The amount of time it takes to backup iPhone messages, contacts, photos and other data depends on three things:
- The amount of data you’re backing up,
- Whether you’ve backed up your phone using the same cloud backup service before,
- Your broadband upload speed.
Before you start to backup iPhone data, delete anything you don’t need and ensure you only check folders you want to be backed up to save uploading unwanted data.
The first time you back up your iPhone to the cloud it can take several hours for the backup to complete.
This is because the files are being uploaded fully for the first time.
In subsequent backups, only changed or additional files are uploaded, making the whole process much faster.
If your WiFi connection is slow (for example at 1Mbps, 4GB of assorted files could take 10 hours to upload!), connecting your phone to your computer and using a faster service such as iDrive can dramatically reduce the time it takes to backup iPhone messages, data and contacts.
How to backup iPhone for beginners
While we’ve produced a full guide here if you’re ready to backup your iPhone right now, here’s a quick summary if you’re still mulling over your options.
Simply sign up for the backup service of your choice, download the app, and follow the onscreen instructions to create automatic and on-demand backups of your files and data.
They are stored securely and you can choose which files are saved to the cloud if you don’t want to copy everything across or replace older files with newer versions.
Some cloud backup providers, such as Carbonite, let you view your photo backups and listen to your stored music straight from the app itself.
Find your best backup solution in our latest reviews and comparison tables.