Cannot restore because the backup was corrupt or not compatible

I really cannot believe that you would just give a canned answer without even trying to be helpful. The most typical case for this error is when the backup was taken from a device which has a higher version of iOS than the one on the ne device being restored to. A simple iOS update usually takes care of the problem.

If you want to be helpful, try being helpful. Don't give canned responses

Thanks linfaTN, you saved me lots of anguish. Not sure which is worse, Apple's asinine reply ("too bad, you're stuck" when the solution is so simple) or Verizon shipping out phones with older operating systems, and then putting their own (wholly incorrect I might add) instructions on how to restore. Once you set up your replacement phone as a new phone and upgrade the operating system, you can then erase all settings and content, restoring it to the factory state (which does retain the new operating system however), and then restore from your backup with no issues.

BTW, I use my iTunes for local backups on my computer (don't like paying for cloud storage). I discovered that if you have your old phone plugged into iTunes, and you go to set up your new phone, the two phones magically go into this cool mode where the new phone displays a holographic image and you just point your old phone's camera to this image, and they bond and everything is transferred automatically.

So wicked cool stuff from the Apple engineers, and truly dismal effort on the part of Apple support.

I had this same issue today when I brought my new iPhone 8 back home. I traded in my 6s, so they did a factory re-set before I left the store and I kept my old phone there with them.

I backed up my iPhone 6s this morning, so I had the backup on my computer already. After installing the new iTunes and plugging in my new phone, I got the error listed above about the backup "being corrupt or not compatible with the new iPhone". Here are the steps that solved it for me:

On new iPhone:

-went through the setup manually on the iPhone as if i was setting it up for the first time.

-on the new home screen, I went to <<settings<<<general<<<<software update

-I updated and installed the new software on the iPhone itself.

After Installing New Software on New Iphone

-open Itunes (make sure to have the latest version)

-plug in new iPhone

-there will be an iPhone icon in the upper left (under the play/pause section)

-click on the icon to bring you to the next screen

-On the next screen under the "Summary" tab, you will see the "Backups" section

-in Backups under "Manually Backup and Restore" select "Restore Backup". This will prompt you to choose the backup you most recently did. I backed my phone up to my computer, not iCloud. But you will see the option of where you saved it last.

-Your phone will then automatically go into the restoration process.

Hope this helps!

I had the same problem.

- I updated the os on both the devices: iPhone 7 and X and still it

didn't work.

- I went into iTunes preferences and deleted all the backed up data from iPhone 7.

and then I backed it up again

Now I tried restoring the back up on iPhone X and it woked.

Kudos 😉 🙂

WOW!!! Thank you sooooooo much for this answer! I have spend countless hours and multiple trips to the Apple Store genius' trying to a) get my iPhone 7 to back up without errors, and b) then getting it to restore on my new iPhone X. THIS FIX WORKED instantly! Solution: have BOTH old and new iPhones on the same (current0 iOS, then backup old one on iTunes (iCloud wouldn't work) then restore on new iPhone. 🙂

I have this problem yesterday. Have tried to delete existing backup records but the problem still there. So I don’t think it’s corrupt but not compatible. And I found down that my old iphone has higher iOS than the new one. And I upgraded iOS for the new iphone, tried to restore again and it worked.

This seems to be a common problem. Two solutions that may work.

If your backup file is corrupt, you may need to delete it completely and use your old device to create a fresh backup/restore file. Do this by going to iTunes/preferences/devices. Find the backup that corresponds with your device and click the "delete backup" button. Then use iTunes to create a new backup. Try using the new backup to restore your new device.

Another possible problem could be that your new device may not be updated to the newest OS version—even right out of the box. Especially if you recently did a system update and then created a new backup with your old device. This new backup may be incompatible with your new device because it was loaded with an older OS at the factory. If this is the case, you will have to set up your new phone with as a "new phone" instead of loading restoring it. Then, update the new phone with the latest version of OS. After this is done, go to general/reset. Select "Erase all content and settings." After a few confirmation messages, your phone will completely reset with the new OS and start the setup process all over again. You should be able to use iTunes to restore from your old phones backup now.

Hi - I had the same issue going from the iPhone SE to a iPhone X. I have fixed the issue and the steps were similar but added a bit of difficulty due to the iPhone X being setup as a new phone after I got the error message.

My solution was as follows:

1) Backup my iPhone SE to iTunes so I had the most recent backup.

2) Update my iPhone X to the latest software patch (a new one had come out )

3) Do a factory reset (warning - you have to download a 2.5GB file - this takes a while on my bad ADSL link and I had to do it twice!!) I used this link to tell me how to do the factory reset (https://www.techjunkie.com/factory-reset-iphone-x/)

4) Set the phone up again (while plugged into your computer with itunes) and do the restore from your last backup of the iPhone SE

5) Breath a sigh of relief that you just did not spend the last 5 hours bricking your brand new iPhone X!!!

Hope this helps others.

I wanted to restore the backup from my iPhone 7 Plus to the iPhone X from iTunes on Mac

I received the above message.

Solution:

Replaced the USB lightning cable to the original that came in the box

Updated the iPhone X to the latest available software

Repeated restore attempt, success!

Yep. Apple needs to get on this. After buying the $1,000 iPhone X and even though it was shipped brand new to me directly from the factory in China, it showed up with an out of date iOS. So I basically had to set it up manually, then go into settings, check for an update and then update to the latest iOS. THEN, and only then, I cab go back and restore to get it to back up my phone. Not exactly a great customer experience.

Wow so glad I read this post. Did a software update on the new phone and it worked! My question is why doesn't Apple just say, "make sure the software of the new phone is the same as the phone that was backed up". SMH

I just had this same issue when trying to merge my info from my 6s to my new 8+. What was the issue? When I went to backup my old iPhone (which I manually do on my pc), there was an error about a SONG...which I ignored. After backing up my 6s, I proceeded to try and setup my 8+ from the 6s backup. I kept getting the same error message "could not restore because the backup was corrupt or not compatible". I made sure the iOS on both phones were the same, check. I deleted all of my previous backups from other phones, as well as the one I just did, check. I almost lost my mind, check. Then....I remembered that SONG that had given me an issue. I went into my 6s and DELETED it from my music library and then backed up my phone again. This time when I tried to restore my 8+ to the 6s backup....IT WORKED! I would have never guessed that would have been my issue, so the moral of this is to watch out for ANY error that is detected when trying to backup/restore/sync. I hope this helps someone else, just wanted to put it here for anyone else who was as confused as me! 😝

And Apple-I would love for you to call me (you have my number) as I am unable to get hold of anyone because you rely on me & this forum model where your customers do all the work, figure out the answers & provide your customer service for you for free. It impossible to contact anyone in support.

Additionally a photo appeared in photo showing an invoice owed for an ipad pro which I did not order - How is it possible a photo could be added to my gallery without ever having received an email, phone call or message. I am still unable to back-up my phone & have not been contacted by apple except to confirm my previous posts had been deleted as these were not convient for you have this feedback displayed, so are extremely fast at removing items that show you a negative way but nobody has bothered to help me with the issue I have.

Just to confirm-I am not backing up a new phone from an old one, simply trying to back-up as my weekly task. I have had the same phone which is a 7 & have backed up many times. Now the last back up has disappeared & I cannot back up this existing 2 year old phone due to the error. It’s not only the only throwing the error but telling me this phone has never been backed up.

I also do not care for the response such as we are only volunteers & I’m not listening to what I’m being told. Clearly you are not listening & if you are not up to the job should not be volunteering!