Q: my iphone 5 won't back up.

jilerooo2 wrote:

 

when i plug my iphone 5 into the charger, it should back up, but it's not, because, rather than overwriting previous backups, it is saving each backup as a separate version, and has eaten all of my storage space. I want to set it up so that each successive backup overwrites the previous. can i do that? and how can i do that. i'm kind of tech stupid, so the directions have to be understandable for a 5 year old. thanks!

When you backup to icloud it keeps the 3 latest backups.  You would need to manually delete the backups you don't want. 

iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview

When you backup to iTunes it overwrites the last backup and keeps only one backup.

About backups for iOS devices - Apple Support

Hi

To delete iCloud backups of your iPhone and to manage your iCloud storage (more generally), follow the steps here:

• iCloud: Remove an iOS device backup from iCloud
• Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support