device to your computer. If this is the first time for your iPhone/iPad/iPod to build the connection with your computer, you need to tap Trust on your device and confirm it with your screen password.
Step 2: Launch the software and your device is listed on the Device model field. Then choose your device and then click the Next button. If it shows your device has a backup password, you should enter the correct backup password and then click Next to proceed.
Step 3: In no time, you have two backup options: All Backups and Classified Backup. You can choose one of them according to your situation. After making your decision, you can click the Choose button in Backup path field to select the destination where you want to store the backup data of your iPhone/iPad/iPod. When everything is ready, click the Start button to proceed.
Step 4: Instantly, the software will begin the data backup process. Soon, you will get the successful backup message on the software.
