Backup to computer without photos

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Level 1

11 points

Backup to computer without photos

I have an iPhone 11pro and have recently started using iCloud. All of my pictures are backed up there. I like to keep a backup of my phone on my physical laptop. When I go to backup my phone, it also backs up all of my pictures which makes the backup over 150GB due to the amount of videos I have. How can I backup my phone to my computer without pictures. They are all in the cloud so it seems like there should be a way, but I can’t seem to figure it out.

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Mar 12, 2020 9:45 PM

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Answer 1

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,437 points

Mar 13, 2020 12:36 AM in response to ca1182

If you sync the photos to iCloud using iCloud Photos then the photos are not included in backups to either iCloud or iTunes. See the following for more information:

About backups for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

and

Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Mar 13, 2020 2:39 AM in response to ca1182

Also, see Manage your iCloud storage https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204247. This read mentions another photo-related way of saving storage on you device, specifically optimization. See the heading Reduce the size of your iCloud Photos.

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Answer 3

ca1182 Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 13, 2020 7:33 AM in response to FoxFifth

i have seen that if you sync with iCloud photos then they are not included with your physical backup. My problem is all my photos are in the iCloud, however they do still backup!

To make matters even more confusing, my phone backup now wants to sync 158GB of photos in my next backup. This makes no sense since all my photos are already in iCloud.

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Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

475,437 points

Mar 13, 2020 7:58 AM in response to ca1182

I don't know why that is happening but something else that you might try is the following: Go to Settings > [username] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups > [device name] > Choose Data to Backup and turn off Photos there (although it shouldn't be in that list since it shouldn't be backing up).

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Answer 5

ca1182 Author

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Mar 13, 2020 11:01 AM in response to donv_the_ghost

I can tell due to the size of the backup. The photos have never shown as needing to be backed up before. Now when I go in and view the size of my next backup it shows the exact size of the photos on my device.

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Answer 6

Mar 13, 2020 10:23 AM in response to ca1182

How do you know your photos will be in your next iPhone backup? I assume that is what you mean. I am interested because Foxfith's original post sparked a related discussion in our Lounge.

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Answer 7

ca1182 Author

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Mar 13, 2020 11:00 AM in response to FoxFifth

This was a good idea, but unfortunately it is still backing up my pictures. There seem to only be a handful of people having this problem, but I am one of them.

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Answer 8

Mar 13, 2020 11:04 AM in response to ca1182

Thank you. I see. I forgot about that feature.

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Answer 9

ca1182 Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 13, 2020 11:05 AM in response to donv_the_ghost

Do you have any suggestions as to why this is happening?

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Answer 10

Mar 13, 2020 11:29 AM in response to ca1182

The lounge discussion I mentioned confirms that exactly what FoxFifth says about iCloud Photo syncing and iPhone backups should be correct. My only thought about what is happening to you is that iCloud/iCloud Drive don't always behave consistently with should be's.

I use the KISS system in dealing with iCloud Photos. I don't use the Photos App on my Mac for serious photo work or storage on it. So, I sync my iPhone photos to my Mac. Then I export them from my Photo Library for use elsewhere, perhaps Photoshop editing. If you don't use Photos on your Mac, then you could do the same thing. And, you could store the extracted photos to an external drive and/or an alternative cloud if you wanted to. Doing so could solve your problems, including allowing the continued back up of your iPhone up to your computer. I back mine up to my Mac, not to iCloud. You could also delete you photos from your phone and iCloud with no worries.

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Backup to computer without photos

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