How to Back Up Your iPhone or iPad to iCloud

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. How to Back Up

How to Back Up Your Device to iCloud

First, make sure your account has enough available space in iCloud. Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage, which will list how much iCloud storage you're using and which apps are eating up the most storage. How to Back Up Your Device to iCloud

To automatically back up your device each day, turn on iCloud Backup via Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup and toggle iCloud Backup to on. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup. The device will then back up when your phone is connected to power, locked, and on Wi-Fi.

To manually back up your phone via iCloud, navigate to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now. Here, you can also see the last time your device was successfully backed up.

What Does iCloud Backup Include?

With Apple iCloud, you can back up:

• App data
• Apple Watch backups(Opens in a new window)
• Device settings
• Home screen and app organization
• iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages
• Photos and videos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
• Purchase history from Apple services, like music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books
• Ringtones
  
  Visual Voicemail password (requires the SIM card that was in use during backup)
  
  You can select what is protected and what is not, including Calendars, Contacts, Health Notes, Photos, Reminders, Wallet, and more. There are also third-party apps that can be connected to your iCloud account. Add and revoke these permissions at any time.
  
  Manage what is included by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud and toggle the switch on or off for the apps you do or do not want to sync to iCloud storage.