Detailed Tutorial: How to Backup iPhone When iCloud Is Full [2 Options]

How do I backup my iPhone if iCloud storage is full?

Actually, iCloud backups are selectable. When your iCloud storage is full, one option is to manage iCloud storage and clear data that you don’t need anymore, for example, clear messages from iCloud. But this is only a temporary solution. As more and more data comes into your iPhone, your iCloud storage will run out again sooner or later. Therefore, here we advise you to back up your iPhone data to your computer and free the space of your iPhone.

Two ways: How to backup iPhone when iCloud is full 

Here in this part, we’ll offer you two options on how to backup iPhone when iCloud is full. One is to use the free iOS backup tool FoneTool, and the other is to use iTunes to backup iPhone data on a computer.

Method 1. Free & professional iOS backup tool-FoneTool

The first option on how to backup iPhone when iCloud storage is full is using the free yet professional iOS data backup tool FoneTool. It has the following advantages:

Multiple functions. It allows you to back up your iOS devices without iCloud on your computer, freeing up space on your iPhone and in iCloud. It also allows you to transfer data freely between iOS devices and between iOS devices and computers.

Diverse backup methods. It enables you to backup selective photos, music, videos, contacts, and messages from your iPhone to a computer or fully backup your iPhone.

Free of data loss. When you need to restore the data you’ve backed up on your computer to your iPhone, it will not erase any data existing on your iPhone already.

Fast speed. You are able to back up more than 2000 contacts in 20 seconds, faster than using most other backup software.

Wide compatibility. Besides iPhone, it also supports different types of iPads and iPods. It is perfectly compatible with kinds of versions of iOS.

Here we provide you with two options, you can choose to selectively backup your iPhone or fully backup it.

Option 1. Selectively backup your iPhone

Step 1. Download and install MBackupper on your Windows PC. Connect two iPhones to the computer via a USB cable and then launch MBackupper.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup > Locate Selective Backup and click Get Started.

Step 3. Select the data you want to backup.

Step 4. Click each icon to preview and select the items and click OK to confirm.

Step 5. Choose a storage path and click Start Backup to save the backup to your computer.

Option 2. Fully backup your iPhone

Step 1. Repeat Step 1 in Option 1.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup > Locate Full Backup and click Get Started.

Step 3. Enable backup encryption as you like. If it is enabled, your data such as Fitness records, Health, and Keychain can be private.

Step 4. Select a storage path to save the backup. Click Start Backup and wait until it finishes.

Methods 2. Backup your iPhone to your computer using iTunes

If your iCloud is full, you can also backup your iPhone data on your Mac or Windows computer using iTunes.

Step 1. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes on your computer. Then connect your iPhone to the computer.

Step 2. Click the Device tab.

Step 3. Tick This computer, and then click Back Up Now.

Step 4. To encrypt your backups, select Encrypt local backup, type a password, then click Set Password.

Step 5. On Mac, you can find the iPhone backups here: Menu bar of iTunes > Edit > Preferences > Devices > Backup > Reveal in Finder. On Windows computer, Disk C > Users > Administrator > AppData > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup.

Bonus tips: How to free up iCloud space when it is full

In this part, we'll give you some tips on how to free up iCloud space when it is full.

Option 1. Delete old iCloud backups

The first option on how to free up iCloud space when it is full is to delete old iCloud backups from previous devices and only leave the ones you need. This has been tested by many users as useful. Here’s how to delete your old iCloud backups.

Step 1. Go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.

Step 2. Delete your old iCloud backups on your iPhone that you don’t need anymore and only leave these you need.

Option 2. Delete unnecessary data in iCloud

iCloud helps back up information like photos, messages, mails, etc., on your iPhone, but you may not need some of the information. Therefore, you can delete some unnecessary data on iPhone to free up iCloud storage. 

Step 1. Navigate to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage, Click Manage Storage.

Step 2. Here you can check the backups information. Choose an item such as Photos that takes up a large space, and choose “Disable & Delete” to release space.

Option 3. Clear up iCloud Drive

iCloud has the ability to store a large amount of data, some of which you may not have been aware of. If you don't clean up frequently, it will consume your iCloud storage. For instance, in addition to photos, messages, mails, etc., it saves files such as Word documents, PDFs, and so on. 

Step 1. Find and click the Files app on your iPhone or iPad > Click Browse > Select iCloud Drive.

Step 2. Tap and hold a file on the above folders that you want to delete, and choose Delete.

Step 3. Then your iCloud storage may be reduced a little.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces how to backup iPhone when iCloud is full. Two options are offered in this post, namely, FoneTool and iTunes. But you need to note that when you restore your data from the computer to your iPhone, using iTunes will erase existing data on your iPhone while using FoneTool won’t. If you don’t want to lose the existing data on your iPhone after restoration, it’s recommended to use FoneTool.