That's how to backup iPhone when there's 'Not enough iCloud storage'

iCloud has its limits when it comes to backing up the device which can lead to the dreaded “not enough iCloud storage” pop up. But using some hacks, you can back up your iPhone to iCloud, iTunes and with MacOS.

You can double-check all this by going to Settings, then to Passwords & Accounts, which has a list of your email addresses. Under each address, you can see what’s being synced: mail, contacts, calendars and so on.

Every iCloud account gets a limited 5GB for free and thus you might see this message on your iOS device, “This iPhone cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available.”

But most people have more than 5GB of data on their phone and thus the default space isn’t enough. Until Apple gives users more data for free, people need to do some calculations to optimize our iCloud accounts.

Figure out iCloud backup size

To figure out exactly how much iCloud space your backup file will take go to Settings, tap on the Apple ID/iCloud, then tap iCloud, then Manage Storage and tap Backups. There’s a list of devices that are backing up or trying to back up with your account.

Also, if you see multiple backups of the same phone, take a look at how old each one is. You might have an older iPhone backup that you can delete to open up iCloud space. Once you’re done purging this list, tap on the name of the device you’re currently using.

Change what gets backed up to iCloud

Under the Next Backup Size is a list where you can choose data to back up.

Uncheck the larger and unnecessary data items from the list if you don’t mind whether or not they’re backed up.

Buy more iCloud storage?

You can pay Apple 99 cents (about Rs166 as per current forex rate) a month to increase your iCloud storage from 5GB to 50GB. And if you still need more, there are iCloud storage tiers that go as high as 2TB.

Use iTunes

If you’re running MacOS Mojave (10.14 or earlier) or if you’re on a PC, you can just plug your phone into your computer and back it up to iTunes instead of using iCloud.

Open iTunes. If you’re on a PC, you might have to download it first. After you give your devices permission to talk to each other, click on the small iPhone icon on the top left side of the iTunes window.

Scroll down to the Backup section and under Automatically Back Up choose This Computer. After some time, your computer will have a backup file of your iPhone. To double-check the file, go to the iTunes menu, select Preferences and choose the Devices tab. From there, you can see a list of any iPhone backups that you’ve made via iTunes.

Keep in mind that your backup is only as current as the last time you ran the process. Also, your backup file is only as safe as your computer is.

Use MacOS Catalina Finder Backup

It’s kind of true that MacOS Catalina is doing away with iTunes. The functions of iTunes are being broken up and reassigned. Instead of backing up to the iTunes app, you’ll just use a Finder window.

Open a Finder window from the dock. Select your device from the sidebar under Devices. Then on the right-hand side click on the General tab. Next, click Back Up Now. Depending on how much data you have, this could take a while.