What am I not understanding about iCloud backup of my iPhone?
December 4, 2023 12:28 PM Subscribe
My iPhone won't backup because my iCloud storage is full. (Meaning, they want me to pay more to have more available storage space.) But when I look to see what it's full with, it's mostly "backups" -- 34.2 of the 50 GB available. Do they not...delete old backups and replace with the new ones? I'm okay with paying 99c per month, but I don't want to pay $2.99 a month just to have a mess of backups on hand. Am I misunderstanding this?
I don't have much on my phone, and I've looked on the iCloud settings and turned off every random app that wants to back up. So it's basically my contacts, my photos/videos (I have a grand total of 167 photos, and 16 short video clips), wallet.
I acknowledge that I am likely not comprehending what's actually happening here, so please hope me.
I don't have much on my phone, and I've looked on the iCloud settings and turned off every random app that wants to back up. So it's basically my contacts, my photos/videos (I have a grand total of 167 photos, and 16 short video clips), wallet.
I acknowledge that I am likely not comprehending what's actually happening here, so please hope me.
iCloud Backup of your phone only stores one backup at a time. In ideal conditions it just backs up each night if it's connected to wifi, and the new backup replaces the old one.
Have you checked to see if you're storing a backup of an older phone or iPad or something? You can check on your phone by going into Settings > your-iCloud-account-name-right-at-the-top-of-the-settings-screen > iCloud > Device Backups: iCloud Backup.
posted by bcwinters at 12:44 PM on December 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Have you checked to see if you're storing a backup of an older phone or iPad or something? You can check on your phone by going into Settings > your-iCloud-account-name-right-at-the-top-of-the-settings-screen > iCloud > Device Backups: iCloud Backup.
posted by bcwinters at 12:44 PM on December 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
But when I look to see what it's full with, it's mostly "backups" -- 34.2 of the 50 GB available.
When you go to 'Settings > your-iCloud-account-name-right-at-the-top-of-the-settings-screen > iCloud > Backups', how many 'Backups' are listed? As bcwinters says, there should be one, labeled 'This iPhone'.
If you then tap that backup, it should show you the date of the Last Backup, the current Backup Size, and eventually, Next Backup Size. If you wait for the backup details to load (it will initially be a spinner), it will show you a list of the apps that are occupying space in the backup, sorted by size. You can delete the offending apps, attempt to clear out the data taking up space, or toggle the green switch next to an app to tell the phone to not back up that app's data.
(If you're on an older version of iOS, some of this may be different.)
posted by zamboni at 12:58 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
When you go to 'Settings > your-iCloud-account-name-right-at-the-top-of-the-settings-screen > iCloud > Backups', how many 'Backups' are listed? As bcwinters says, there should be one, labeled 'This iPhone'.
If you then tap that backup, it should show you the date of the Last Backup, the current Backup Size, and eventually, Next Backup Size. If you wait for the backup details to load (it will initially be a spinner), it will show you a list of the apps that are occupying space in the backup, sorted by size. You can delete the offending apps, attempt to clear out the data taking up space, or toggle the green switch next to an app to tell the phone to not back up that app's data.
(If you're on an older version of iOS, some of this may be different.)
posted by zamboni at 12:58 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I agree with zamboni and bcwinters that, if the phone is complaining it can't back up, and all that's really in iCloud is backups, it is likely that it's either backups from older device(s), or the backup is from your current device but it somehow become dissociated from the device. If it's the former, you can safely delete backups that are not from currently used devices. If it's the latter, I would delete the existing backup and then it should run a full backup on the next nightly cycle.
I was surprised to find out some months back I had many GBs in podcasts.
Downloaded podcast episodes generally wouldn't be backed up as they are considered to be in a cache, as opposed to actual downloads--like your browser's cache wouldn't be backed up, either. It's possible this is not the case, depending on the app; the app has to indicate which storage should be considered ephemeral and which shouldn't.
posted by tubedogg at 1:20 PM on December 4, 2023
I was surprised to find out some months back I had many GBs in podcasts.
