How to Make Sure Your iPhone Is Backed Up to iCloud

Phones get lost, dropped in water, stolen, or eventually wear out. When that happens, the difference between losing years of photos and messages versus having them all back in an hour comes down to one thing: whether your iPhone was backed up. iCloud backup is Apple's answer to this. It runs automatically in the background and requires almost no effort once set up.

iCloud backup stores a complete snapshot of your iPhone including app data, your home screen layout, device settings, iMessage and SMS message history (when iCloud Messages is off), contacts if iCloud Contacts is not separately enabled, call history, and photos and videos if iCloud Photos is not turned on separately. Each of these overlapping systems makes sure your data is covered.

To turn on iCloud Backup, open the Settings app and tap your name at the top. Choose iCloud, then scroll down to iCloud Backup. Tap the toggle to turn it on. You will see the date and time of the last backup listed below the toggle.

To run a backup right now rather than waiting for the automatic overnight backup, tap "Back up Now." Your phone needs to be connected to Wi-Fi and plugged in to power for this to work. The first backup may take 20 to 40 minutes. Subsequent backups only transfer what has changed, so they go faster.

iCloud gives every Apple ID 5 gigabytes of free storage. For most people, that fills up quickly — especially if you have a lot of photos and videos. You can upgrade storage for $1 per month (50GB), $3 per month (200GB), or $10 per month (2TB). The 50GB plan is enough for most people who also have iCloud Photos enabled.

Note that iCloud Backup and iCloud Photos are separate features. iCloud Photos keeps your photos synced continuously to the cloud. It is not the same as a backup. Turn on both for complete coverage.

When setting up a new iPhone, you choose "Restore from iCloud Backup" during the setup process. Sign in to your Apple ID and choose the most recent backup — your apps, settings, and data will be restored.