Generally, you run into these problems due to incompatible versions or the device’s driver may have malfunctioned. Thankfully, you can overcome these issues by updating iTunes or resetting the settings.
How to Fix an iPhone Not Backing Up to the Computer?
One of the first things you can do to overcome such an issue is to restart all your devices (iPhone and computer). It will stop the previous tasks and force the device to start fresh when the device boots up. Sometimes minor bugs within the device could also hinder the process. So, restarting also helps to resolve it. Likewise, you have other options to fix the iPhone not backing up, which are mentioned below.
Make Computer Trusted Again
Whenever you plug in your iPhone to a PC, you are required to grant “Trust this computer” permission from your iPhone. This is important because if you don’t allow it, your computer won’t recognize your device. By doing so, you could transfer or back up the data. However, if you still can’t back up, you may require to wipe the certificate. When you trust the computer, the certificate folder called Lockdown will be created on your computer. Usually, it is stored inside the program data. You can delete the folder and connect your iPhone again to that computer to make a new connection.
Use Another USB Cable/Change the USB Port
There’s a chance your iPhone cannot backup because of an unstable internet connection. Some USB cables may only be able to charge the device and are not usable for transferring data. So, try using the genuine Apple USB cable. Similarly, you can also switch the USB port to see if it could solve the problem. Furthermore, try not to lock your iPhone while trying to back up. It usually doesn’t affect the process once it starts backing up, but sometimes it can hinder and won’t let the backup complete.
Delete the Old Backup
If you have backed up your data many times before, it might struggle to create a new backup. So, in that case, you can delete your previously backed-up data and save the new backup. Here’s how you can do it.
Update the iPhone Driver
If your iPhone driver has malfunctioned, the backup process might crash occasionally. Therefore, you can update its driver to make things run properly, but before you update, ensure to connect the phone to your PC. To update the iPhone driver, follow the below steps.
Free Up Space on Your Computer
Many times your iPhone may not be able to back up due to not having enough space on your computer. So, you also need to keep an eye on your computer’s storage. If your computer’s storage is running out, you could resolve it by just deleting the unwanted files or apps to make new space. Once you make a space, restart the backing-up process and see if it might work.
Update iTunes
Running on the older versions of iTunes may have compatibility issues. So, it’s important to keep your iTunes up to date for bug fixes and better support. Here’re the steps to update iTunes.
Update iPhone
Just like iTunes, your iPhone should also be up-to-date. Each new upgrade improves your iPhone’s app or service compatibility with bug fixes and new features. Therefore, if you haven’t updated your iPhone for a long time, try updating it and see if it starts working normally after the update.
Disable the Computer’s Security Software
Although security software helps protect your device from viruses or malware, sometimes it can interrupt the process of backup (transfer of the files) due to security reasons. Also, you can disable the computer’s default virus and threat protection feature. So, if you have installed any antivirus software, you can disable it and see if it can solve the problem. But, ensure to turn back on the virus and threat protect when you are done.
Reset All Settings
If you cannot backup due to a malfunction in the iPhone’s network or other settings, you can tackle these problems by resetting its settings. It’s completely safe, and none of your personal files will be erased. However, the settings related to network, locations, etc. will be wiped. Here are the steps for it on the iPhone.
Use a Third-party Backup Tool
Alternatively, you can use third-party backup apps like Google Drive, OneDrive, Mega, etc., to backup your data. However, these backup apps only provide you with a few GBs of free storage and you need to pay some extra amount to get the additional storage.
