Troubleshoot: Restore from iCloud Backup Not Working

“Why won’t my iPhone restore from iCloud?”

iCloud Backup enables users to restore a backup wirelessly, pretty convenient, to be honest. But a number of users have reported: “Restore from iCloud backup not working”.

Sometimes, the restoring process may get stuck at “Remaining xx minutes”, and sometimes a pop-up window comes out saying there is an error restoring.

This problem does not only occurs when using iCloud; some users also found iTunes cannot restore iPhone from backup.

I'm trying to restore from iCloud backup. Whenever it gets to like 15%, it just sits there forever. Tried 4 or 5 times already. Same problem over and over again. While stuck it increases "time remaining" by 2 minutes every 30 sec or so. I left it to sit, and overnight it came to 1 day?... How can I solve this?

- Question from BullDaLiBIE (Apple Developer)

The user found that restoring iCloud backup not working: stuck in the process. It can be said that all users need to back up and restore iPhone. When restoring fails, it’s totally confusing and upsetting.

Then what to do when the iPhone cannot restore iCloud backup? 7 methods will be provided in this post to help you out.

Fixes: restore from iCloud backup not working

To get the issue settled, some feasible fixes can be found in this article. Now follow the steps below.

Fix 1. Verify your password

The first action you need to take is to verify you have inputted the right password by checking if you have forgotten the Caps Lock, punctuation, or so. If you keep receiving prompts to input your password, you may have used several Apple IDs.

Fix 2. Check if you have enough space

If you are restoring backup data to another device, please check if you have enough space on the target device.

If there is not enough space on your device to load a backup from the iCloud backup you have made, the problem Restore from iCloud backup not working can also happen.

Go to “Settings” > “Apple ID” > “iCloud” > “Manage Storage” > “Backups” to see how large the backup you have made is.

Fix 3. Try another WiFi network

An invalid WiFi can also lead to a problem: "Restore from iCloud backup not working". If you still failed to restore iCloud backup not working using a WiFi network, please try another valid WiFi.

Fix 4. Restart your iPhone

If these fixes still don’t work, you could also try rebooting your device. Some problems can possibly be resolved by restarting. When you cannot restart normally, try to force restart.

Fix 5. Erase your iPhone again

If it still doesn’t work for you by restarting your device, try resetting it one more time. You could set it as a new device at first, then try to erase it.

Step 1. Go to “General” > “Reset” > “Erase All Content and Settings”. Input your passcode.

Step 2. Reboot your iPhone, and then set up your iPhone. Connect to a WiFi network, and then you will come to “Apps & Data”. Tap “Restore from iCloud Backup”, then sign in with your iCloud Apple ID.

All the backups will be listed. Now you could try to restore from iCloud backup one more time and recover data from iCloud to iPhone.

Fix 6. Update iOS software

The iOS software version sometimes can have something to do with this issue, too. You could try to update the software.

Connect your device to a power supply and a WiFi network. Go to “Settings” > “General” > “Software Update” > “Download and install”.

Then try to restore it once again.

Fix 7. Restore from iTunes

If all these solutions have been tried but still found iPhone cannot restore iCloud backup, you might as well try iTunes. iTunes backup covers almost all content and settings on your device. If you possess a backup on iTunes, you could utilize this tool.

Step 1. Run the latest version of iTunes. Connect your iPhone.

Step 2. Click the “iPhone” icon.

Step 3. Go to “Summary” > “Restore Backup”. Check if you have chosen the right one you need.

Then you could successfully restore iPhone from iTunes backup.

Bonus tips

On this page, you could find fixes to solve the problem "Restore from iCloud backup not working". Try anyone you like and fit your situation. If you do not possess a backup on iTunes but still find "Restore iCloud backup not working", you may need to recover data from restored iPhone without backup.

To tell the truth, iCloud is a powerful tool. It can sync and back up users’ data automatically and encrypt data by default. However, it goes wrong sometimes, and it is never a good idea to store your data in only one way.

Here, to back up your data flexibly or add a way to back up your data, you could utilize software only to back up photos or any type of data you need with the help of AOMEI FoneBackup.