As to iPhone data backup, most of you prefer to use iTunes to do this job. However, you may encounter different issues when backing up iPhone by iTunes. iTunes could not back up the iPhone is a common problem. If you need to fix this issue, please read this article to get some available solutions as well as two alternatives to back up iPhone data.

iTunes Could Not Back up the iPhone

Are you an iPhone user? How do you back up your iPhone data? We believe that most of you use iTunes to make such a backup. Good! It is free and convenient. The backup file is saved to the iTunes default path on your computer. If it is necessary, you can restore your iPhone from the iTunes backup anytime.

However, the iTunes backup process doesn’t always work normally.

Sometimes, you may receive iTunes could not back up the iPhone error when using iTunes to back up your iPhone. This backup can’t be performed before a solution is found. Thus, you will ask: how to get rid of this error?

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Some Easy Fixes for iTunes Could Not Back up the iPhone Issue

If the iTunes backup couldn’t continue successfully, you can first try to make iTunes backup again after each of the following steps:

Step 1: Please go to check whether you have installed the latest iTunes version. If not, just update or install a new one.

Step 2: Reconnect your iPhone to the computer via an Apple USB cable. After that, you can choose your device on iTunes to try to make a backup again.

Step 3: Turn off your iPhone and computer, and then turn them on again.

Step 4: If you are using a Mac, please skip to the next step. If you are using a Windows computer, you can update/change/disable/uninstall the security programs on the computer to have a try.

Step 5: You can try to make such an iTunes backup on another computer.

However, when seeing the following three alerts, the above steps may don’t work for you. Then, you can go to the next part to see how to solve iTunes could not back up the iPhone issue.

  • iTunes could not back up the iPhone because an error occurred
  • iTunes could not back up the iPhone because the iPhone disconnected
  • iTunes could not back up the iPhone because not enough free space is available on this computer.

3 Special Situations and Fixes for iTunes Could Not Back up the iPhone

Situation 1: iTunes Could Not Back up the iPhone Because an Error Occurred

If you receive a message saying that iTunes could not back up the iPhone because an error occurred, please follow these steps to try to fix this issue:

Step 1: Check if you have installed the latest iOS version. If not, please update it to the latest one.

Step 2: Make sure that you have updated all the Apps on your iPhone. To do this job, you can enter App Store on your device, tap the Updates option, and then guarantee that all the Apps are updated.

After these two steps, this iTunes could not back up the iPhone because an error occurred issue should be fixed.

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Situation 2: iTunes Could Not Back up the iPhone Because the iPhone Disconnected

If you receive a message saying iTunes could not back up the iPhone because the iPhone disconnected, please follow these steps to fix this issue:

Step 1: Try another Apple USB cable.

Step 2: Reset your iPhone network settings by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Step 3: Turn on the Airplane Mode or Low Power Mode on the device.

After these three simple steps, this iTunes could not back up the iPhone issue can disappear.

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Situation 3: iTunes Cannot Backup iPhone Not Enough Space

When you see a warning saying that iTunes could not back up the iPhone because not enough free space is available on this computer, it’s time for you to free up some space on your computer for the backup.

There is more than one way to increase the disk space on your computer. For example, you can delete some unnecessary data on the computer to free up some space; you can uninstall unused Apps to release some space; you can also replace the current hard drive with another larger one.

All of these solutions are introduced in this post: 10 Ways to Free up Disk Space in Windows 10. You can read it and choose a suitable method to solve your iTunes cannot backup iPhone not enough space issue.

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Two Alternatives to Back up iPhone Data

When you face iTunes could not back up the iPhone issue, you can also try other methods to make a backup of your device. In this article, we will introduce two alternatives for you.

Alternative 1: Use a Third-party Tool

There are many third-party tools in the market which can be used to back up your data on your iPhone. MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS is such a choice.

This software has three modules, and they are Recover from iOS Device, Recover from iTunes Backup File and Recover from iCloud Backup File.

