Switching Between iCloud & Computer For Backup

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Level 1

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Switching Between iCloud & Computer For Backup

I believe in backing up to multiple locations.

Normally, my iPhone is configured to backup to iCloud. When I connect the phone to my Windows computer and iTunes opens, the summary under "Backups" shows the time & date of the latest backup to iCloud.

Periodically, I change the option to use "This Computer" as the backup location. When I do that and either click "Back Up Now" or just re-sync, the phone is backed up to the computer.

However, at that point, the "Latest Backup" shows the time of the backup to the computer, but indicates that "This phone has never been backed up to iCloud."

So, when you switch to "This Computer" as the backup location, does that automatically delete the iCloud backup? Or is it just that the phone doesn't "realize" that there is an iCloud backup available. And if the latter is the case, how would I manage to restore from the iCloud backup if that was necessary?

If I backup to the computer and then switch back to iCloud as the backup destination and manually do a backup, "Latest Backup" shows both backups:

iPhone XR, iOS 13

Posted on Jan 23, 2020 3:08 PM

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Answer 1

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Demo

Level 10

166,525 points

Jan 25, 2020 9:56 AM in response to Peter Adler

That message about never being backed up to iCloud is indeed a glitch that I see from time to time and that I have seen other people talk about in the community. I have a new iPad Air 3, and iPad Air 2 and an iPhone XR which all, backup to iCloud and to iTunes. My iPad Air 3 never shows that I back up to iCloud in iTunes and hasn’t showed that since the day I started backing it up. It always shows backup to this computer.

Another inconsistency that I see in iTunes for both iPads is that I am syncing contacts from my Mac which is absolutely incorrect. I think I see it on the iPad Air 3 because I restore the iPad from the iPad Air 2 backup so the same incorrect settings show up in iTunes.

I take half of what I see in iTunes with a grain of salt. I use it, but I don’t think it is Apple’s finest accomplishment.

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Answer 2

Peter Adler Author

Level 1

56 points

Jan 25, 2020 9:46 AM in response to stevejobsfan0123

Thanks for the reply.

I've found a number of things on the iTunes "Summary" page for an attached device to be less than perfect (in particular, the allocation of my iPhone's memory reported by iTunes has never seemed to match what my iPhone itself showed).

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Answer 3

Peter Adler Author

Level 1

56 points

Jan 25, 2020 10:24 AM in response to Demo

Demo wrote:

I take half of what I see in iTunes with a grain of salt. I use it, but I don’t think it is Apple’s finest accomplishment.

I guess that's part of the reason that Apple abandoned iTunes, at least for Macs.

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Answer 4

Jan 23, 2020 3:10 PM in response to Peter Adler

That seems like a glitch, as switching from iCloud backups to iTunes backups definitely does not delete prior iCloud backups, and vice versa.

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Switching Between iCloud & Computer For Backup

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