NOT Enough free space on this computer to back up iPhone. How can this be true when i have 194 GB available on the computer and my entire iPhone has only 118 GB used?

hi every one,

i also had the same issue when restoring my 40 gb iphone backup to different device , and found out the solution for this ad ow it work for me ,i did some digging regarding the itune's backup and restore location's.please note that i did this from windows 8 pc.

When backup is triggered connecting the device to Itues it will use a location usually

\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

with some encrypted file name

when restoring the data from the itunes, what will happen is itunes will extract the backup library with a time stamp to the end of the backup library name as i have underlined and mentioned in star.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT

When we try to restore the backup multiple times what will happen is itunes will extract multiple libraries with time stamp at the end of the library name -THIS WILL CONSUME MORE SPACE AND IT WILL NOT BE REGAIN THOUGH WE REBOOT OR CLEAN THE TEMP FILES IN THE OPERATING SYSTEM OR ITUNES WILL NOT RECLAIM IT THOUGH THE RESTORE JOB FAILED.

WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS

MANUALLY DELETE THE LIBRARY WITH THE TIME STAMP. THIS WILL RECLAIM THE SPACE.

I HAVE TESTED THIS SERVERAL TIMES .

IT WILL WORK AS CHARM ..

TRY IT AND PING ME AS WELL

Same problem here. I'm worried this means Apple demands 256 GB to back up ANY 256 GB device. Which is convenient, because they don't make too many macs that have that much storage. So then it becomes your fault for not switching to iCloud

Tell me I'm wrong.

Perhaps this article will help:

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

where it says:

If an alert says there's not enough disk space

If a message says there’s not enough disk space when you try to back up your device, free some space on your Mac or PC. If you still see a disk-space error after you free enough space, contact Apple Support.

This error can also mean that you have corruption in the file system on your computer, or that the directory where iTunes stores the backup is not "owned" by your computer's user ID or is read-only. See here for the locations of the backups: Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

I am encountering the same issue. Although I was able to backup my iPhone 7 Plus, when I go to restore to my iPhone 8 Plus, I get the same error/message. I know I have sufficient storage, and I have gone back and deleted old backups.

Please help.

That has been my experience up to now; my first backup only took 30-something. But I just backed up another apple device no problem.

I talked to Support like the troubleshooting page said, and the Apple Support rep said my options were deleting as much as I can until it fits, or contacting Apple so they can (heh) install more storage for me.

So if you're right and it's a permissions issue, I could delete most of my home folder and never fix it. Thanks again Apple!

Does your phone have the same (or higher) storage capacity as the computer that you're trying to back up from?

Tried to back up a 256GB iPhone 8 (had used 36GB) to a 256GB MacBook Pro (with 110GB free) and got the same issue. Spoke with Apple Support who confirmed that using iTunes may cause the program to assume that you need equal to, or greater than, the total storage capacity of the device being backed up to work.

Backups to iCloud direct from the phone will work, and don't require massive amounts of storage space.

Read the other posts in the message thread. If none of that info helps post back and describe what you tried and the results.

Thanks for posting your experience. While it works, there is an easier way to delete old backups. In iTunes go to Preferences in the menu, Devices page. You will see all of your backups. You can highlight one or more of them and delete them.

I have this problem too, I was switching from iphone 6 64 gb to 8 plus 256 gb. I sucessfully backed my iphone 6 up but now i couldnt back my 8 plus up. iTunes says i dont have enough free space but Im actually having 80 gbs free space! I deleted all the back ups through the itunes preference still didnt work...

j123456 wrote:

Tell me I'm wrong.

You’re wrong.

The backup of my 256 GB iPhone requires about 4 GB. Backups do not include music, apps, or any data synced to iCloud. They only include settings and app data. Don’t even include photos unless iCloud Photos is off.

if you have enough storage and you get this error there is a different issue, usually a permissions conflict.

Did you manage to do a full back up? mines still not working, no one seems to be able to help here.

I have 2 tb..... !!