Why iPhone Backup Keeps Failing and How to Fix It?

Why does my iPhone Backup keeps failing?

Backing up iPhone is very important when you use iPhone. Whether you want to upgrade your iOS, switch to a new iPhone, or prevent data loss, backup your iPhone data is very important. And iCloud is the common way to create iPhone backup.

However, when you run a iCloud backup, an "iPhone Backup Failed" message keeps popping up. And it usually comes with some messages like "You do not have enough space in iCloud to back up this iPhone" or "There was a problem enabling iCloud Backup" or something like that. And sometimes, even if you successfully backup an iPhone, the process of restoring from backup may keep failing. 

Why would that happen? And how to fix it? Refer to the following content, this post will help you out of it.

Generally, not enough space on iCloud is the most common cause of iPhone backup failing. As known to us, Apple only provides 5 GB of free space for each user. In addition, if your iPhone is a weak network condition, the iPhone backup may get stuck. It can be another reason.

Next, you can refer to the following content to solve this problem.

Content:

• Condition 1. iCloud backup keeps failing for not enough storage

• Condition 2. iPhone backup keeps failing for not being able to start

• Condition 3. iPhone backup failed for it is stuck

• Use iCloud alternative when iPhone backup keeps failing

Condition 1. iCloud backup keeps failing for not enough storage

iCloud backup failed mostly for not enough storage. One Apple ID has just 5GB of free storage. That means your iPad or other iPhone could also use the 5GB of storage. If your family are using the same Apple ID with you, their backups might have occupied most of the space. When your iCloud storage is almost full, you should check the available iCloud backup storage:

Go to iPhone Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage

You could see the usage of iCloud storage here. Usually, photos and iCloud backups take most of the storage. If you find that something is no longer needed, you could tap it and then delete it.

If you find that there is 1GB of left iCloud storage, and you think it is enough for you to save iPhone, you could check the estimated iPhone backup size in iCloud settings:

Go to Manage Storage > Backups > [device name]

iCloud would estimate the next iPhone backup size. iPhone Settings doesn’t take much storage, so you don’t have to consider that and there are also no options for you to cancel that. App data often takes much storage, and iCloud doesn’t know which app is important, so the options are offered to you. When you check the iPhone backup size, the apps would be listed and how much storage every app takes has been calculated. You can simply uncheck the unimportant apps to change the iPhone backup size.

Condition 2. iPhone backup keeps failing for not being able to start

You might have enabled iCloud backup in settings and are sure that there is enough space in iCloud, but iPhone never backs up itself. In fact, iCloud backup would be triggered only under a specific situation.

iCloud backup means transferring data when the Internet is connected, so to avoid affecting other network applications, iPhone would do that at night. Except for that, you have to lock the screen to tell iPhone you are not using it and connect iPhone to power to make sure iCloud backup would not be canceled for low power. The most important thing is that you should make sure your Wi-Fi is stable because your router might reboot itself at night.

If you are sure the network is ready, you could also create iCloud backup anytime you want:

Go to iPhone Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Backup to toggle on iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now

Condition 3. iPhone backup failed for it is stuck

Sometimes you might find that your iCloud stuck on estimating time. Or it just take a much longer time than expected. It would be disappointing if iPhone backup stops because everything happens online and you have no options but cancel backup. After you cancel the backup, you should go to iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups to check whether it is already completed. Some users reported this situation and attribute this to iOS bug. If you are lucky, you would find that your backup is already there.

Most of the time, iCloud backup is really stuck. You should restart iPhone to manually backup iPhone to iCloud. If the problem still exists, you could follow the tips below to reset the Network:

★ Connect iPhone to a better Wi-Fi

★ Go to iPhone Settings > General > Software Update to update iPhone

★ Go to iPhone Settings > General > Reset and select Reset Network Settings or Reset All Settings

Use iCloud alternative when iPhone backup keeps failing

If the solutions above can't help you out of this issue, you can also backup your iPhone to your PC or external disk with FoneTool. It is a reliable and powerful tool that enables you to backup photos, videos, music, contacts, messages, and other data from iPhone to computer. Compared to iCloud, using USB cable to backup the iPhone would be more stable and you could never worry about insufficient space on computer.

Different backup ways: You can backup all data on your iPhone or selectively backup items.
Restore different Apple devices: You can restore the backup to different Apple devices even with different Apple IDs.
No storage limit: Unlike iCloud, there is no storage limit when you backup your iPhone. 
Great compatibility: It runs well with all iOS/iPadOS versions, like iOS 16/15. You can backup iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X and other iPhone models.

Now you can download FoneTool for free. Connect iPhone to computer with USB cable and tap “Trust” on iPhone. Then we will guide you on how to backup your iPhone with this tool.

Step 1. Run FoneTool, and click "Phone Backup"  on the left pane. Move the mouse to the "Full Backup", and click "Get Started".

Note: To selectively backup items, you can choose "Custom Backup" to selectively backup messages, photos, videos, contacts, and so on.

Step 2. If you want to backup some private data like Health data, Activity, and so on, please encrypt the backup. Then click "Start Backup".

To restore the full backup, you can click"Restore" in "Backup History" and follow the prompts.

Conclusion

Now, you have known why iPhone backup keeps failing, and hope these solutions can help you to stop iPhone saying backup failing. If your iCloud storage is full, you can also backup your iPhone to a computer or external disk with FoneTool. Besides, FoneTool also perform well in transfer data to iPhone, like transferring photos from camera to an iPhone.