If you have an Phone, iPad or iPod Touch you probably have tons of apps, photos, music and other files on your device(s).
Making regular backups will ensure that you’ll be able to easily restore all of those precious items if something should ever happen to your device.
You have several options when deciding how to back up your iOS device, but my preferred method by far is backing up to your iCloud account. If you’d like to use iCloud to store your backups as well, here’s how to do it:
1 – Ensure that your device has a full battery. If not, plug it into a charger.
2 – Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network and make sure it remains connected until the backup procedure has been completed.
3 – If your device is running iOS 8 or later, tap Settings>iCloud>Backup. If it’s running iOS 7 or earlier, tap Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup.
4 – Check to see if iCloud Backup is turned on. If it isn’t, toggle the On/Off switch to On.
5 – Tap Back Up Now. The backup process will begin, then complete on its own.
After the backup process has been completed, verify that the backup was successful. Here’s how:
1 – Tap Settings>iCloud>Storage>Manage Storage.
2 – Select your device from the list. If the backup was successful you should see it listed along with the time the backup was made and the size of the backup file.
Now that you have a valid backup of your iOS device stored safely in iCloud, you’ll be able to restore all of your apps, files and data should something ever happen to your device.
If that need ever arises, you can follow the steps below to restore your device from an iCloud backup:
1 – Ensure that your device has a full battery. If not, plug it into a charger.
2 – Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network and make sure it remains connected until the restore procedure has been completed.
3 – Check to see if your device is running the latest available version of iOS by tapping Settings>General>Software Update. If a newer version of iOS is available, install it by following the onscreen instructions.
4 – For iOS 8 or later, tap Settings>iCloud>Storage>Manage Storage. If it’s running iOS 7 or earlier, tap Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup.
5 – Select your device from the list under Backups to see the date of its latest backup. If there is no backup listed, you won’t be able to restore your device. If there is one, continue with the steps below.
6 – Tap Settings>General>Reset, then tap Erase all content and settings.
7 – In the “Setup Assistant”, find the Set up your device section, tap Restore from a Backup and then sign in to iCloud.
8 – Proceed to “Choose backup,” then choose the backup you wish to restore from the list.