How to back up an iPhone
before you clean it.

iCloud backup or computer backup?

An iCloud backup is stored in iCloud, is always encrypted, and runs over Wi-Fi without a cable; it uses your iCloud storage, which starts at 5 GB. A computer backup is stored on your Mac or PC and is limited only by its free space; encryption is off until you turn it on. You can keep both.

How to back up an iPhone to iCloud

1. Connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi.
2. Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud.
3. Tap iCloud Backup.
4. Tap Back Up Now and stay on Wi-Fi until it finishes.

For automatic backups, turn on Back Up This iPhone on the same screen. iCloud then backs up daily while the iPhone is connected to power, locked and on Wi-Fi.

How to back up an iPhone to a Mac or PC

1. Connect your iPhone to the computer with a cable and trust the computer if asked.
2. On a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, open the Finder and select your iPhone in the sidebar. On a PC, open the Apple Devices app, or iTunes if you don't have it.
3. Click General. In iTunes, click Summary.
4. To include Health and Activity data, select Encrypt local backup and create a password. Keep it safe: the backup can't be recovered without it.
5. Click Back Up Now and wait for it to finish.

How to check when your iPhone was last backed up

For iCloud: Settings › your name › iCloud › iCloud Backup shows the date and time of the last backup under Back Up Now. On a computer, the date and time of the last backup appears in the same window once it finishes.

iCloud backup too large? Make room

A backup uses your iCloud storage. Apple's advice for decreasing the size of an iCloud backup and freeing up space in iCloud is to stop backing up apps you don't use, or to delete old iCloud backups.

1. Open Settings, tap your name, then tap iCloud.
2. Tap Storage or Manage Account Storage, then tap Backups.
3. Tap the name of the iPhone you are using. Turn off any apps you don't want to back up, then tap Turn Off to confirm. iCloud Backup turns off for that app and removes its information from iCloud.
4. To delete an old backup, tap the name of a device you no longer use, tap Turn Off and Delete from iCloud, then confirm.

What an iPhone backup includes, and leaves out

An iCloud backup holds the information and settings on your iPhone that don't already sync to iCloud: device settings, the Home Screen layout, app data, and messages and photos if you don't sync those. It leaves out what is already in iCloud, plus Apple Mail data, Face ID or Touch ID settings and Apple Pay information.

A computer backup includes almost all of the device's data and settings. It leaves out data already synced to iCloud, content synced from the computer, Face ID or Touch ID settings, Apple Pay information and Apple Mail data. Activity, Health and Keychain data are only included in an encrypted backup.

Photos are not in the backup

With iCloud Photos on, your photos and videos are not in the iCloud backup or in a computer backup: they sync to iCloud instead. Syncing is not a second copy. Delete a photo on your iPhone and it is deleted from iCloud and every device; a backup will not bring it back.

In Phone Cleaner, photos you delete go to Recently Deleted for 30 days, like any other deleted photo. One thing to know: items in the app's vault are not included in iCloud or computer backups. If you lose the iPhone, they are gone.