I want to SKIP the device backup entirely. How do I do this?

Hmm, I'm not sure that you can. iTunes attempts to backup the device at the start of the first sync session on any given day. You might be able to cancel the backup once it begins. Changing to iCloud backup might work for you but not if you don't want to backup there either. (Syncing over Wi-Fi may skip the backup stage, but I stopped using it so I'm not certain.)

Why may I ask do you want to skip a step which would be useful if your device was lost, stolen or damaged and you needed to restore your data to a replacement?

tt2

You're best off having everything that you want to sync in the one place. The backup is incremental. The first one takes time, subsequent ones shouldn't. Switching to iCloud backup might work for you though.

tt2

As far as I'm aware there isn't an option to do what you wish. It may be that I'm wrong, and I encourage you to look for a better answer elsewhere, but if I'm right then switching the device so that it wants to backup to iCloud would mean that when you want to quickly sync the calendar with this particular computer no attempt will be made to backup the device. Unless you can find a definitive answer elsewhere you may find that performing the experiment yourself is the best way to find out.

This support doc may or may not prove helpful: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

tt2

http://www.the4cast.com/2012/12/how-to-skip-ipod-or-ipad-or-iphone-backup-on-itu nes-11/ explains how to do it. You might need to try more than once. On my first attempt I was able to "skip" but then it went to some diagostics collection and did not do the sync. On my second attempt I was able to both skip the backup and get a sync.

I suspect the OP was looking for a way to prevent the backup phase altogether rather than needing to manually abort it once started.

tt2

While I understand that some people like the idea of having a backup of everything on their phone, I’m comfortable knowing that I have backups of all of my important data elsewhere. I use MobileMe for OTA (over the air) syncing, and I have Time Machine running whenever I connect to my wireless network. Text messages, and other stuff on the iPhone just aren’t all that important to me.

With the introduction of the iPhone 2.0 software and the 3G iPhone, the backup process can take a long time. People have suggested that the time it takes is dependent on the number of applications you’ve installed from the App Store. I have 30, and it takes forever. My friend Bracken has 4 and it took seconds.

I found a way (using the strings command in the terminal) to disable the backup function. This means that YOUR PHONE IS NOT GOING TO GET BACKED UP. Let me repeat that. If you do what I list below, YOUR PHONE WILL NOT GET BACKED UP.

This command will change a hidden setting in the iTunes preferences that will force it to skip the backup process.

1. – Quit iTunes.
2. – Open Terminal.app
3. – Copy and paste this in, then hit return:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true
4. – Open iTunes
5. – Plug in your iPhone (2.0 or 3G) and sync.

It will take a few seconds, assuming you don’t have a ton of music or podcasts.

Changing the ‘true’ in step 3 to ‘false’ will re-enable the backup feature.

Let me know how it goes by leaving a comment here. I will not be held responsible if your phone takes a crap and you have no backup. 🙂

Sounds good for OS X, might be a little harder to implement in Windows. 😐

tt2