How to Back Up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch Using iTunes

Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch probably houses some pretty expensive data, when you think about everything that's on it and the time it took you to put it there and get it just right. I'm talking about not just apps, but also photos, address books, notes, documents, and more. What would it cost to replace all that data if your iOS device were lost, stolen, severely damaged, or just went kaput? And how much much of it would simply be irreplaceable?

If you own an Apple mobile device, you have no excuse for not backing it up, because Apple gives you two very simple and free ways for duplicating and storing a copy of your information. One option is to use iCloud and the other is to use iTunes. iTunes may be best known as Apple's music playing program, but the application can do much more in terms of helping you manage your mobile devices.

The benefit of backing up using iCloud is that it's largely automated and can happen wirelessly. The downside is Apple only gives you 5GB space for free, so if you need more, you have to pay for it.

Apple review, Apple commentary, Apple news... Everything AppleWith iTunes, on the other hand, you don't face quite the same space limitations. iTunes creates backups of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch right on your computer. Therefore, the amount of space allotted to your backups is fully in your control. It's a slice of the free space on your PC or Mac.

If you back up using iTunes instead, which you can do either by connecting your iOS device to your computer or by turning on wireless syncing with iTunes over WiFi (complete instruction below), you'll still want to make an additional backup to another location. That's because don't want your only backup to be on a computer in the same home or office where you keep your iPhone or iPad. If one is subject to, say, a fire or theft, the other is likely to suffer the same harm, leaving you with no phone, no tablet, no computer, and no backups. If you already run regular backups of your computer, though, you have nothing to worry about. Additionally, you can backup your data to iCloud, too, but you have to turn off iCloud before making the iTunes backup.

You should be able to move through the following instructions for backing up using iTunes in less than five minutes. Below the step-by-step instructions, you'll also find a quick overview of how to restore your device using iTunes, should you need to, as well as a list of things that do and do not get backed up using this method.

Before you make a backup of your iPhone or iPad using iTunes, it's a good idea to check whether you have the latest latest version of iTunes (go to Help > Check for Updates), but it's often not necessary.

Wireless sync: Make sure iCloud is turned off. Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup and toggle iCloud Backup to off. Then go to Settings > General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync and select your computer from the list. You'll see an option to "Sync Now" but by default the iOS device will automatically sync when the device meets three conditions: 1) the screen is locked (i.e., you're not using the device), 2) the device is connected to Wi-Fi, and 3) the device is plugged into a power source.

 

Now that you have a backup, you need to know where iTunes put it in case you need to restore your device from it, or are ready to back up your backup to a second location:

 

What's not backed up? Any content synced to—but not locally residing on—your iOS device, including:

Those items will be backed up if they are currently on your iPhone, iPad touch, or iPad, though. So, if you purchase an app, then remove it from your iPhone, it's not included in the backup. The App Store will still have record of you buying the app, so you can download it again. It just won't be included if you restore from a backup.