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Hi!
I have been trying to transfer my data from my existing 128GB iPhone 6s to my new 128GB iPhone 11 but an error on storage insufficiency appears. I have cut down storage on the 6s from 120GB to 98GB but it still won’t transfer. I set up the 11 manually in the meantime and found storage of built-in system and apps at 14.5GB. Shouldn’t that be enough to allow the transfer? I am getting quite frustrated. :(
Well, first of all you'll need to do something about the 75 GB of photos and videos. You'll need to store them on your phone but not on iCloud. To do this, simply turn off iCloud Photos. This will keep the existing photos and videos on your device, but nothing will sync to or from iCloud. I would strongly recommend regularly backing up those photos and videos to a PC, since there will be no way for you to restore them otherwise if something bad were to happen.
Next, your screenshot shows 70.8 GB of iCloud backups. That's a lot—my iPhone backup only takes 1.6 GB. Is this only for your iPhone, or do you have other Apple devices sharing the same iCloud account?
Either way, Apple lets you backup to a PC instead of or in addition to iCloud. On Windows, you'll need iTunes from the Microsoft Store. With iTunes open, you can plug your phone into the computer and select it on the sidebar. The "General" screen will give you the option to back up to the PC. If you don't set a password to encrypt your backups, some information is not saved, like health information and passwords. Encrypted backups save as much data as an iCloud backup. More information is here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205220. Note that if you DO encrypt your backups and later forget the password, there is no way to recover either the password or the backups.
On a Mac, the exact same functionality exists, except that there is no iTunes. Instead, the phone appears on the sidebar in any Finder window.
Under iCloud Storage → Backups, you can see each individual iCloud backup and how much each one takes up. You can also click on the backup and see a list of every app and how much data the app is backing up to iCloud. That may help you manage the iCloud storage if one app is backing up gigabytes of data. Again, 70.8 GB is a LOT of data.
Well, first of all you'll need to do something about the 75 GB of photos and videos. You'll need to store them on your phone but not on iCloud. To do this, simply turn off iCloud Photos. This will keep the existing photos and videos on your device, but nothing will sync to or from iCloud. I would strongly recommend regularly backing up those photos and videos to a PC, since there will be no way for you to restore them otherwise if something bad were to happen.
Next, your screenshot shows 70.8 GB of iCloud backups. That's a lot—my iPhone backup only takes 1.6 GB. Is this only for your iPhone, or do you have other Apple devices sharing the same iCloud account?
Either way, Apple lets you backup to a PC instead of or in addition to iCloud. On Windows, you'll need iTunes from the Microsoft Store. With iTunes open, you can plug your phone into the computer and select it on the sidebar. The "General" screen will give you the option to back up to the PC. If you don't set a password to encrypt your backups, some information is not saved, like health information and passwords. Encrypted backups save as much data as an iCloud backup. More information is here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205220. Note that if you DO encrypt your backups and later forget the password, there is no way to recover either the password or the backups.
On a Mac, the exact same functionality exists, except that there is no iTunes. Instead, the phone appears on the sidebar in any Finder window.
Under iCloud Storage → Backups, you can see each individual iCloud backup and how much each one takes up. You can also click on the backup and see a list of every app and how much data the app is backing up to iCloud. That may help you manage the iCloud storage if one app is backing up gigabytes of data. Again, 70.8 GB is a LOT of data.
I recommend closing all apps on the 6s and making a manual backup to iCloud (Settings → (your name) → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now), then re-setting up the 11 to restore from iCloud backup. This does the exact same thing, but allows the iPhone to better manage its hidden temporary files (like how Windows creates temporary files when installing software), which I'm guessing is what is causing the error.
Hi! I’ve done the manual back-up through iCloud. I’m worried however about the photos. On phone storage they take up 75GB, but on iCloud storage just 6GB. Would you know why this is the case? Thank you.
It will. One time I erased all content and settings on my phone just to make a point to my Dad about iCloud backups. 🙂
Check the following just in case:
In Settings → (your name) → iCloud, make sure everything you want to transfer is turned on. To keep your messages, make sure Messages is turned on here. Also tap Manage Storage → Backups and select the most recent backup, and make sure all every app is turned on. Also check Settings → Messages and make sure iMessage is turned on.
Those things should all be on by default anyway, so you should be good to go.
Hello,
Sorry for the delayed response. The reason is simple: at the time of your screenshots, not all of the photos on your phone had been uploaded to iCloud yet. I'm not sure if the recommendation your screenshot shows means that iCloud Photos is turned off, or if it is turned on but not finished uploading.
Check that Photos is configured to upload to iCloud by going to Settings → Photos and making sure that "iCloud Photos" is turned on. (This is different from the "Shared Albums" option.) If it is, then it will simply take some time for everything to sync up. If it has been off the whole time, that means that your photo library has been saved only to your phone, and has not been syncing to iCloud.
Alternatively, you can transfer everything to a PC for storage and then back to your phone again. On a Windows PC, you can connect the phone to the PC via a USB cable, and Windows will treat the photo library like an ordinary USB flash drive. (If you haven't done this before, Windows may need to download some drivers first.) Then, you can simply drag and drop. On a Mac, the iPhone will show up on the finder sidebar, and the "General" tab will give the option to always show the phone there when both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. With 75 GB of photos, however, all of these options will take a considerable amount of time.
I want to cancel subscription on the iCloud though, since this will be a recurring monthly expense I want to avoid. How do I work on making sure everything is backed up on the phone before cancelling the 200GB iCloud sub? Thank you!
Thank you for the help! Will it be able to back-up all the contacts, message threads, and pictures this way?
Yes. It’ll transfer everything. You might have to wait for your apps to download, but all data in apps will remain.
Thank you, Reserved-Potato, my iPhone 11 in finally all set up and I’m enjoying the whole experience!
Difficulty transferring data from 128GB iPhone 6s to 128GB iPhone 11
