If you can't back up your iOS or iPadOS device to a computer or restore it from a backup

If you can't back up your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer or if you can't restore your device from a computer backup, find out what to do.

Try again after each step

1. Make sure your Mac or PC is up to date. Make sure you have the latest version of the Apple Devices app or the latest version of iTunes.

2. Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable, and locate your device on your computer. If your device doesn’t appear in Finder, iTunes or the Apple Devices app, find out what to do. If you’ve forgotten your passcode or your device is disabled, find out what to do.

3. Restart all your devices.

4. If you're using a Mac, skip this step. If you use a Windows PC and iTunes won’t respond or your backup never finishes, you may need to update, change, disable or uninstall your security software.

5. If you own more than one computer, try to make a backup on another Mac or PC. Or use iCloud to back up your device and restore from your iCloud backup.

6. If you see an alert that says an error occurred, your backup is corrupt or incompatible, or there’s not enough disk space, locate your error message below to find out what to do next.

If an alert appears stating that an error has occurred

If a message says that your computer can’t back up your device because an error occurred, check that you have the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.

If an alert appears stating that there's not enough disk space

If a message appears stating there's not enough disk space when you're trying to back up your device, you'll need to free up some space on your Mac or PC.

If an alert appears stating that your backup is corrupted or incompatible

If your iOS or iPadOS device can't restore from a backup because the backup is corrupted or incompatible, make sure that your computer is updated. If you see an error that says your iOS or iPadOS software is too old, find out how to update your device to restore the backup. If you still can't restore the backup, you may not be able to use that backup. Try to use an alternative backup or an iCloud backup.

Get more help

• If you’ve forgotten your password for an encrypted backup

• If you’ve forgotten the passcode for your device

• If you can’t restore your iOS or iPadOS device from a backup because your software is too old

• If you need help with an iCloud backup

If you can’t back up your iOS or iPadOS device to a computer or restore it from a backup, contact Apple Support.