If you can't back up your iOS or iPadOS device to a computer or restore it from a backup

If you can't back up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer or if you can't restore your device from a computer backup, find out what to do.

Try again after each step

  1. Make sure that your Mac or PC is up to date. If you're using iTunes, make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes.
  2. Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable and locate your device on your computer. If your device doesn't appear in Finder or iTunes, find out what to do. If you've forgotten your passcode or your device is disabled, find out what to do. 
  3. Restart all of your devices.
  4. If you're using a Mac, skip this step. If you're using a Windows PC and iTunes won't respond or your backup won't ever finish, you may need to update, change, disable or uninstall your security software.
  5. If you own more than one computer, try to make a backup on another Mac or PC. Or use iCloud to back up your device and restore information from your iCloud backup.
  6. If an alert appears stating that an error has occurred, your backup is corrupted or incompatible or there's not enough disk space, take a look at the information below about each error message to find out what to do next.
  7. Contact Apple Support.

If an alert appears stating that an error has occurred

If a message appears stating that your computer can't back up your device because an error has occurred, check that you have the latest version of iOS or iPadOS. If you need more help, contact Apple Support.

If an alert appears stating that there's not enough disk space

If a message appears stating there's not enough disk space when you're trying to back up your device, you'll need to free up some space on your Mac or PC. If you're still seeing a disk-space error even after you've freed up enough space, contact Apple Support. 

If an alert appears stating that your backup is corrupted or incompatible

If your iOS or iPadOS device can't restore from a backup because the backup is corrupted or incompatible, make sure that your computer is updated. If you see an error stating that your iOS or iPadOS software is too old, find out how to update your device to restore the backup. If you still can't restore the backup, you may not be able to use that backup. Try to use an alternative backup or an iCloud backup, or Contact Apple Support for more help.

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