How can I delete my iCloud backup and start over again (without deleting anything from my iPhone)?
iPhone 5s
iCloud just saves one backup, so do:
Settings > iCloud > Back Up Now
... and that will overwrite your last backup.
Why would you want to do this?
I had a feeling that there was more thanone backup kept in icloud. See the attached articel which has a screen capture saying "show older backups" but I am not sure now I have read your post
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/accessing-an-older-icloud-bac kup/
Interesting comment. Here's a snapshot of a screen in the article you referred to above:
Note there are several iCloud backups, but no more than one per device. I'm fairly certain there is at most one iCloud backup per device.
But additionally, a device (e.g., a specific iPhone) can have an iCloud backup as well as an iTunes backup.
I also found this https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4256543
I think I saw wjosten say once there were three.....
This could be because when doing a major system upgrade, maybe the iCloud stores an emergency backup that gets slightly renamed, just as iTunes does. I don't think so, but I don't have first hand experience with this.
As that post says, I certainly would not count on this.
Ocean20 wrote:
I think I saw wjosten say once there were three.....
I don't think so. See:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12792
My wife backs up her iPad to iCloud. I checked using the method in the PH12792 article and she has exactly one backup - the one she just did a few hours ago.
In fact, CJERARCR, the article I cited above is the answer to your original question:
sberman wrote:
Ocean20 wrote:
I think I saw wjosten say once there were three.....
I don't think so. See:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12792
My wife backs up her iPad to iCloud. I checked using the method in the PH12792 article and she has exactly one backup - the one she just did a few hours ago.
I read somewhere there can be three but it was old. Don't kow if it is still valid.
If you restore a device from a backup, the old backup is renamed with the date and a new backup is created.
Also, if you have multiple devices using the same AppleID, they are backed up to the same iCloud account.
I read this
Old backups may be deleted automatically.
As described in the iCloud Terms and Conditions, iCloud stores your last three backups. However, if a device has not backed up to iCloud for 180 days or longer, Apple reserves the right to delete the backups associated with that device.
OK, I see what you're saying.
And I agree with Chris CA's comment about multiple devices - they would certainly all keep backups in the same iCloud account just as they would in an iTunes situation.
I see your comment about the three backups, but it doesn't seem to be the case for my wife's iPad which gets backed up to iCloud every day and yet only indicates one backup out there.
Oh well, you certainly increased my doubt about the one iCloud backup per device if nothing else.
in http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/icloud/en/terms.html it says three too
sberman wrote:
I see your comment about the three backups, but it doesn't seem to be the case for my wife's iPad which gets backed up to iCloud every day and yet only indicates one backup out there.
Because iDevices keep only one backup.
A new backup will be created if you restore a device (either as new or from a backup).
Thank you! This makes perfect sense to me, and I believe is exactly correct.
And I think this comment you made is exactly right also, and explains when a device may have more than one backup. After all, this is true of iTunes backups as well:
"If you restore a device from a backup, the old backup is renamed with the date and a new backup is created."
All this would agree with my experience and intuition.
But what do you make of what it says in the terms for icloud where it says there are three backups?
How can I delete everything backed up on the iCloud and start over (without deleting anything on my iPhone)?
