How to backup your iPhone and iPad to different places

When you start to have several thousand photos on your phone, as well as documents and videos, it becomes necessary to back them up every day. With an iPhone or iPad, it’s a matter of hitting the backup button (or scheduling) and all goes straight to iCloud† But you can also make a backup on a computer. Here’s how to back up your iPhone and iPad in different places.

Read more: How to delete apps and data from iCloud to save space

How to back up your iPhone and iPad to iCloud

The safest method of backing up is to use iCloud. The following screenshots are all from an iPhone, but the process and screens on an iPad are absolutely identical. It goes without saying that you should have enough space in your iCloud account to cover the amount of data on your device. If not, you need to upgrade†

Scroll down and select iCloud†

The next screen will give you a green switch. Switching it to green schedules a daily automatic backup, assuming the iPhone is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi. Disabling it will cancel the automatic backup, requiring a manual backup instead. This is obviously not recommended as you will likely forget it.

You will now get a status message stating that a backup is in progress, along with an estimate of how long it will take to complete. You can also cancel the backup if you want.

How to backup your iPhone and iPad to Mac

If you don’t want to use iCloud or want to have a second backup, you can also back it up to your Mac computer. First, open Finder and connect your iOS device with a cable (in theory you can do it over Wi-Fi, but this is notoriously flaky). After entering your PIN on your iOS device, it should now appear in the sidebar below Locations†

In the main part of the window, look for the Backups section. Click Backup all data on your iPhone on this Mac† It is also recommended to check the box for: Encrypt local backupbecause your passwords are included in the backup and encryption protects them from prying eyes.

However, keep in mind that if you forget the password, your backup will be useless. There is no password recovery feature.

When everything is ready, click Backup now and just wait for it to finish. There’s no real way to stop the backup process once it’s started, so don’t be tempted to unplug or shut down the computer.

How to back up your iPhone and iPad to Windows

If you have an iOS device, you really should be using iCloud for your backups. Considering how cheap it is, there really is no reason to use iTunes on Windows these days. The app is now pretty much antique. But if you insist on using it, here’s what to do.

Launch iTunes and connect your iOS device to your Windows computer with a cable. If this is your first time doing this, you should go to Account–>Authorize and authorize the computer to access your iOS device† You also need to enter the PIN on your iOS device. You will be asked on the screen of your iOS device whether you want to trust the Windows computer. Of course say yes. When everything is connected, click on the little smartphone icon at the top of the screen.

You will now be taken to the main backup and restore section of your device.

In the main area of ​​the screen, look for the Backups section. Similar to the Mac method, select This computer as the backup location and check . at Encrypt local backup† You will be prompted to enter and verify a password. When everything is ready, click Backup now and let iTunes do its job.