How to Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup (Without Losing Data), by Wondershare DrFone on YouTube. 8 min 12 s.
- Video length
- 8 min 12 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Turn off Find My iPhone before you start. Open Settings, tap your name, then Find My, then Find My iPhone, and switch it off. Enter your Apple ID password to confirm.
Connect your iPhone to the computer with the cable. If a Trust prompt appears on the phone, tap Trust and enter your passcode.
Open iTunes on Windows or older macOS. On macOS Catalina or later, open Finder and click your iPhone in the sidebar.
Click the device icon or your phone's name to open the summary page. Check that the backup you want appears in the list with its date and size.
Click Restore Backup. Pick the correct backup by date, then confirm. If the backup is encrypted, type the backup password when asked.
Leave the phone connected and wait while it restores. The screen shows a progress bar. Do not unplug the cable until the phone restarts.
When the phone reboots, set it up and sign in with your Apple ID. Your apps download again and your data comes back from the backup.
If you only need a few photos or messages, skip the full restore. Use a recovery tool to scan the backup, preview the files and export just those items to your computer.
Tips and common mistakes
A full restore replaces everything currently on the iPhone, so back up any new photos or messages first.
Keep the phone plugged in and the computer awake during the restore, since a dropped cable can corrupt the process.
Note the backup password before you start. Without it, an encrypted backup cannot be restored.
Restoring takes longer on a full phone, so allow extra time if the backup is large.
Questions
Will restoring a backup delete the data already on my iPhone?
Yes. A full restore overwrites the current contents of the phone with the backup. Copy off anything new before you begin.
Can I restore only some photos or messages from a backup?
Not with iTunes or Finder, which restore everything at once. A third-party recovery tool can scan the backup and let you pick single items to export.
Where do I find my backups on the computer?
ITunes and Finder list them on the device summary page with the date and size. On a Mac you can also check Finder's Manage Backups option.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
