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Restoring iPhone from Backup

I got my iPhone replaced yesterday. I didn't have a recent backup on iCloud so the genius told me that I could just back it up to my MacBook Pro, even though it is not synced to my MacBook Pro. I did and I came home to restore it. Restoring it from the Backup on the MacBook Pro doesn't restore the apps and the app layout like he promised me it would. Was he wrong? Can a backup to a non-syncing computer restore everything back to the phone, including apps?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 7:46 AM

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Posted on Apr 20, 2012 8:01 AM

Restoring from backup restores your data and settings, but it does not restore apps and media contained in your iTunes library. You have to sync your phone with your iTunes library to transfer your music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, apps, tones, etc. back to your phone.

15 replies

Apr 20, 2012 10:30 AM in response to lindahl22

No, even if you haven't synced your phone for a while your media should still be in your iTunes library. All you have to do is sync with iTunes to transfer it back to your phone. If you had purchased apps or music on your old phone but didn't sync to transfer these purchases to iTunes, all you have to do is re-download in iTunes for free and sync them to your phone. This article explains how to download past purchases: see "To download previously purchased apps, books, music, movies, or TV shows to your computer" here - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519.

Nov 30, 2012 1:18 PM in response to iyannaCherelle

Only in that you will lose everything on the phone. But there is no way to get back into the phone if you don't restore. If you have access to the computer you've been backing up on, and you've backed up since you set the passcode, you should not be prompted to enter the passcode to restore. The passcode is not part of the backup, so it will not be present once the restore is finished.


If you do not have access to the computer you've been backing up to at all, then all you can do is put it into recovery or DFU mode, wipe it out entirely, and start from scratch.

Restoring iPhone from Backup

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