Can I not interrupt my initial iCloud backup?

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Level 1

16 points

Can I not interrupt my initial iCloud backup?

I am doing an initial backup (last one disappeared when my phone mysteriously showed iCloud backup switched to Off yesterday! ..another story) on my iphone 6S. It had been running for about 30 hours, and was a bit more than halfway done (according to the progress bar, even though it's been showing "14 more hours" for the last half day!).

Well, it had been slowly backing up until I left the house with the phone for an hour and came back. I came home and plugged the phone in, expecting the backup to resume from where it left off. NOPE! To my extreme dismay, it has begun all over again.

Is this normal? Do I really need to keep my phone at home, plugged in, and hope my wifi doesn't falter for the next three or more days while it completes the initial backup? I understand this is not an issue with incrementals, but is it with the initial backup?

Posted on Sep 24, 2017 5:55 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rysz

Level 8

44,455 points

Sep 24, 2017 6:34 PM in response to slobizman

Yes, it’s normal. Interrupted or incomplete backups are not saved, so they will start from the beginning, as there’s no way for iCloud to know what has changed in the meantime.

Backups shouldn’t take days to complete, unless youre on an incredibly slow connection. Try restarting your device and router. Also note that you can backup to your computer via iTunes.

Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

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Answer 2

slobizman Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 24, 2017 9:29 PM in response to Rysz

Good news, it finished.

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Answer 3

slobizman Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 24, 2017 7:53 PM in response to Rysz

I've actually heard many people say it can take a day or two. Regardless, my connection is the typical Spectrum cable connection, and it's running fast, so that's not the issue.

BUT, this new backup I started looks like it might be done in about 45 minutes from now (been running about two hours so far). But of course the estimation on backup is really whacky so I'll believe it when I see it. I'll let you know.

I think that Apple's backup servers could perhaps be very busy this weekend as people are making sure they are backed up before updating to IOS 11. That could be the issue.

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