How To Back Up an IOS Device, When iCloud is Unavailable

You can continue to create local backups of iOS devices even if you rely primarily on iCloud for storing backups. This is a really useful technique if an iPhone, iPad, or iPod ran out of iCloud storage space and don’t want to deal with managing it manually at the moment, or you’re just temporarily without internet access and want to make a quick backup to the computer.

1. Open iTunes and connect the iPhone, iPad, or iPod to the computer
2. Under the “Summary” tab look for “Backup” and check the radio box next to “Back up to this computer”
3. Click “Apply”
4. Right-click on the device in the iTunes sidebar and choose “Back Up Now”

You can verify the backup is stored on the Mac (or PC) by going to iTunes Preferences, clicking on “Devices” and making sure the most recent backup matches up with the current time and date. Down the road if you reconnect to iCloud and backup there again you can always delete these local backups directly from iTunes and reclaim the disk space.

When you get iCloud capacity or internet access again, don’t forget to return to the settings and adjust Backup options to “Back up to iCloud” again when you are finished. Otherwise your iOS device will continue to want to backup to a local computer rather than iCloud.

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