If you want to back up your iPhone data with this software, you need to use Recover from iOS Device module because it can find both existing and deleted data on the device.

Here, with the free edition of this software, you can save some certain types of files, such as Notes, Calendar, Reminders, Bookmarks, and more to your computer without paying any cent. You can find what this free software can do for you from its functional limits.

Now, you can press the following button to get MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS Free Edition and install it on your computer to back up your iPhone data to your computer.

MiniTool iOS Recovery on WindowsClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and then open the software. You will enter Recover from iOS Device module interface directly.

If it is the first time for you to connect the device to your computer, you will see the following software interface.

enter you have to trust the PC interface

When seeing the upper interface, please pick up your iPhone, and you will see a prompt. Then, please tap the Trust option on the screen to allow the iPhone trust the computer you are using. Please do this operation on your personal computer rather than a public one to protect your iPhone data safe.

The software will identify your iPhone automatically and show it on the interface. Next, you need to click on the Scan button to start the scanning process.

click on the Scan button

Step 2: After a while, the scanning process will end, and you will enter the scan result interface. The left side of the interface is the data type list. You can choose one to view the detailed items.

For example, if you want to check the scanned Notes, please choose Notes from the list, and then this software will show you the scanned Notes. After that, you can check the items you want to back up and click on the Recover button to continue.

choose Notes you want to back up

Step 3: You will see a popup window where you can choose a path on your computer to save these selected Notes.

Indeed, there is a software default storage path on the windows, and you can click on the Recover button to save the selected files to that location directly. Of course, if you want to arrange another storage location, you can click on the Browse button to select one from the second popup window.

choose a location to save the selected files

At last, your Notes are backed up to your specified location and you can even enter the location to view and use them directly.

Tip: Actually, this iPhone data backup tool is very flexible. If there is not enough space on your computer to save the chosen iPhone data, you can connect a large enough removable drive to your computer and then choose to save the files to it.

Since there are some limitations in the free edition of this software, you are unable to back up all of your iPhone data to your computer with it. However, you can get a full edition of this software to break these limits.

Now, this is the end of the backup process via MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS. However, you should also remember its iPhone data recovery function:

  • If you want to recover files from your iPhone directly, you can use Recover from iOS Device module to get them back as long as they are not overwritten by new data.
  • If the deleted files have been backed up to iTunes or iCloud, you can use the rest two recovery modules of this software to restore them to your computer or another available location.
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Alternative 2: Use iCloud

Using iCloud is the other alternative for you to back up your iPhone data. To do this job, you need to:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi network, and you should make sure this connection should not be interrupted during the whole backup process.

Step 2: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Then, you need to tap the iCloud Backup option.

Step 3: When you enter the next interface, you need to turn on iCloud Backup and then tap Back Up Now. Then, iCloud will begin to back up your iPhone data, and it will last for a while. Please be patient.

If you want to check whether the backup process ends, you can go to the same path mentioned above to see the date and time of the last backup.

Meanwhile, you can make the iCloud to back up your iPhone data automatically. To do this job, you need to:

Step 1: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup to make sure the iCloud Backup option is turned on.

Step 2: Connect your iPhone to a power source, and then connect the device to an available Wi-Fi network.

Step 3: Lock your iPhone screen. Then, iCloud will begin the backup process automatically.

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When you sign in to iCloud, you can get 5GB of iCloud storage for free. If the iPhone data you need to back up is larger than 5GB, you can choose to buy more space.

Usual, the price plans start at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month and you need to pay for the iCloud storage space every month. By contrast, to back up your iPhone data with MiniTool Mobile Recovery for iOS is more cost-effective.

Bottom Line

iTunes could not back up the iPhone is not a rare issue, but it is an annoying one. Next time, when you are bothered by this problem, you can try the solutions mentioned in this post to get rid of it.

Perhaps, you face some issues when you are using this MiniTool software. Don’t worry. You can send an email to [email protected] or let us know in the comment. We will reply you as soon as possible. Your ideas and suggestions are also appreciated here!

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