Just because you love your iPhone, and by extension, the Apple ecosystem, doesn’t mean you’re into every single option the company offers. Independent-minded Apple customers have long expressed mixed opinions about iCloud, and iOS users are often fussy about how — or even if — they wish to use the cloud-based backup and storage service.
Some Apple customers are all-in with iCloud, and many even buy extra space beyond the 5GB free allotment that comes with their device. Others have devised their own backup strategies for different aspects of their data. But one huge convenience iCloud presents, even with the modest 5GB free storage limit, is the ability to back up your mobile device and pick and choose what gets backed up and what does not.
Navigating iCloud backup
Backing up your iPhone is critical because, regardless of mishap, theft, or loss, you can use it to restore your data to your current phone or a new one. That’s because iCloud backup generates a copy of your data that can easily be used for either purpose. This is accomplished via a power source or over Wi-Fi. You can use your allotted storage space for iCloud backups or to secure photos and videos in iCloud Photos, as well as documents in iCloud Drive. Here’s the general road map for iCloud on your iPhone.
- Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud.
- Scroll down to iCloud Backup and switch it on, if it’s not on already.
- You can use the Back Up Now command, but that scoops up everything without allowing you to choose exactly what you want to include. If you have more content that goes over the 5GB allotment, a few more steps can let you can back up exactly what you need and arrange to cover the rest of your data another way.
- Switch on iCloud Drive if it’s not already enabled.
Backup to the 5GB limit
You must have adequate space to hold the data you want to back up. If you have too much data for the 5GB limit, you can purchase more, but there’s also an easy way to tailor your backups to target the most important data without incurring extra fees. Overall, iCloud backup includes app data, Apple Watch backups, device settings, home screen and app organization, iMessage, text (SMS) and MMS messages, photos and videos, and Apple purchase history for services like music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, and more.
- Go back to your Apple ID and tap iCloud. A visual chart shows you exactly what content iCloud is backing up right now. Often, much of it is devoted to photos.
- Directly underneath the chart, tap Manage Storage. The resulting screen shows you all the apps that are backed up to iCloud and how much room they’re taking up.
- Tap Backups. This reveals the total amount of space your backups of app Documents and Data take up.
- Under Backups, tap This iPhone, which shows you the date of the last backup, its size, and the anticipated size of the next backup.
- Under Choose Data to Back Up, you’ll see the entire listing of apps that are backed up to iCloud. Tap Show All Apps to scroll through the full list that does not fit on a single screen.
- This is where you can pick and choose exactly what to back up. A lot of what’s getting backed up here may not be critical or can be backed up in other ways. You can turn off backups for your browser or Google Photos (which in itself is a backup to your Photo Library, which is already backed up separately by iCloud Photos) or downloaded books or Twitter. Here, you just want to back up critical stuff and save space and money.
Your device backups only include data and settings from your device. They do not include anything already stored in iCloud such as contacts, calendars, bookmarks, notes, Messages in iCloud, iCloud photos, or shared photos.