Have you ever needed to get a new phone, but all of your photos, notes, and contacts were lost in the switch? If you have felt that pain—or want to avoid it—iCloud is your friend. If you make use of iCloud Drive or a paid iCloud+ plan, you can back up valuable information, documents, and images wirelessly to the internet, where it can be easily accessed and downloaded from all your devices.
Apple provides every user with 5GB of free iCloud storage. You can use this storage to back up apps, images, videos, or documents. But 5GB fills up fast; US users can get additional storage of 50GB for $0.99 per month, 200GB for $2.99, 2TB for $9.99, 6TB for $29.99, or 12TB for $59.99.
As a subscriber to Apple One, you also get extra iCloud storage bundled with other Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, Fitness+, and more.
What Does iCloud Backup Include?
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)When iCloud is used to back up your phone, you are saving the following pieces of data:
- App data
- Apple Watch backups
- Device settings
- Home screen organization
- iMessage, SMS, and MMS messages
- Photos and videos
- Purchase history from Apple services
- Ringtones
- Visual Voicemail password
You can also select exactly what data is synced to iCloud storage. Open Settings and tap your name. Choose iCloud on your phone and tap the Show All link under Apps Using iCloud section. Items like Calendars, Contacts, Health, Photos, Reminders, Wallet, and more can be enabled or disabled from here.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)If you want to make sure your beloved photos and videos are getting backed up to iCloud, you'll have to first set up iCloud Photos. Open Settings > Photos and enable iCloud Photos. This will automatically upload your library to iCloud, including iCloud.com, where you can view and download photos on a computer.
How to Back Up Your Device to iCloud
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)To automatically back up your device each day, head to Settings and select your name. Open iCloud and enable Back Up This iPhone. The device will then back up your data when it is connected to power, locked, on Wi-Fi, and iCloud has enough storage space.
If your iPhone model supports 5G, your carrier may also allow you to back up your data over your cellular network. In this case, a separate Back Up Over Cellular option may be visible. If you wish to use your data connection to back up your device, enable this option.
Once iCloud Backup is enabled, you can choose to manually back up the device at any time by clicking the Back Up Now button that appears. This will immediately have iCloud preserve a new backup. Here, you can also see the last time your device was successfully backed up.
How to Manage Your iCloud Storage
(unknown)Note that you will only be able to back up your device if there is enough iCloud storage space. You can make sure your account has enough available space under Settings. Tap your name, then choose iCloud. Much like if you were managing on-device storage, there is a graph showing how much space is available on iCloud.
Tap the Manage Storage Account link to see a list of individual apps and services that are included in the backup. Each entry will say how much data it uses, allowing you to see what is eating up the most storage. To free up space, tap an entry and set the data to be deleted from iCloud. You can also manage your iCloud storage plan from this screen, if you find that you simply need to pay for more space.
How to Sync Your Photos and Files
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)Do you use multiple Apple devices? If you want the photos and files on your iPhone to also be available on your iPad, for instance, you'll need to make sure that this option is enabled on all your mobile devices. Open Settings and tap your name, then choose iCloud. Tap Photos and make sure Sync this [device] is enabled. Tap iCloud Drive and make sure Sync this [device] is enabled.
(Credit: PCMag / Apple)You'll also need to make sure that these options are enabled on your Mac. Open System Settings, click your name, then choose the iCloud entry. Select Photos and enable Sync this Mac, then click iCloud Drive and enable Sync this Mac. If you have a Windows PC, you can also import your photos into the Windows Photos app.
Apple also allows you to sign into your Apple ID through the iCloud.com online portal. Here, you can access all your synced photos and files from a web browser, allowing you access to your iCloud data no matter what device you're on.