Why are my iPhone backups so large?

iCloud backup size on iCloud is 3.5 GB for the same iPhone same date that is because iCloud backup doesn't include information that are synced and stored in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Voice Memos, shared photos, iCloud Photos*, Health data, call history, and files you store in iCloud ...

How do I reduce the size of my iPhone backup?

How do I shrink my backup size?

How big are iPhone backups?

For example, a backup size of 28.03 GB used space on iPhone will have a Backup Size of 5.26GB on iTunes/Finder and iCloud backup size will be 3.5 GB because everything that is synced to iCloud is not backed up on iCloud. Please see the GIF below on how to read the backups correctly.

Should I delete backups on iPhone?

Therefore, we strongly recommend backing up the iPhone to your computer or external hard drive, or extracting some important data from iCloud backup, and only then delete it.

Why is my iCloud backup taking up so much storage?

Backups of your devices are often the culprits behind a full iCloud storage space. It's entirely possible you had your old iPhone set to upload backups to the cloud automatically, and then never removed those files.

Will deleting a backup delete everything?

If you delete iCloud backup, your photos, messages, and other app data will be permanently removed. Your music files, movies, and the apps themselves are not in iCloud backups.

Are iPhone backups compressed?

Backup size

Backups are always substantially smaller than reported disk usage on your device, mainly because they do not contain: The Operating system (iOS) Apps - since iOS 9 backups include user data of apps, but not the apps themselves. They are re-downloaded from the App Store when restoring a backup.

Does a backup of iPhone include photos?

An iTunes backup will save nearly everything on the iPhone including pictures on the camera roll, just as long as the photos were not downloaded from the computer but taken directly from the iPhone's camera. For more info on backups, see About backups for iOS devices.

Why does my iPhone have 2 backups?

When the iPhone is backed up, iPhone software looks for any different files in your iPhone's File Sharing section. When it finds different data, it backs that data up separately, which can cause there to be multiple backups.

How do I free up iCloud storage on my iPhone?

Why is my iCloud storage full after deleting photos?

But sometimes, you may notice that your iCloud is still full even though you delete some data. It is probably because iCloud still holds backups of your old iOS devices. To delete those files, you can tap “Backups” when you enter iCloud storage on Settings.

What happens if I disable messages in iCloud?

If you turn off Messages in iCloud on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, your message history will be included in a separate iCloud backup, as we mentioned above. You can choose to turn Messages in iCloud off for just one device, or for all your devices.

How large is an iCloud backup?

When you set up iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of storage. You can use that storage space for your iCloud backups, to keep your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photos, and your documents up to date in iCloud Drive.

Do deleted messages go to iCloud?

You can retrieve deleted text messages on your iPhone by restoring it with an iCloud backup. If you save backups to your computer, you can use iTunes or Finder to recover your iPhone's texts. If all else fails, reach out to your cellular carrier — they may restore deleted messages for you.

Does iCloud save text messages?

Apple's Messages in iCloud service can be used to backup all your text messages to the cloud so that you can download them to your new iPhone – and keep them in sync across all your Apple devices, so that every message and reply can be viewed on every device.

How many iPhone backups does iCloud keep?

Generally speaking, the iCloud on your device saves only the recent backup because it is an incremental backup. That's to say it can keep only one backup at a time.

How much free space do you need to backup iPhone?

Every iCloud account gets 5GB for free. But most people have more than 5GB of data on their phone -- or they have more than one iOS device that needs backing up. Hence, 5GB isn't enough space. And maybe one day Apple will change its free tier to give us more data and make backing up easier for everyone.

Does iCloud backup compress files?

No. The operating system itself is not backed up. While app data is backed up, the apps are not.

Do I need Backups on iCloud?

Many apps sync their data online like this anyway, so the iCloud backup isn't completely essential. It depends on the individual app. To customize the individual apps that back up on another device, you'll have to visit this screen on the other device.

Will I lose my contacts if I delete iCloud backup?

This includes for example photos in iCloud Photos, files in iCloud Drive, and Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Health Data and Voice Memos in iCloud. Deleting a backup from iCloud will not delete the data on your iPhone.

Can I delete photos from my iPhone but keep them on iCloud?

You can delete photos from your iPhone but keep them in iCloud by turning off iCloud photo sharing. You can also use a different iCloud account to keep the previous account's iCloud photos safe. Another workaround is to use a different cloud server to back up the photos before deleting them on your iPhone.

Why are my texts taking up so much storage?

Many people simply let the conversations accumulate for months and years without deleting any messages. This is very common. And with messages kept forever, the storage requirements for those messages will grow over time. However, there is a setting that will allow your device to automatically delete old messages.

How long do text messages stay on iCloud?

All replies. iMessages are stored up to 30 days in iCloud storage. SMS text messages are only stored in iCloud when the "SMS Forwarding" option is enabled on your iOS device. For those not stored in iCloud, you would need to contact your cellular provider to understand their text messaging retention policy.