How To Backup iPhone to Mac, iCloud, and Windows

Don't risk losing your data - backup regularly and without delay

Backup iPhone to Mac 5

You can trust PC GuideOur team of experts use a combination of independent consumer research, in-depth testing where appropriate – which will be flagged as such, and market analysis when recommending products, software and services. Find out how we test here.

Last Updated on

There are plenty of reasons to learn how to backup an iPhone to Mac, iCloud, and Windows and to keep your data safe. Especially if you ever need to factory reset your iPhone. Instead of losing pictures, videos, files, messages, and emails, a simple back up will save so much stress. So we’ll show you how.

How To Backup iPhone to Mac, iCloud, and Windows

Rather than assume which method you’re going to be using to backup your iPhone, we’re going to go over how to backup your iPhone to Mac, iCloud, and Windows. Just make sure you have your iPhone USB cable handy and we’ll worry about the rest. Here we go:

1

Back up iPhone to Mac

Step

1

Connect iPhone

Connect your iPhone via USB to your Mac and open Finder, where you’ll find your iPhone on the sidebar.

Step

2

Back up

Click on your iPhone on the side-bar, then go for ‘Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac’.

Click ‘Back Up Now’.

You can also encrypt your backup by protecting it with a password by selecting ‘Encrypt local backup’.

2

Backup iPhone to iCloud

Step

1

Find iCloud Backup

On your iPhone, go to Settings > (Your Name) > iCloud > iCloud Backup and toggle on iCloud Backup.

You may have the option to create an iPhone backup with your network carrier if you are on a 5G plan, you can also toggle this on or off in the same menu.

 

Step

2

Finish back up

To view your iCloud backups, go to Settings > (Your Name) > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.

Just select a backup then pick ‘Delete Backup’. 

Turning on iCloud backup will backup photos and contacts too.

3

Backup iPhone to Windows

Step

1

Open iTunes

After downloading iTunes for Windows and plugging in your iPhone with a USB cable, load up iTunes.

Step

Finish backup

The iPhone button should appear near the top-left corner of the iTunes window.

Click summary, followed by ‘Back Up Now’.

To view backups stored on Windows, go to Edit > Preferences > Devices.

Like backing up on Mac, you can encrypt your backup with a password by selecting ‘Encrypt local backup’

Final thoughts

There we have it. Now you can backup your iPhone to Mac, iCloud, and Windows. It’s best to do this regularly so you can ensure you have peace of mind that all of your data can be restored.

For much more iPhone, iOS, and Windows news, How-Tos, and much more, make sure to bookmark and check out our iOS, Windows 10, Windows 11, and News hubs.

Kevin is the Editor of PC Guide. He has a broad interest and enthusiasm for consumer electronics, PCs and all things consumer tech - and more than 15 years experience in tech journalism.