What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support (2024)

FAQs

What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support? ›

iCloud Backup includes app data for the apps that you've downloaded on your device. This includes data for third-party social media apps, games, and messaging apps, as well as apps from Apple that don't sync with iCloud.

Any data on your device that isn't synced regularly will be stored in your iCloud Backup. With Backup turned on, iCloud takes periodic snapshots of this data to make sure it's easy to restore any time you get a new device. Between syncing and backing up, all of your data is kept safe in the cloud.

Prioritize backing up native Apple apps that don't have data stored online. An example of this would be your Photos app, Messages app, or Notes app. This way, if your data is lost, you'd still have your photos, videos, notes, and text messages. Prioritize syncing any third-party messaging apps that you often use.

When you set up iCloud for Messages, your messages are stored in the cloud, with only the most recently accessed Messages stored locally on your device. You can see them on any device that's set up for iCloud and Messages, including your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.

In other words, the backup only includes data and settings saved on your iOS device, not data already saved in iCloud. Read Also: 6 Common Methods to Access iCloud from Android Phones/Tablets. [4 Tips] How to Print Text Messages from iPhone for Court.

iCloud backups include all the information and settings stored on your device that don't already sync to iCloud. iCloud backups don't include: Data that you already store and sync in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, and Notes. Photos, if you turned on iCloud Photos.

Storage limitations can be a real pain point. Performance issues are another common complaint. iCloud can be slow at times, especially when syncing large files or dealing with a lot of devices. It's also true that the web interface isn't the prettiest or most user-friendly.

iCloud Backup includes app data for the apps that you've downloaded on your device. This includes data for third-party social media apps, games, and messaging apps, as well as apps from Apple that don't sync with iCloud.

From your device's Settings app, navigate to General and select iPhone storage. At the top of the screen, you'll see a bar chart of what types of files are filling your available iCloud space. For most Apple users, backups, photos, and messages can take up half of your storage space or more.

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 solution is to use a different cloud server, like Dropbox or OneDrive, to back up the photos.

Do deleted text messages show up on iCloud? ›

How to recover iPhone messages using iCloud backup. If you've set up your iPhone to save your data on the Apple® iCloud® storage system, you may be able to recover deleted iPhone messages from a recent backup.

Log into iCloud.com using your Apple ID and password. Click on Text Messages. (If this option isn't visible, your messages haven't been backed up here—so you might as well skip to the next method.) Search the messages to find the ones you need.

When you delete a photo or video from Photos on iCloud.com, it's also deleted from all your devices that have iCloud Photos turned on. If you change your mind, you have 30 days to recover it before it's permanently deleted.

It is important to back up apps that contain important data or settings that you don't want to lose. Typically, you should consider backing up apps that store personal information, such as contacts, calendars, notes, messages, photos, and documents.

So, why is my iCloud backup so big? It is caused by a deliberate engineering trade-off. Meanwhile, large files might take up a lot of space. To handle this, you can backup large photos and videos from iCloud to another cloud.

After reading the overview part, you will know that iCloud Backup backs up almost everything on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, including photos and videos. Whereas iCloud Photos is limited to backup photos and videos rather than apps, messages, etc. So, iCloud Backup can backup more data than iCloud Photos.

What happens if I turn iCloud Drive off on Mac. If you decide not to keep a copy when turning off iCloud Drive on your Mac, any files that were being synced to iCloud Drive will be removed. This includes files stored in the Desktop & Documents folders if you have enabled that option in iCloud Drive.

Data Loss: Deleting a backup erases the copy of stored backup data and eliminates any chance of its recovery.

You can use iCloud storage to keep photos, videos, device backups, and more, and keep this content up-to-date across your devices. When your iCloud storage is almost full or full, you might get an alert and you can buy more.

You can view and share your entire photo library from any Apple device with iCloud Photo Library, providing you peace of mind that your photos are securely stored in the cloud. Optimizing iPhone storage allows you to make space on your device without compromising access to your photos, which is another advantage.