How to Backup iPhone to Mac or Windows

Even the thought of losing all your iPhone data is traumatizing.

Accidentally losing or breaking your device are two of the many causes of losing your data. Notice how in both cases, you’re entirely not in control of the situation? That’s exactly why you need to backup your data regularly.

By backing up your data before any unimaginable disaster befalls you, you can protect your cherished memories, important contacts, and essential data.

In this post, we’ll review the steps to backup your iPhone data to your Mac or Windows computer.

Let’s learn more.

Reasons to Backup Your iPhone

If you have a lot of data on your iPhone that is very dear to you, you cannot afford to lose them at all. From precious photos and videos to important contacts and documents, there’s every reason to ensure you eliminate any chances of data loss.

Here are some of the many reasons you should back up your iPhone (or any device).

#1. Peace of Mind 🧘‍♂️

Let’s face it, mental peace is way above material things and should be the number 1 priority. By backing up your iPhone data regularly, you can rest assured that your important files are safe and sound, even if you lose your device. 

#2. More Storage 📦

Backing up your data also means you have the leisure to delete them from your device because you already have a copy. If you have an iPhone variant that doesn’t have a lot of storage, transferring your data to your Mac or Windows computer is useful.

#3. Easy Device Migration 📱📲

Data transfer can sometimes be a hassle when purchasing a new phone. However, when you already have a backup on your computer, it becomes easy to transition from your old device to the new one.

#4. Protection Against Data Loss 💿

It can be a nightmare if you’ve accidentally deleted some of your important files or lost data because of a virus. A backup can come to the rescue to minimize its impact.

By regularly backing your iPhone data to your computer, you create a safeguard against such mishaps.

#5. Protection from Hardware Failures ⚙️

Electronics are prone to malfunctions and hardware failures; your iPhone is no exception. If you face any problems with your iPhone and it stops working, having a backup on your computer ensures your data remains safe.

You can then restore the data at any point in time without worrying about losing your important files.

With that being said, let’s jump into the tutorial.

Backup iPhone to Mac from Finder

If you have a Mac, this is probably the easiest method to backup your iPhone data. It’s also super quick and doesn’t take more than a few seconds. Here are the steps for it.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your Mac via the lightning to USB cable. Make sure your device is unlocked before you plug it in.

Step 2: Click on Finder. You can find the icon on the far left of the dock.

Step 3: From the Finder sidebar, under Locations, click on your iPhone device’s name.

Step 4: Click on where it says, General.

Step 5: Within the Backups menu, select the Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac option.

Step 6: Click on the Back Up Now button.

Wait for a few seconds until the transfer is complete, and that’s it. Your iPhone’s data has been successfully backup up to your Mac.

Backup iPhone to Mac or Windows using iCloud

In this method, you will back up your iPhone data to your iCloud and then download that backup to your Mac or Windows computer. Follow the below steps:

Step 1: On your iPhone, go to Settings > YOUR NAME > iCloud.

Step 2: You should see iCloud Backup option. Tap on that.

Step 3: Turn on the Back Up This iPhone button.

NOTE: You can only backup up to 5GB of data as a free user of iCloud. For anything more than that, you have to purchase a recurring plan.

Step 4: Now, open your browser from your Mac or Windows computer, go to icloud.com, and sign in with your Apple ID credentials.

Step 5: Once logged in, you can select the type of data you want to download. It could be your photos, notes, contacts, etc.

If I want to backup my photos, I’ll simply click on Photos and then select all of them. Next, I’ll click on this download icon.

This will download all of the media files to my computer.

Backup iPhone to Mac or Windows using iTunes

If you’ve been an Apple user for a long time, you know what iTunes is and how important it was back in the day. It’s only in recent times that it started to lose its worth because it’s no longer necessary. These days, you have many ways to carry out a task for your iPhone.

However, iTunes remains one of the only ways to backup your iPhone data without an internet connection. You can do it totally offline, and the process is reasonably quick.

Here’s how you can use iTunes to backup iPhone to Mac or Windows:

Step 1: Download iTunes on your computer. Remember, if you have a Mac, iTunes will only work on your computer if you have the macOS version Mojave or earlier, as Apple discontinued it for newer versions.

Step 2: Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone to your computer.

Step 3: On the app, click on your iPhone icon in the top left, select Summary from the side menu, and finally, click Back Up Now under Backups.

After the backup process, you can check it by going to iTunes > Preferences > Devices. You can restore the backup at any moment.

Also read: How to Transfer Data/Files to iPhone and iPad without iTunes

Backup iPhone to Mac or Windows using Third-party Tools

If you’re looking for more than “just backup,” using a third-party tool is the best solution. There are various software out there that allow you to backup and restore your iPhone data and perform other tasks.

Let’s have a look at a couple of the best ones.

#1. Wondershare Dr.Fone

Carefully created to take your data backup and restoration worries away, Wondershare Dr.Fone is a tool you can install on Mac and Windows. You can use it to backup your iPhone data wirelessly and within a few seconds.

It has the capability to backup 24 different types of data, including contacts, photos, safari data, videos, notes, and more.

One of the best features of this solution is that it supports incremental data backups, which means you don’t have to backup your entire data every time. Instead, it identifies the newer files and backs up only those files to save you time and space.

Besides, thanks to the preview option, you can easily restore all of your data or be selective by cherry-picking the ones you need.

Wondershare Dr.Fone works flawlessly on Apple devices running iOS 9.0 and later.

#2. Tenorshare iCareFone

A tool that gives you more than you ask for, Tenorshare iCareFone is compatible with even the latest iPhone models.

You can backup and restore different data types, such as apps, music, contacts, etc.

Besides, it’s filled with a lot of valuable features, such as:

• Built-in HEIC converter
• Screen mirroring
• Diagnostic tests
• Download, install, and remove apps with a single click
• Download apps that are geo-restricted
• De-duplicate photos
• Manage playlists and other media files with Apple Music

The fact that it allows you to backup your files in just one click makes things even better. You can download and use Tenorshare iCareFone on both Windows and Mac. And as if it couldn’t get any better, it supports all iOS versions released so far.

Closing Thoughts

We’re fortunate to have so many solutions to help regarding backing up our iPhone data. It’s an absolute breeze whether you’re rocking a Windows or Mac computer.

The different ways of backing up data discussed in this post will help protect your important files against unexpected mishaps. As a result, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing your memories and information are safe and sound.

Next, check out these tools to recover lost data on your iPhone and iPad.