I haven't backed up my iPhone to a computer in years because I pay for extra iCloud storage. However, if that's not something you want to do, you can still perform a computer backup. This can help free up space on your phone and prevent you from losing photos, phone numbers and other important information that you may only have stored on your phone.
Having a second copy of everything on your iPhone, stowed away elsewhere, can help ease the panic of losing your phone. It also lets you free up space when you've exhausted your iPhone's storage capacity and need free space to update to the latest version of iOS.
While it may seem like a hassle, backing up your iPhone to a computer — whether it's a Mac or Windows PC — is actually pretty easy. If the process has you intimidated, though, don't worry, I'll walk you through the steps. Before you get started, just make sure the computer you're using has enough free space.
How to back up your iPhone to a Mac
These steps might differ depending on which version of macOS you're running, but it should look roughly like this:
1. Start by plugging your iPhone into your Mac. A window will pop up asking whether you want to allow the two to connect.
2. Open the Finder app on your Mac and select your iPhone from the sidebar. If you've never connected the two, you'll have to verify that you trust the phone and the Mac.
3. Under the General tab, select "Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac."
4. You'll see an option to "encrypt local backup." This protects things like your saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, health data and more. If you want to do that, go ahead and check it.
5. Click “Back Up Now.”
You can keep an eye on the status bar to see the progress and know when the backup is complete.
How to back up your iPhone to a Windows PC
If you have an iPhone and use a Windows PC, you should already have iTunes installed. If not, install it and follow these steps.
1. Plug your iPhone into your computer.
2. Open iTunes and click the iPhone button in the top left area.
3. Select “Back Up Now” and choose whether you want to encrypt your backups.
4. Click “Back Up Now.”
How often should you back up your iPhone?
Your iPhone automatically backs up to iCloud every day — assuming there's enough storage available — as long as it's plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi. But you don't have to back up your phone to your computer that often. Instead, you can choose a cadence that works best for you. Ideally, I would do it once a month to keep the information up to date. If you need to offload some photos to free up storage — for updates, to take more photos or videos and the like — you may need to do so weekly. Also, I recommend backing up before any major iOS update — such as the new iOS 27 update coming this fall — just in case any bugs aren't worked out.
If you need more space on your phone between backups, here's how to free up storage on your iPhone with five easy steps.
