5 Solutions to iPhone Backup Never Finishes

Sometimes, you may encounter the iPhone backup never finishes issue. This post covers 5 common solutions to iPhone backup does not finish, which you can try to fix this problem effectively.

Dylan

By Dylan / Updated on June 2, 2023

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Why iPhone backup does not finish?

Lots of people are realizing the importance of backup iPhone music, contacts, videos, and other data so that they don’t need to worry about data loss. But sometimes, when people use iTunes, iCloud, or other tools to back up their iPhone, they may have the issue of “iPhone backup never finishes”. For example, the process stuck on step 2, and the program hangs at the end. And the process taking too long.

This issue can be related to some reasons:

● Faulty USB cable: Sometimes, the original or certified USB cable is required to connect your iPhone with your computer. If your USB cable is not made for iOS, the issue can happen.
Poor Network or Wi-Fi: Stable and strong network or Wi-Fi connection is important for performing a backup process, especially for large files.
Previous backups conflict: If you have done the operation before and made some changes on your backed up. They can have a conflict with the old backups.

Next, you can refer to the following content. no matter what the symptom is, you can try the fixes below to solve iPhone backup failure issue.

5 easy solutions to fix iPhone backup never finishes?

Method 1. Restart the iPhone

If you are backing up an old iPhone like iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iPhone 8, the device might be too old for the iOS system. So they can have a connection issue making iCloud or iTunes backup takes forever to complete or it just hangs. You can just press and hold the side button to reboot your iPhone to solve this problem.

Method 2. Try another USB cable or USB port

If iPhone backup stuck on step 2 when you use iTunes to back up your iPhone, it can result from a faulty USB cable. Use an Apple-made or MFi certified lightning cables, or try another USB port. Then see if the problem can be fixed.

✍MFi Certification: MFi stands for made for iOS. If there is a “Made for iPhone” or “Made for iPad” note on the packaging, it can be generally trusted as MFi certified.

Method 3. Check network connection

The network is another factor affecting the backup process. If the network, Wi-Fi connection is not stable, you can easily have the “iPhone backup never finishes” problem. Please ensure a reliable and stable network or Wi-Fi.

Besides, you can also reset your network:

1. Go to the “Settings” app on your iPhone > Tap “General”.

2. Scroll down and tap “Reset” > “Reset Network Settings”.

Reset Network Setting

Method 4. Delete the previous backup

If you had a backup of your iPhone via iCloud and iTunes. Due to the fact that iCloud and iTunes don’t support incremental backup. That means the newly added data can have a conflict with the previous data during the process. Besides, if your iCloud storage or iTunes space is full, the iPhone backup does not finish either.

Delete iCloud backup on iPhone: Go to “Settings” on your iPhone > tap your name to enter your Apple ID account > Enter “iCloud” > “Manage Storage” > “Backups”. Then choose a device and tap “Delete Backup”.

Note: You can also choose some specific items and turn off and delete backups of them.

Delete Backup Icloud

Delete iTunes backup:

1. Launch iTunes and click “Edit”.

2. Choose “Preferences” from the drop-down menu.

3. Once the Preference menu is opened, choose a device, and click “Delete Backup”.

4. Confirm the operation and click “Delete”.

Click Delete Backup

Method 5. Turn to a powerful third-party backup tool-FoneTool

As known to us, the iCloud backup provides only 5GB of free space for each Apple user. You might encounter some issues as iCloud backup stuck. And iTunes sometimes is not stable to have a backup.

So lots of people will turn to a powerful backup tool-FoneTool. This tool can help you easily backup your photos, videos, messages, contacts, and other data to your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 computers or laptop.

In addition, this software provides you with 2 backup ways. You can back up all iPhone data with "Full Backup" features, or you can turn to Selective Backup to only backup part of your iPhone data.

Here are some advantages of FoneTool:

● Stable and reliable backup: FoneTool gives users a highly successful backup rate, and it keeps your data safe.
Easy-to-use interface: This backup tool comes with an intuitive interface. You can complete an iPhone backup within a few clicks.
Incremental backup: FoneTool supports incremental backup that will only backup newly added data so it won’t have a conflict with the previous backup files.
Fast backup speed: It provides a much faster speed than other tools, if you would like to transfer large videos, photos, and files, this tool is suitable for you.

Click the download button below, and follow the steps below to see how it works:

Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 1. Launch FoneTool, click "Phone Backup" > Choose “Selective Backup” on the main interface.

Back Up All

Step 2. Here select files you want to backup, and click “OK”.

Select Pictures

Step 3. Then select the storage path according to your need. Click “Start Backup”.

Select Path

Wait for the process to get finished,

Conclusion

Here, we provide 5 fixes to the “iPhone backup never finishes” issue, you can choose one according to your situation to fix it. Due to the demerits of iTunes and iCloud, if the first 4 methods can’t help you out of the issue, FoneTool is a great alternative to backup your iOS device. Besides, it can also help you to erase iPhone without iTunes if you want to sell your old iPhone.