how to fix backup was corrupt or not compatible?

Question

how to fix backup was corrupt or not compatible?

Went to apple yesterday because my phone "might" have some software issue, staff help me to extract and reinstall the iOS system to IOS 10.2

went home and couldn't restore my back up ! UGH !!!

it said backup was corrupt or not compatible, called up the customer service, they guided me to copy my mobile sync back up onto an external drive and try to restore my phone with the other computer.

since I don't have another computer, went back to apple store, it failed.....

other than restore my phone from the cloud , what other option do I have ?

I checked on the forum , and this issue is pretty common since last year.

I even checked out the third party repair software , but skeptical about it....

what other option I have ?

iPhone SE

Posted on Jan 7, 2017 1:13 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

frose.osfs

Level 1

20 points

Sep 18, 2017 6:35 PM in response to Crymizur

Not sure what you were doing before you had this problem, but I found this question due to buying a new iPhone. When I went to "restore backup" (which I had just created an hour before I got the new phone) I got the "corrupt or not compatible" message.

What I discovered, is that my new iPhone had an older iOS than the one I made the backup from. Once I updated my new phone to the latest iOS the restore from backup worked fine!

Hope this helps.

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Answer 2

Oct 1, 2017 8:51 PM in response to frose.osfs

This did the trick. My old phone was running 11.0.1, the new phone out of the box had 11.0. Had to reset to factory, set up as new phone, update the OS, reset as factory again, choose "restore from backup", choose iTunes, and away we went. Wasted half an hour of my life, but that's what I get for obsessively updating my old phone when I knew I was buying a new one this week...

Thank you!

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Answer 3

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,775 points

Jan 7, 2017 2:59 AM in response to judy's trouble

Hi

As iTunes reports that the backup is corrupt or incompatible, I'm afraid that you will not be able to use that backup.

If you also have an iCloud backup, I suggest that you restore from that instead:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

More information:

If your iTunes backup couldn't be completed or you can't restore from a backup - Apple Support

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Answer 4

Jan 7, 2017 5:53 AM in response to Jonathan UK

After dealing with Apple for 2 days. They suggested me to restore back up from icloud. ( which my last back up was last year) and I had over 100 apps + junks 🙂

I just tried out the third party program decipher tools, and it Works !!! They fixed my back up, I don't understand how come other can fix it but apple can't ......

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Answer 5

Jan 8, 2017 2:41 AM in response to judy's trouble

updates : the thrid party program didn't work.....

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Answer 6

Crymizur

Level 1

4 points

Sep 18, 2017 2:14 AM in response to judy's trouble

hey judy any luck since ur last post....?? ive got the exact same troubles....?? cheers

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Answer 7

Oct 17, 2017 11:07 AM in response to Stephen Fleming

Thanks from one OCD user to another! Updating the NEW phone now hoping (knowing) this is the problem!

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Answer 8

auntypeg

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2017 1:13 PM in response to rrleninger

I'm hoping this is the issue too. Brand new out of box iPhone 8 plus and a backup from 40 minutes ago. iTunes saying can't restore... Ugh! Updating brand new out of box iPhone 8 now. SIGH.

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Answer 9

RJ Chi

Level 1

4 points

Nov 3, 2017 10:24 AM in response to frose.osfs

this does indeed work. i had the same problem. Updating the iphone x first to the latest ios version and then restoring your "corrupted or incompatible" backup works. 🙂

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Answer 10

Jan 15, 2018 3:58 PM in response to frose.osfs

Thank you thank you thank you!!! Once both IOS versions were the same, the new device restored from the old one with no issues!

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