Q: How do I restore only my Photo albums to my iPad from my iTunes backup without doing a complete backup?
How do I restore only my Photo Albums to my iPad from my iTunes backup without restoring everything?
iPad Pro, iOS 9.3
Posted on Apr 23, 2016 10:47 AM
Lots of misunderstandings on this thread, I am afraid....
1) First, your question was "How do I restore only my Photo albums to my iPad from my iTunes backup without doing a complete restore?" (I changed backup to restore). The answer is that you cannot. All you can do is restore the complete backup you have in iTunes. iTunes or for that matter iCloud backups do not allow you to restore just part of a backup. The restore is all or nothing.
About backups in iCloud and iTunes - Apple Support
2) Secondly, this is water under the bridge perhaps, but the photos on the old iPad should have been imported (different than a backup) to your computer. If you did this, you can sync back any folders/albums that your want by simply doing a sync from iTunes to your new iPad.
Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer - Apple Support
Keep your photos safely stored and up to date on all your devices - Apple Support
3) Third, one can backup to iCloud and also backup to iTunes. In your iPad > Settings > iCloud > and select what you want to backup there. This is for iCloud backups only. iTunes backs up nearly all (see link above) as size is not an issue.
4) I would not turn on iCloud Photo Library without understanding the consequences. I have had to respond to many users here who did not understand how iCloud P.L. works and have inadvertently deleted their photos from all devices. Please read this article for details.
iCloud Photo Library FAQ - Apple Support
Finally, for whatever it is worth, my iPad is configured to only backup my Contacts and Safari to iCloud. I do regular iTunes backups and use that as my main backup source. I sync Albums to my iPad as per above. I do not use iCloud Photo Library. Camera Roll is backed up by default to iCloud (unless you have iCloud P. L. on in which case there is no Camera Roll). The store was thus able to restore your Contacts (you must have had them on) and Camera Roll. To "restore" the Albums please sync them from your computer to the new iPad as per article above.
Posted on Apr 23, 2016 3:44 PM