The process of backing up your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is getting more important than ever, due to the increasingly high amount of data kept on these iOS devices. Just keep in mind that as you take some pictures through your device and as you send and receive more messages, there is a risk of losing important data if something happens to the device e.g., it gets stolen or shattered.
This can be prevented if you backup your phone often, so that even if you lose your phone or break it, you will manage to securely restore all your data through a backup on your Mac.
In this article, you’ll find some guidelines on how to completely and safely backup your iPhone (or iPod or iPad) to your fixed Mac device with Finder. For users who want to choose which data to backup, we will also mention the reliable iPhone backup program TouchCopy for Mac.
How to use Finder to backup your iPhone
If you are using Mac’s operating systems Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey, you will have to run the Finder app first to finalize the backup on your iPhone. For those of you on previous macOS versions, you can back up your iPhone with iTunes.
Here is how to backup your iPhone through the Finder app:
- Install the Finder app on your Mac.
- Form a connection with your iPhone device
- Choose the source device from the menu.
- Select “Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac”
- Press “Back Up Now”
How to backup your iPhone data to a Mac using Finder
Overview (Finder Backup):
- Keeps backups on your Mac
- Generates and runs backups on Mac
- Ability to restore your iPhone from backup
- Optional backup encryption mode
How to use iCloud to backup your iPhone
If you have enough iCloud storage (free storage is limited to 5GB), you can choose to backup your iPhone to iCloud. Simply pick “Backup the most important data on your iPhone to iCloud” before you press the “Back Up Now” button.
Note: In case you want to store the “health and activity” data from your mobile device, you’ll have to encrypt your backup, by selecting the “Encrypt device backup” checkbox. You will have to create a password to encrypt and secure your data. Ensure that you have your password in a safe place as you will be prompted to enter it to gain access or retrieve your encrypted backup.
Overview (iCloud backup):
- Backups are stored on iCloud
- 5GB free storage
- Encrypted backups
- Create and use backups over Wi-Fi
- You can restore iPhone from iCloud backup
How to backup chosen iPhone files to your Mac
If you want to be fully in control and select which data will be backed up on your Mac computer, we suggest using the TouchCopy Mac app. This choice is ideal for those who want a user-friendly solution as well as additional management that allows you to transfer and backup personal photos, contact details, SMS messages, etc. Furthermore, iCloud and Finder backups do not include music downloaded to your device or various multimedia files which can all be backed up using TouchCopy.
You can view all your iPhone content from your Mac using TouchCopy, and choose which media you wish to backup. You may copy your songs from your iPhone to a Mac, backup images, contacts, save messages in a PDF format or print them, and more through TouchCopy. Here is how to run TouchCopy to backup selected data:
- Download and install TouchCopy on your Mac.
- Run TouchCopy and connect your iPhone to your Mac through a USB cable or your Wi-Fi.
- Browse through the data on your iPhone via the tabs in TouchCopy.
- Choose which data you want to backup. For instance, if you want to save your images, select the “All Photos” tab in TouchCopy and press “Copy to Mac”. You may also copy your images straight to your Photos app on your computer by clicking on “Copy to Photos” in TouchCopy.
Backup iPhone photos to Mac using TouchCopy
TouchCopy Overview
- Ability to backup all iPhone files, even music and multimedia
- Keep data locally on your Mac computer, no need to sign up for iCloud storage
- Gain full control of what is backed up between your iPhone and Mac
- Create backup over Wi-Fi or USB
- Reliable and well-known app
Conclusion
As it is evident by now, backing up your iPhone to Mac is very important – and it’s much simpler than you may think. You are now able to choose among simple backup ways.
In a nutshell:
- Use TouchCopy if you wish to gain full control of the transferred data as well as full access to the files you copy to your Mac.
- Use iCloud for simple and regular backup sessions if you have sufficient iCloud storage.
- Use Finder (or iTunes) to make local backups from which you can restore your iPhone.
