This post will explain why iCloud backup takes a long time and tell you what to do if iCloud backup takes forever. Also, it will offer an alternative way to backup iPhone fastly and easily.
iCloud is very helpful when you have important data or want to switch to a new iPhone. You can backup iPhone data to iCloud and restore the backup to the original device or another other Apple device (with the same Apple ID).
You could find it in iPhone Settings and upload some of your iPhone data or all of them to iCloud so as to sync data on another device or restore the whole iPhone data to a new iPhone. But when you create an iPhone iCloud backup, you may encounter an "iCloud backup taking forever" issue or even the process is just stuck. So how long should an iCloud Backup take?
An iCloud backup takes 30 minutes to 2 hours to complete on average. If it has taken 3 or 4 hours, you can take some measures to speed up the progress. Just follow the guide below, we will guide you on how to make iCloud backup faster.
iCloud iPhone backup takes a long time or takes hours due to many factors. Here are some main factors below.
► Internet connection is unstable or weak. Backing up and restoring iPhone data to iCloud depends on the Internet connection. If your network or Wi-Fi connection is weak, your iCloud backup can take a really long time. ► Too much data on iPhone: The amount of iPhone data is another factor that affects iCloud backup times. The more data on your iPhone, the longer it takes. And you can free up some iPhone storage. ► Old iCloud backups: Sometimes, an old iCloud backup affects the progress of adding new data to iCloud storage. In this condition, you may find the iCloud Backup option greyed out. ► iOS issue: iCloud backup slow could be because of an iOS system glitch.
If your find iPhone backup taking hours, you should not give up backing up iPhone because it is important to regularly save your data. Follow the solutions to check the Internet connection and your iOS to complete iCloud backup.
It seems like a universal solution to computer or mobile phone issues, but you need to believe that it really solves most of the problems because it could refresh your system to avoid many bugs. Depends on the iPhone model you are using, the steps are slightly different.
iPhone 8 or later:Press and quickly release thevolume+button>Press and quickly release thevolume-button> Press thesidebutton for seconds until you see the logo of Apple.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus:Pressand hold theSleep/Wakebutton andvolume-button at the same timeuntil you see theApple logo.
iPhone 6s or earlier:Press and hold thepowerbutton and theHomebutton for seconds until you see the logo of Apple.
The speed of the Internet would directly affect iCloud backup progress. Poor network conditions can make iCloud backup in progress slow. You could open Safari to see whether the Internet is available to browse any content. If you find it is very slow, you could try a faster Wi-Fi.
How to make iCloud backup faster? If there is too much content on your iPhone, you can free up some iPhone data to reduce the backup time.
Go to Settings> General > iPhone Storage. And you can find out what files or apps taking up the most storage space.
If you have the early iCloud backup, your backup might fail this time for iCloud could not add new content to it. Delete the old backup could release iCloud storage and start a new iCloud backup.
Go to "Settings"on your iPhone > Tap the Apple ID banner > Tap "iCloud" > "Manage Storage" > "Backups". Choose the old backup, and tap "Delete".
If you have no old backup but iCloud backup is stuck or your iCloud backup slow. You might need to upgrade to the latest iOS because iOS bugs would appear from time to time. If Apple received the feedback, it would be repaired in the latest iOS.
To update your iOS version, go to iPhone "Settings" > "General" > "Software Update" to update iOS to the latest version.
If the above methods can help you fix the "iCloud Backup taking forever" issue, you can turn to another method to back up your iPhone. Especially if you don't have a strong and stable issue, it seems that backing up with iCloud can take hours to complete.
Here we would like to recommend a professional and fast backup software named AOMEI FoneBackup. With this tool, you can easily backup your iPhone data including, photos, videos, music, messages, app settings, etc. to a Windows computer or external storage device.
Compared with iCloud, it comes with various advantages helping users to back up iPhones much easier.
Now download and install AOMEI FoneBackup on your PC. Then connect your iPhone to the PC, and we will show you how to use this tool.
Step 1. Run AOMEI FoneBackup, and click Phone Backup on the left pane. Then you can choose "Selective Backup" or "Full Backup" according to your need. Here we choose Full Backup.
Step 2. You can click "Backup Storage Path" tospecify the backup path as you need, then click the "Start Backup" button.
Wait for a while, your iPhone data will be saved in the specified storage location. To restore and manage your iPhone backup, you can click "My Backups" on the left pane of AOMEI FoneBackup. Here you can restore, view, and locate your iPhone backups.
📣📣 New Features are coming.AOMEI FoneBackup also allows you to upload files to iCloud manually. If you insist backing up iPhone files to iCloud, you can try AOMEI FoneBackup's Manage iCloud feature to access iCloud on PC to finish your backup task.
iCloud gives you some options to choose what apps can use iCloud. Sometimes, you may find your iCloud backup size actually bigger than the data you selected. That is because will backup some data that won't tell you. Some users reported that messages will take a large proportion of iCloud backup even though they banned it in iCloud.
In addition, iCloud backups include system settings you may not have noticed. Then you can use AOMEI FoneBackup to backup your iPhone data, it supports selective backup iPhone data enabling you to choose which file can be backed up.
If you find iCloud backup taking forever, you need to check the Internet, reduce iCloud backup content or upgrade iOS. If you want to quickly back up your iPhone, you could choose AOMEI FoneBackup to back up iPhone data fastly without the Internet.
In addition, AOMEI FoneBackup also comes with many other features. It supports directly transferring data from iPhone to iPhone without backup.
