How to Create Backup on iPhone 14/13/12/11/X/8/7/6

Want to set up backup on iPhone but do not know how? This passage will tell you how to create iPhone backup with or without iTunes.

Lena

By Lena / Updated on March 6, 2024

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How to Create iPhone Backup on PC

My iPhone storage is almost full, so I decided to backup iPhone data to computer. Could you please introduce some methods of backing up iPhone and give me some advice?

- Question from an iPhone User

iPhone is your good friend in your daily life. It would tell you to get up in the morning. You could use it to call your family and receive messages. During the journey, you could take photos and videos to share them on Facebook or Instagram. Thousands of apps on iPhone would meet all your needs.

It seems that iPhone records life. Your photos, videos, or messages could remind you of the past, and other useful data could even bring you a fortune. You should protect the data about you and it means that you should create an iPhone backup, so your memory and fortune would never be damaged.

What’s iPhone Backup?

Creating iPhone backup is saving the important data on iPhone to another place, so you could restore data if your iPhone is lost or corrupt. There are a lot of applications that could help you to create iPhone backup, you could choose one or two of them according to your needs.

  • Usually, you could create an iPhone backup on your computer, because you have enough space on PC. In addition, saving iPhone backup on your PC means that your privacy is safe.
  • Some people would prefer a cloud tool, for you could retrieve data from the remote terminal. You could also backup iPhone to your NAS, because it is your own server.

Create iPhone Backup

What to save? There is so much data on iPhone, including photos, contacts, messages, call logs, bookmarks, health data, etc. You should save the data you need. If you wish to completely recover your iPhone one day, you should try iTunes or iCloud introduced in this passage.

Besides iTunes and iCloud, you can also let third-party tools help you create iPhone backup. Compared to iTunes and iCloud, the third-party tool provides more features to help you better manage your backup. It's a better way if you want to create iPhone backup on external hard drive.

Method 1. How to Create iPhone Backup on PC without iTunes

FoneTool is one professional iPhone backup tool for Windows PC users - developed by a team that has focused on data security for 10 years. It provides two backup modes: full backup & selective backup. You can create a full backup of your iPhone or only backup the data you need.

Get the tool and follow the steps below to create iPhone backup on PC/external hard drive/flash drive/NAS.

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How to Create iPhone Backup on PC - Selective Backup

You can preview and select the data you want to backup instead of all of them.

1. Launch FoneTool > Connect iPhone to computer via USB cable.

2. Click Phone Backup > Choose Selective Backup and then click the icon to view the files in the folder. After you selected enough files, click OK to continue.

Custom Backup

3. Choose a path to save the backup. Click Start Backup and your iPhone data would be saved to computer in seconds.

Start Backup

Tips:
● When you need to restore data from this backup, just connect the target iPhone to computer, select the task in Backup History, and select Restore.
● If you need to view iPhone backup on computer, select the task in Backup History and then click the eye icon or the pin icon.

How to Create iPhone Backup on PC - Full Backup

The full backup will back up all content and settings including photos, contacts, call history, text messages, memos, calendars, app data, etc.

1. Open FoneTool and plug in your iPhone.

2. Click Phone Backup > Choose Full Backup and click Get Started.

Full Backup

3. Turn on the backup encryption > Choose the destination > Click Start Backup.

Start Backup

Pros & Cons:
● Allow you to select iPhone files
● Allow you to restore files to another Apple Device
● Allow you to view backup on computer
● Allow you to keep iPhone files during the restoration
● Not allow you to backup and restore iPhone on Mac

Method 2. How to Create iPhone Backup on PC in iTunes

iTunes could not only be used to purchase and play songs. You could also use it to create an iPhone backup on your Windows PC or Mac. It could help you completely restore iPhone, but you must know what iTunes backup includes and how it works before you do that.

iTunes backup will be saved on computer by default. If you want to create iPhone backup on external hard drive, you can refer to Method 1.

Step 1. Connect iPhone to iTunes on PC or Mac

If you use Windows PC, you need to download iTunes. If you use a Mac, just open iTunes. If you use Mac OS Catalina, you can backup iPhone to Mac without iTunes but via Finder. Connect iPhone to PC or Mac with a good USB cable, find the device icon in iTunes and click it to interact with your iPhone.

Step 2. Create iPhone Backup to PC or Mac

There are not so many options if you use iTunes to create iPhone backup. If you wish to save Activity, Health, and Keychain data in this backup, you need to check Encrypt local backup. After that, click Back Up Now to create an iPhone backup to PC or Mac.

Create iPhone Backup with iTunes

Pros & Cons:
● Allow you to save most data on iPhone
● Allow you to completely restore iPhone
● Allow you to restore files to another Apple device (Incompatibility of deferent iOS might let restoration fail)
● Allow you to backup iPhone both on PC and Mac
● Not allow you to select files
● Erase iPhone data during restoration

Method 3. How to Set Up iPhone Backup to iCloud

iCloud is a built-in application on iPhone. iCloud saves most iPhone data like iTunes. You could use it to backup iPhone photos or the whole iPhone to iCloud, so you could restore iPhone photos from iCloud.

How to set up backup on iPhone: go to iPhone Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Backup to enable iCloud Backup > tap Back Up Now to creat iPhone backup  immediately.

Create iPhone Backup with iCloud

If you don’t tap Back Up Now, iPhone would automatically create an iCloud backup at night, but you need to make sure that there is enough iCloud storage, connect iPhone to power, and lock the screen.

Pros & Cons:
● Allow you to save most data on iPhone
● Allow you to completely restore iPhone
● Allow you to restore files to another Apple device (Incompatibility of deferent iOS might let restoration fail)
● Consume no space on PC and Mac
● Only 5 GB of free storage space
● Erase iPhone data during restoration
● Require Internet during backup and restoration

Conclusion

iPhone data means a lot to you, so making an iPhone backup is very necessary. You don’t want to regret not creating an iPhone backup after accidentally losing iPhone data. You should choose the backup tool according to your own needs. FoneTool is one of the best iPhone backup software for Windows that could let you selectively backup and restore iPhone. If you wish to make a full backup iPhone and don’t mind erasing iPhone data when restoring, you could choose iTunes or iCloud.