Can't backup to iCloud after iOS 8.1 update?

I just got off the phone with Apple and was told that the iPhone (we have 2 iPhone 6) need to be plugged in and charging and the screen needs to be asleep and it should then automatically back up to iCloud. She has 4 phones in her family (yikes!) and said she sets them up all that way at night and in the AM they're backed up. We shall see, I'll test it tonight and see what happens.

@jennymacs,

That is the problem, not the fix! The problem we are having is that It can't backup automatically or manually until you delete the backups from the cloud. Although Apple support has good intentions, they basically just regurgitated the instructions for auto-backup and they are unaware of the real issue and solution. The problem appears to be some sort of corruption or bug with backups in the cloud when going from 8.x to 8.1. For whatever reason, if you have a 8.0 backup in the cloud, 8.1 can't seem to backup until you delete the old 8.0 backup.

My phone and other peoples phones were plugged in at night, asleep, connected to WiFi and not auto-backing-up for several days. My phone goes through this process every night and only started working after I did the following steps.

I had to completely delete all my backups from iCloud. If you have multiple devices backing up to the cloud you might need to delete them all, not sure though.

Here is how I fixed the problem on my iPhone.

1. Manual backup your phone to iTunes if you are concerned.
2. Delete your old backup from iCloud
   1. Go to: Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage > (select device under "BACKUPS" that is giving you problems) > scroll to bottom and "Delete Backup"
   2. Your iCloud should report more storage now, example 20GB available of 20GB etc.
3. Force a backup to iCloud

   Settings > iCloud > Backup (needs to be turned on after deletion) > enable iCloud Backup > Back Up Now

My phone stopped reporting that storage was full after I performed these steps.

Hope it helps.

Thank you so much. Yeah, I could tell the gal was reading from a script. Wish they would acknowledge the problem and better yet, fix it! Thanks again - I'll give it a try after some more java. Take care!

Hi,

Based on the suggestions on this thread (which seems to have worked for some people) I tried deleting all my previous backups (from ios 8) of iPhone and iPad. Also kept the iCloud photo sync off. With this I tried both manual backup and then keeping the phone on charging connected to wifi and locked. But none of the option seems to help. I can see the available storage as full 5 GB and the next back up size as just 120 MB.

Can't understand what could be the problem here? Incidentally my wife who is using a different apple ID seems to be facing a similar problem with ios 8.1

Any other suggestion or pointers?

Thanks

Didn't work for me either unfortunately. I don't have any storage problems at all. The phones just won't back up automatically. I'll try to get hold of a senior advisor at AC. They even had engineers working on an issue why I couldn't log into the communities and they figured it out. I'll call tomorrow. Thanks anyway.

This is a temporary solution for me. Upgraded to IOS 8. Have not yet downloaded the newest version. But noted no iCloud back ups since I upgraded early Nov. Tried several times.. on wifi, plugged in etc.. "estimating time". Turned OFF iCloud drive, back up started immediately functioning and is almost complete as I write. I obviously want to use iCloud drive, and will have to figure out how to keep it on and still get back ups done, so this is a temporary fix unless the bug has been fixed in the new update.

This is all very odd. It's saying that my last backup (on 12/12/14) was 1.3GB, but in order to do my next backup I need 4.8GB, and the photo library is 4.7GB alone! I've not taken 3.5GB worth of photos in that time! I did record a few minutes of video, but nothing like that much!

I have try to back up my phone and I follow the steps. However I upgrade my iPhone with iCloud drive and I can't not even find my own device after I delete the back up. Please help

I cannot say thanks enough that this was posted. I've had this issue on my ipad since October - when the updated was released. I had 250 photos on my ipad and it was being read as 5.6G in icloud. I made an appointment and went to Apple Store, Minnetonka, MN Monday, spent over an hour there and no solution. Made another appointment the following day, invested another hour, no solution. Called Apple today, spent 1.5 hours on the phone first with Jasmin, then Kelly. Both of them promised to call me back within 15 minutes. Jasmin never called at all. Kelly called two hours after the promised call back time. Long story short, I followed the directions posted here and now am showing total icloud storage usage to be 3.5G. So I have now cancelled the 20G I was forced to buy at the Apple store on Monday. I've had an ipad for one year and other than that use no Apple products. This was my first experience with "Apple Support" and I am stunned, absolutely left stunned at their failure to provide any help whatsoever. Techs are not as educated as this forum is. So I thank you for providing a solution. If you've got any answer as to why both my mom's and my ipads have suddenly accelerated the battery usage at an alarming rate, I'm all ears. I've asked Apple and I'm sure will get no answer.

If you voice your concerns about update issues at apple.com/feedback, you can choose your phone and report complaints. Apple reads these and it helps them find out about emerging issues as well as what customers would like in the next update. I have commented there many times.

I have backed up to my computer and deleted previous back up, still won't back up at night!

Any other suggestions? Apple?