allansasu

Q: iPhone Backup Cannot be Saved Because of Not Enough Space on Computer

Hello,

 

When I come to sync my iPhone with my computer it tells me that my backup cannot be saved because there is not enough space on my computer. I have tried EVERYTHING I could possibly find on the internet to solve it but I can't. This included using a different USB port and cable, trying to sync it with a different computer (I actually got a new one and it still won't work), updating softwares on both my Mac and my phone, resetting my devices, deleting backups both on iTunes and manually in Finder and even calling Apple support! (They told me to back up using iCloud but that won't work either. Before I did it we hung up because I knew it would take some time.)

 

I've started to believe it is an error in the phone's operating system (iOS 7) as some features are notably different like when opening an app or a folder: instead of zooming into it or make it appear from the center of the screen a fading effect brings up the app or the folder, which I think is pretty weird. Restoring it would be the perfect solution, but I need a backup first!

 

This has been going on for some time, so any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

iPhone 5, iOS 7.1

Posted on Aug 14, 2014 6:50 PM

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Q: iPhone Backup Cannot be Saved Because of Not Enough Space on Computer

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  • by tbone2009,

    tbone2009 tbone2009 Dec 20, 2014 12:58 PM in response to Briansyddall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 20, 2014 12:58 PM in response to Briansyddall

    I use it for not only backing up my phone but updating the music on my phone as well as notes pictures text messages etc...

  • by theballoongirl,

    theballoongirl theballoongirl Jan 25, 2015 6:50 PM in response to Briansyddall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2015 6:50 PM in response to Briansyddall

    I had the same problem, BUT i FINALLY figured out the problem!!! go to settings and turn OFF find my iphone. (logging out doesnt do it, you must turn it off from the settings). I hope this fix works for you like it worked for me!!

  • by bsomer,

    bsomer bsomer Apr 12, 2015 1:36 AM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2015 1:36 AM in response to allansasu

    Hi, I've had same issue for a few weeks and finally got it sorted by doing a few of the various suggestions.

     

    Steps -

    • Saved back up on my windows computer and saved to desktop, just in case - steps to do this (where does itunes save my backup for my ipad and my wifes Iphone?)
    • Made sure I was on latest version of iTunes - Had to download from website as iTunes wouldn't do an update as it normally would, would give a "can not connect to iTunes server" error.
    • Turned off FindMyIphone in settings
    • I located the Lockdown folder iTunes: How to reset the Lockdown folder - Apple Support, But instead of deleting the folder as per the link, I removed all the files from this folder, EXCEPT the System Configuration file. I did save the others on my desktop (just in case).
    • Deleted all prior back ups on my iTunes via the Preferences > Devices menu.
    • Restarted laptop and connected iPhone.

    Hope this helps someone

  • by paul c.fromgent,

    paul c.fromgent paul c.fromgent Apr 27, 2015 1:22 AM in response to bsomer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 27, 2015 1:22 AM in response to bsomer

    Turn off find my phone and disconnecting Mac & phone from wifi before plugging phone into laptop.

    I feel it's a campaign to get us all into the cloud, as this was emphasized by 2 different Mac stores that backing up to the cloud was the "only" solution ...

  • by machupiku,

    machupiku machupiku Jun 1, 2015 5:03 AM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 1, 2015 5:03 AM in response to allansasu

    Did you get a solution? I have developed this too - backup failed to icloud (no reason given) - deleted last one in case of corrupt file, still wont. Mac AND work PC backup fails due to "not enough space". Whilst this could be the issue on home mac, def. not on work pc! Very frustrating! Any tips (that do not involve ddelteing backup as I've done that)

  • by NethMaph,

    NethMaph NethMaph Nov 19, 2015 3:36 PM in response to bsomer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 19, 2015 3:36 PM in response to bsomer

    Thanks bsomer for providing the steps to backing-up my iPhone via iTunes. No memory error issues once following each of your steps. But will add that users should reenable Find My iPhone as soon as their back-up is completed!

  • by steveald,

    steveald steveald Jan 7, 2016 7:53 PM in response to bsomer
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 7, 2016 7:53 PM in response to bsomer

    All good steps. I have one additional note to add.

     

    Deleting all prior back ups on iTunes via the Preferences > Devices menu doesn't necessarily mean they stay deleted as I discovered. I tried that, quit iTunes, restarted iTunes and they were back.

     

    The solution was to control-click on one of the backups listed and select Show in Finder. In the window that appears are folders with long alphanumeric names. I deleted all of them and emptied the Trash. Then, back in iTunes Preferences, I did another Delete Backup. Quitting and restarting iTunes that time confirmed they were gone.

     

    Then, and only then, was I able to do a complete backup and sync of my iPhone via iTunes on \my Mac without that blasted not enough space error.

