How to Back Up Your iPhone to iCloud, MacOS, or Windows (2026)
Settings icon displayed on a phone screen is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 4, 2025.
(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images Save this story Save this story Your iPhone is so much more than just a screen for texting.
Smartphones are how we get work done, stay on top of the crazy news cycle, rock out, keep in touch with friends and family, and capture life’s most important moments.
Carrying all of that information in our pockets is incredibly powerful, and it makes getting through our days a little easier.
It also means that your most important data can get lost when you forget your phone on the train or have an unfortunate spat with the sidewalk.
If you want to avoid frantically trying to recover the best shots from a friend’s wedding, you should back up your iPhone.
It’s also a great idea if you plan on updating to a new iPhone .
There are a few ways to do this, depending on your needs and habits.
After you’re all backed up, check out our guide to choosing the best iPhone .
We also have a guide to backing up an Android phone .
Updated March 2026: We added information on Apple’s subscriptions, Advanced Data Protection, new sections on local backup options, backing up within apps, and 2FA codes and passkeys.
1 / 4 Apple via Simon Hill Screenshot Your easiest option, and Apple’s first recommendation, is to back up your iPhone to iCloud.
Make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi, and the process is pretty simple: Apple gives you 5 GB of iCloud storage for free, but that’s not nearly enough to cover all of your data.
You can always buy more iCloud storage.
Apple’s iCloud+ offers 50 GB for $1 a month, 200 GB for $3.50 a month, 2 TB for $10 a month, 6 TB for $30 a month, or 12 TB for $60 a month.
