How to back up your iPhone or iPad with iCloud

After you back up your iPhone or iPad, you have a copy of your information to use in case your device is ever replaced, lost, or damaged. You can back up your device manually, or turn on iCloud Backup to automatically keep your device backed up.

If you have a device with iOS 8 or earlier, learn how to keep your devices and data backed up.

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Back up manually

  1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.

  2. Open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap iCloud.

    An iPhone screen showing iCloud as the selected option in Settings.

  3. Tap iCloud Backup.

  4. Tap Back Up Now. Stay connected to your Wi-Fi network until the process ends. Under Back Up Now, the date and time of your last backup is shown. If you get an alert that you don't have enough iCloud storage space to complete the backup, follow the onscreen steps to buy more iCloud storage.

    An iPhone screen showing the "Back Up Now" option.

Automatically back up with iCloud Backup

  1. Open the Settings app, then tap your name. Tap iCloud, then tap iCloud Backup and make sure that Back Up This [Device] is on.

  2. Connect your device to a power source.

  3. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.

  4. Make sure that your device's screen is locked.

  5. If you get an alert that you don't have enough iCloud storage space to complete the backup, follow the onscreen steps to buy more iCloud storage.

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