Camera roll is empty - iCloud backup size is over 600MB

Question

Level 5

5,171 points

Camera roll is empty - iCloud backup size is over 600MB

Anyone experience this and know what the deal is?

My phone has recently been wiped and restored as a new device to address a very large "Other" situation. I diligently backup my photos regularly to my PC, and erase the local copy on my phone. So, my camera roll is empty.

My iCloud backups have been creeping larger and I see that the Camera Roll backup component of my backup is now over 600MB. I would assume this number should be 0MB or very close to it, especially since last night's automatic backup occured after I transferred off over 150 pictures.

Incidentally, my iPad has an empty camera roll as well and it too has a backup but at a much smaller size of 6MB.

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.2

Posted on May 17, 2013 7:00 AM

Reply

Answer 1

May 28, 2013 4:37 PM in response to pdroth

We have the same problem...Camera Roll in Backup Options says it takes 2.5GB, but the Usage/Storage of the Photos & Camera is only 247MB, with only 101 photos and no videos. When hooked up to a Windows 7 PC, it shows around 220MB in the folder. How do I get the iCloud backup storage for the Camera Roll to use less space? Or does it take so many backups that it still has photos from months ago?

Reply

Answer 2

shungate

Level 1

5 points

Jun 10, 2013 7:16 PM in response to pdroth

I found a possible solution for you. I had 1.6 gb of photos being backed up to icloud, yet had no pictures on my phone / camera roll after my backup to iphoto. I simply went to manage storage, checked on my iphone, slid the little "on" switch next to the camera roll to "off". A prompt / warning came up about deleting the photos. I said yes, waited a sec and fliped the switch back to "on" and viola - the camera roll backup is under 1MB. It seems you just have to force the iphone to reset it's number for the next backup to icloud. I hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 12, 2013 8:56 AM in response to pdroth

I'm having the opposite problem with the camera roll and icloud.

Total size of my camera roll (under Settings/General/Usage/) - 4.6GB

Total size being backed up (under Settings/iCloud/Storage & Backup/Manage Storage/"my iPhone"/) - 171MB

I cannot for the life of me figure out why it's not doing the entire roll.

I don't suppose anyone might know why this might be occuring?

Reply

Answer 4

May 31, 2014 6:12 PM in response to shungate

I've been dealing with the same problem for a week. Tried to figure it out myself, then took my phone to my local Apple Store today. The customer service rep said my back-up software was failing. She re-installed it, and I was still having the problem until I found this thread 20 minites ago. Thank you for your advice. I did exactly what you said and it corrected the problem. Thanks @shungate 🙂

Reply

Answer 5

AceNeerav

Level 2

150 points

Jun 30, 2014 12:50 AM in response to pdroth

Hi,

I am on iOS 7.1.1 and I have the same problem. Even after emptying the camera roll it still says 1.8GB backup size of the Camera Roll. I toggled the switch ON and Off and now it is correctly estimating the new size of the camera roll, HOWEVER, i noticed this is a problem for all apps installed. I have other camera apps with empty rolls and they are still showing old backup sizes. So I Supposes this is something across all apps.

This is happening on both my iPad Mini and iPhone 5 both running iOS 7.1.1.

iCloud woes never seem to end!

Reply