My iCloud is not backing up the photos

Question

Level 1

12 points

My iCloud is not backing up the photos

Hi Support team,

For your information, I have purchased the 50gb of iCloud storage and used only 19.2gb. Few days ago, when I opened the photos' library, a message prompted saying that i have not backing up my library since 2 weeks ago. In my setting, I already on everything for the back up, however, when i logged in to my iCloud, it seems like my last back up for the photos was on 7th November 2018. I even just did the back up. Please advise and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you,

Faezah

iPhone SE, iOS 12.1

Posted on Nov 21, 2018 7:34 AM

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Answer 1

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Nov 23, 2018 6:36 AM in response to fae.true

Hello, fae.true!

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities, it's great to have you here. I understand that you had some questions about your iCloud account and that you were wanting to make sure your photos and data are backed up properly. I use iCloud for the exact same thing, so I understand how important it is that your data is secure.

With regard to backups, it does look like your iPhone is backing up as expected. These backups include a ton of content, which you can find listed out here: What does iCloud back up? . It's important to note that your photos are not included in the backed up data, just because they are already stored in iCloud when you enable iCloud Photos.

Circling back to the photos you're seeing on iCloud.com - have you taken photos more recently than November 7th that aren't showing up on iCloud.com ? For example, on your iPhone do you see newer photos in the Photos app that aren't syncing to the iCloud website? Those photos should definitely be syncing, it looks like your settings are in place for that to work. Be sure that you click 'Photos' and not Moments at the top of iCloud.com to view all of your photos together so you can compare them with what you see on the iPhone.

I hope this information is helpful.

Best regards.

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Answer 2

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Nov 26, 2018 6:36 AM in response to fae.true

Hi, fae.true,

How many photos do you have on your iPhone currently? It's very possible that the number of photos you have is large. I see at least 4,000+ in one of the screenshots above but since those aren't syncing fully, it's possible that there are more. If you have a large number of photos, it is likely that the amount of storage required to back them up is more than you have available in that remaining 30 GB. Not all photos are the same size, but as a point of reference, I personally store around 9,000 photos in iCloud and it is consuming 91 GB.

One option would be to test this by upgrading to the 200GB storage plan (or larger, depending on your preference). In the United States, this would be $2 more than the 50 GB plan. However, you can view a full list of prices and available sizes in your region right here: iCloud storage plans and pricing

Hopefully this sheds some light on what might be going on.

Cheers.

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Answer 3

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Nov 26, 2018 6:23 PM in response to fae.true

Hi, fae.true,

It doesn't seem that an extra hundred or so photos would account for the additional space, that's correct. I see that you have airplane mode enabled as well as Low Power Mode. I would recommend disabling Airplane Mode as well as Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode specifically disables iCloud Photo Library from updating or doing any processing in the background, in addition to a number of other features that it disables.

Once you disable both of this features, I would allow your iPhone to test for some time and see if this helps explain what's going on.

Thanks!

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Answer 4

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Nov 25, 2018 9:09 PM in response to fae.true

See these articles If iCloud Backup couldn’t be completed or you can’t restore - Apple Support

Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support

What happens when I go over my iCloud storage limit?

If you exceed your iCloud storage limit, photos and videos won't upload to iCloud and your library won’t stay up to date across your devices. To continue using iCloud Photos, upgrade your storage plan or reduce the amount of storage that you're using.

Reduce the storage for iCloud Photos by deleting photos and videos that you don't want to keep from your iOS devices or on iCloud.com. Your device will immediately remove any photos and videos that you delete and they won't be available for recovery in your Recently Deleted album.

If you're out of storage, your devices won't back up to iCloud, and new photos, videos, documents, and your information won't stay up to date.

So , reduce the the iCloud storage space see this article Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support

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Answer 5

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Nov 25, 2018 9:46 PM in response to fae.true

Even the iPhone is connected to the network check some settings Connect to Wi-Fi on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won’t connect to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support

You can turn off and then again turn on the device .

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Answer 6

fae.true Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 25, 2018 6:24 PM in response to Teddy_B

Hi Jameson,

Thank you for your reply.

Please advise what do you mean by my iPhone is backing up as expected? In the list of the back up, it mentioned photos, videos etc. However, my photos are not backing up properly. This morning when I opened my photo gallery, that message that I have mentioned before that I have not updated the icloud photos (as per attached). As you can see from the pictures that I have sent earlier, I just back up my iPhone. If the photos were sync properly, that message wont be popping up, right? Please note that I am on WiFi & mobile data for almost 24/7 a day.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards,

Faezah

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Answer 7

fae.true Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 25, 2018 9:35 PM in response to tygb

Hi Tygb,

As per my previous message, I have mentioned that i have purchased 50gb and used only 19.2gb. You can see from the 1st message and I have attached some pictures for your reference. Please advise.

Thanks,

Faezah

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Answer 8

fae.true Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 26, 2018 6:50 AM in response to jeremy_v

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your reply.

For your information, currently on my phone, I have 4,555 photos and 256 videos which is not much difference from the one on iCloud. It won’t be possible a +/- 100 photos will consume more than 30gb where on iCloud, already saved 4,4++ photos with the whole usage only 19gb of the storage right? And I experienced before bought the additional storage, if I don’t have enough space, the pop up message will be “not enough space”, not the one that I sent before, which is telling me that I did update the photo iCloud. Please advise.

Best regard,

Faezah

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Answer 9

fae.true Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 25, 2018 10:28 PM in response to tygb

Please note that I restart my iPhone on daily basis and my phone doesnt have any problem with the WiFi connection as I can browse the internet like normal. Please advise.

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