Can't back up iphone 5 (tried everything?)

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Level 1

4 points

Can't back up iphone 5 (tried everything?)

I can't seem to back up my Iphone 5c on icloud. Since july I've been getting warnings that my Iphone wasn't getting backed up. I tried to do a manual back up today through various means (via itunes, etc) but unsuccessfully.

I have plenty of storage in my icloud, so that isn't it. I've also tried a computer back up, equally unsuccessfully.

I read online that the old back-up file could be corrupt so I erased it, hoping it would back up but it hasn't. (so I regret that move, as I now have no back ups at all) I've also tried turning off all the apps (including photos) to be backed up, still no luck.

I am mostly interested in backing up my SMS files. Any suggestions? Thank you.

iPhone 5c, iOS 8.4, null

Posted on Aug 9, 2015 7:13 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 9, 2015 7:15 AM in response to Monstarika

Welcome to the Apple Community.

You might try a forced shutdown to begin with, hold down the top and home buttons together until the device shuts down, then restart it.

First check that your device is correctly connected to the wifi/internet (settings > wifi)

If your back up continually fails, you might try turning off back up on your mobile device (settings > iCloud > storage & backup) and then deleting the backup file from iCloud by swiping the backup file on the mobile device (settings > iCloud > storage & backup > manage…) and then turning back up on again.

If this doesn't help, try turning off some items for back up in a pattern to try to establish if your problem is being caused by specific data on your device.

Being able to back up to the cloud can be very useful, especially if you don't have access to a computer or have infrequent access to one, however unless you specifically need to use iCloud for back up, you will find backing up to iTunes significantly more convenient and possibly more reliable.

More about iCloud v iTunes Back Up

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Answer 2

Monstarika Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2015 7:22 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Hello and thank you for your answer. I've already tried everything you describe, unfortunately unsuccessfully.

I am not very familiar with itunes. Does it also back up sms files and how can I verify that this back-up is being done successfully?

Thank you,

ETA. As I understand it, sync does NOT back up SMS files. The way to back them up via itunes is the "back up on this computer" option, which I've also tried unsuccessfully.

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Answer 3

Monstarika Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 9, 2015 11:38 AM in response to Monstarika

Update: I have tried backing it up with CopyTrans which tells me:

To be clear, I don't want to use CopyTrans to do the back up, but I thought this might give more insight into what's going on...

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Aug 9, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Monstarika

Backup Troubleshooting

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Answer 5

Monstarika Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2015 4:42 PM in response to Monstarika

Just a small update. Three hours on the phone with Apple didn't solve the issue. I was told to go the the apple store but fortunately the new iOS update fixed the problem without having to take it to the store.

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