Downloaded podcast episodes generally wouldn't be backed up as they are considered to be in a cache, as opposed to actual downloads--like your browser's cache wouldn't be backed up, either. It's possible this is not the case, depending on the app; the app has to indicate which storage should be considered ephemeral and which shouldn't.
posted by tubedogg at 1:20 PM on December 4, 2023
Response by poster: Okay, so I went through all of that stuff, and didn't find other devices or other phones that might be taking up space. I re-checked that I'd toggled off most of the apps so they won't back up. I deleted the last backup. I tried to "back up now" but after it spun a while it gave me the same old message that it can't be backed up because there's no space. However maybe it takes time for these changes to percolate through?
I was thinking the next step would be just to plug it in tonight and see if it backs up in the middle of the night?
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:57 PM on December 4, 2023
I was thinking the next step would be just to plug it in tonight and see if it backs up in the middle of the night?
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:57 PM on December 4, 2023
I deleted the last backup. I tried to "back up now" but after it spun a while it gave me the same old message that it can't be backed up because there's no space.
Was your last backup 34gb in size? Is that 34gb backup gone from your iCloud account now, leaving just 16gb used? How large does it say your next backup is going to be?
posted by bcwinters at 3:40 PM on December 4, 2023
Was your last backup 34gb in size? Is that 34gb backup gone from your iCloud account now, leaving just 16gb used? How large does it say your next backup is going to be?
posted by bcwinters at 3:40 PM on December 4, 2023
Response by poster: It's still showing backups at 34.2 GB...but then when I click on "backups" it shows 0. Which makes me think it takes a while to percolate through the system?
It's not showing any other devices, and as a matter of fact I don't have any other devices like an iPad. I make sure Mr. Blah's iPad and phone are signed in to his Apple ID, not mine.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:50 PM on December 4, 2023
It's not showing any other devices, and as a matter of fact I don't have any other devices like an iPad. I make sure Mr. Blah's iPad and phone are signed in to his Apple ID, not mine.
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:50 PM on December 4, 2023
Have you tried restarting the phone since you deleted the backup(s)?
posted by jon1270 at 4:08 PM on December 4, 2023
posted by jon1270 at 4:08 PM on December 4, 2023
Which makes me think it takes a while to percolate through the system?
Yeah, I would let it rest and see what it looks like tomorrow. iCloud makes a lot of sync decisions that seem based on battery life and bandwidth limitations from about a decade ago.
posted by bcwinters at 4:26 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I would let it rest and see what it looks like tomorrow. iCloud makes a lot of sync decisions that seem based on battery life and bandwidth limitations from about a decade ago.
posted by bcwinters at 4:26 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some years ago, my iPhone wasn’t backing up due to an issue unrelated to storage space (a corrupted file). Once that was solved, it still wouldn’t back up, complaining about space, even though I barely had 40GB in my phone storage and was on the 50GB plan.
The senior Apple tech person who was dealing with my case had me upgrade to the 200GB plan, and then the backup went through… and resulted in a 40GB-or-so backup. The tech guy said this happens sometimes, and I could downgrade at that point and I’d still be fine.
So if your phone still refuses to back up overnight, that might be something to try? Possibly while on the phone with Apple so if it doesn’t work you can get a refund and they can start looking into other solutions…
posted by sailoreagle at 11:53 PM on December 4, 2023
The senior Apple tech person who was dealing with my case had me upgrade to the 200GB plan, and then the backup went through… and resulted in a 40GB-or-so backup. The tech guy said this happens sometimes, and I could downgrade at that point and I’d still be fine.
So if your phone still refuses to back up overnight, that might be something to try? Possibly while on the phone with Apple so if it doesn’t work you can get a refund and they can start looking into other solutions…
posted by sailoreagle at 11:53 PM on December 4, 2023
This happens to my husband constantly, and after seeing your question yesterday I asked him to look at his phone to see if an old phone was still backing up and there was nothing. However, I was poking around on the Apple forums last night and found this article that says that Messages are included in backups and need to be manually deleted to make some space.
posted by jabes at 6:28 AM on December 5, 2023
posted by jabes at 6:28 AM on December 5, 2023
Response by poster: Okay yes, the problem persists. I will see if I can get on the phone with them today.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:13 AM on December 5, 2023
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:13 AM on December 5, 2023
Response by poster: I am wildly annoyed to update this and say that two long calls with Apple failed to find any solution other than "shrug" and "well, I guess you have to pay 2.99 a month instead of 99c" and I...finally gave in and paid. :(
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:34 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:34 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
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