Following a hard drive (and backup) failure, how do I backup my iPhone to the mac?
iMac (24-inch Early 2008)
You wouldn't back it up any differently than you did before. Plug it in, choose the device in itunes, then press 'back up now'
If you're referring to restoring the iphone from a backup that was on your hard drive before it failed, that isn't possible unless you stored the backup file somewhere else besides the failed drive
Thanks for your reply. Where is the backup now button?
I can see lots of sync buttons, but no backup now button. Cheers
Once you have selected your device, you will see 'summary, info, apps, music, tv shows,' etc. at the top center of itunes. select 'summary' and there will be an option to back up
hi Amy Lou,
this is what my Itunes looks like, and there is no backup button.
That's because you're not using the latest version of itunes. You should update that. If you don't want to update it right now, to back up, you right-click on the name of your phone over on the left-hand side, then choose 'back up'
Hiya,
thanks, I found the backup command now. I'm not convinced it worked though as it didn't take long and none of the stuff that is on my phone appears in itunes. thus if I then choose to sync it would still empty the phone.
a backup will not transfer any information from your phone to itunes other than the actual backup file, which is visible when you go to iTunes > preferences > devices
You can also see how large the actual backup file is by going to finder, clicking the 'go' menu option, hold down the command key so 'library' appears in that menu, then navigate to application support > mobilesync > backups > right-click on the backup file and choose 'get info' and it will tell you the size of the file. Your itunes backup includes everything here:
ok thanks. sorry to go on and on. Is there any way of getting stuff from my phone that was not purchased from Itunes (and transferring purchases); i.e. imported CD's (remember those?)?
thanks so much for your time and patience
it's no biggy, and unfortunately, no, due to how artists' copyright laws work, apple had to discontinue the ability to transfer music directly from an iOS device to a computer
Backing up iPhone to repaired imac