  • by RodMcK,

    RodMcK RodMcK Jan 12, 2016 6:11 PM in response to theballoongirl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 12, 2016 6:11 PM in response to theballoongirl

    In Addition to "Turning Off" - Find my iPhone I did a Hard Reboot of my iPhone & Re-Started my PC Computer & it worked Perfect!  Thanks for the Tip... It Saved me a Huge Amount of Time!

  • by Jonny_mac_Darwin,

    Jonny_mac_Darwin Jonny_mac_Darwin May 30, 2016 1:18 AM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 30, 2016 1:18 AM in response to allansasu

    I have just had this problem.

     

    Mine is a work phone that is automatically linked to our work server. So of course i would not be able to back up 100Tb of data.

     

    To fix i put the phone in Flight mode: Restarted the phone: and then backed up.

     

    Worked a treat.

  • by MearaMay,

    MearaMay MearaMay Jun 10, 2016 7:57 AM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 10, 2016 7:57 AM in response to allansasu

    I just followed bsomer's steps as well as the additional tips from others. Still no use, still getting the storage on computer error. We just got 2 new 5SE phones. I even tried to back up the old deactivated phones. Tried other computers. Tried icloud (that one just says "cannot complete backup"). So now I can't back up in any form on any phone or computer. I've been at this for two days.

  • by fredaspereira,

    fredaspereira fredaspereira Jul 28, 2016 8:35 PM in response to MearaMay
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 28, 2016 8:35 PM in response to MearaMay

    Me too. Frustrating. I have booked a call from Apple support as my last resort, but I am not optimistic about it. Now I am considering the possibility that I will have to restart my iPhone as new, and start everything from scratch again. Frustrated.

  • by ianh77,

    ianh77 ianh77 Aug 13, 2016 2:38 AM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 13, 2016 2:38 AM in response to allansasu

    I see this an old post .. but in case anyone has the same issue as I did ! I found the solution.

     

    The "Not enough space" was incorrect error. There was a corrupt file in the backup directory. I found this out by copying the backup directory (Which is in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ on a mac). The copy failed on a particular file saying it couldn't be read or written.

     

    I removed the file and copied the same name file from an earlier back up into the backup directory and it worked !! Huge relief as I had reset my phone !!!

     

    The incorrect error is obviously as the developer only expected that a file write error could only be disc space !

  • by Minok,

    Minok Minok Aug 29, 2016 4:02 PM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 29, 2016 4:02 PM in response to allansasu

    Did anyone ever find a solution to this, because this STILL exists as a problem on an iPhone 6Plus in the year 2016, trying to back up to iTunes under Windows 7.  The dialog box from iTunes is: "iTunes could not back up the iPhone "<phone name>" because there is not enough free space on the computer to save the backup.".  The iPhone reports (via settings - general - usage) that I have 46GB of data stored on the phone.  The computer has 316 GB of free space on the c: drive.  I know I got that poor American education but I know 46 is MUCH LESS than 316, so there is plenty of room.  (and before anyone chimes in with use WiFi backup, iCloud what-have-you, this is a corporate environment where I must backup via the wire to the computer and store the backup locally.)

     

    FYI: on Windows 7/8/10/etc the file is in C:\users\<userid>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup


    There was a big hairy named folder with 4 GB of stuff in it. Delete that folder inside the  "MobileSync\Backup" folder.

    Then asked iTunes to try another "Backup"...

    That backup succeeded.

     

    My guess, something about how iTunes tracks a phone's identity to its backup data on the file system, combined with the poor iTunes interpretation of whatever error is actually getting reported... is at fault.

  • by Pirho,

    Pirho Pirho Sep 3, 2016 4:40 PM in response to allansasu
    Level 1 (16 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 3, 2016 4:40 PM in response to allansasu

    I'm not sure, if you found the answer, but after my Mac crashed attempting to update to the beta version of Sierra, I was lucky enough to pull off my profile from the hard drive.  I found after a clean install of El Capitan, I would get the same error trying to backup my IPhone 6s Plus.  Apple support was stumped, the console logs shows ITunes error -30 and nothing worked.  It wasn't until I pulled the old backup from the older profile, and restored it to that backup location, that I was able to then fully backup my phone again to Itunes.  If you have a backup copy from time machine or where ever, I suggest you give that a shot, and see what happens.

  • by SRoys,

    SRoys SRoys Sep 4, 2016 11:47 PM in response to Minok
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 4, 2016 11:47 PM in response to Minok

    Note that to find Minok's suggested folder, it may be necessary to "show hidden folder/files".  This was the case for me using Win10.

     

    Tremendous thanks for advice to delete the prior backup file manually.  Nothing else would let iTunes proceed with saving all the data and apps on the 5s for transfer to an SE.

     

    Thanks

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