What does it mean when iCloud Backup fails because “files are missing?”

Chronic Town wrote:

Thank you. But The question, and it is a very important question, remains: What does this error mean, the missing files?

FWIW, In my experience, that is a generic failure message that iOS puts out for an unknown backup failure. I have seen that message more than a few times over the years. I have always been able to resolve it, by following these steps.

Turn off iCloud backups in the settings.

Force close the settings app completely.

Restart the device.

Turn on the iCloud backup again in the settings

Perform a manual backup

No one at AppleCare knows the answer. They have seen the error message plenty of times but don’t know what it means. Frankly, I am stunned the folks I’ve spoken to at Apple knows the answer.

It doesn’t stun me at all. I have never seen any Apple documentation regarding that particular message. I still believe that is a generic message when an iCloud backup fails.

Might someone pin down an engineer? Because this is serious knowledge gap regarding a serious problem. Surely the error message isn’t random. It must mean something.

You would think it must mean something, wouldn’t you? That’s a rhetorical question.

Thank you the tips, though. In fact, I did indeed go all those routes several times under the aegis of AppleCare advisors. After I made several calls about this very troubling iCloud failure, a senior advisor finally told me that if those fixes didn’t work, I’d have to live with it.

Not exactly a helpful answer IMO. It leads back to what I stated earlier, if there is no official Apple documentation about it, the support people aren’t going to know what it means.

I got an Express Replacement instead.

Did that resolve the issue for you?

Hi Chronic Town,

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. If your backup failed, here are a few steps that may be useful:

1. Restart your iPad to see if the issue persists: Restart your iPad - Apple Support

2. Update your iPad to rule out the older software: Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

3. Try the steps here to see if they help: If you can't back up to iCloud - Apple Support

Trying the steps above can help with resolving or at least isolating the issue that you're having with creating an iCloud backup for your iPad.

If the issue remains, and you need further support, reach out to Apple Support here: Contact - Official Apple Support

Have a great day.

You’re quite welcome and I’m quite serious that I have seen that message more than a few times over they years. I experimented with whatever device was getting that message until I came up with my fix. I’m not saying it will work for you, but it never failed for me.

One other thing that I have noticed with regard to the message is that the devices that would show that message are devices that are the furthest from my WiFi router in the basement. All of our devices are set up for automatically backup with iCloud and those the furthest from the router were the ones getting the message.

I’m not suggesting anything one way or the other, but some here in the community don’t think using a VPN is necessary or a good idea. I have no experience with them.

Many users don’t have computers, so they rely on iCloud for backups. Up until about a year ago, I backed up on my Mac and iCloud. For reasons that I won’t get into, I quit backing up on my Mac and have used iCloud only. Most of my important content is synced with iCloud, and it isn’t contained in backups anyway. However, I totally agree with you that maintaining backups on a computer as well as using iCloud is a good idea.

Good luck tomorrow with setting up the replacement.