iCloud backup problem

[Vismich]

Hi All,

I just set my wife up to back up her iPhone 6s to iCloud. She has about 40g of data, and hasn't been able to complete a back up because it says it will take 3 days.

I have always backed my phone to the cloud, and have about the same amount of data, and it backs up fine, so I know it's not my internet connection.

Any thoughts?

 

[iThingsGurl]

How much iCloud space does your wife's account have? If she does not have enough space on the iCloud it may not allow you to upload/backup your phone.

iCloud comes with 5GB of free space. Apple offers different monthly plans if you need to store data beyond the free space.

 

[Vismich]

How much iCloud space does your wife's account have? If she does not have enough space on the iCloud it may not allow you to upload/backup your phone.

iCloud comes with 5GB of free space. Apple offers different monthly plans if you need to store data beyond the free space.

She has 40G on her phone, and I have purchased 50G of space.

 

[iThingsGurl]

She has 40G on her phone, and I have purchased 50G of space.

Okay. I'd suggest you to, on your wife's phone, sign out of iCloud, then sign back in again. After that, reset the phone's network settings. Once the rest it completed, you'll need to select your WiFi network and enter your WiFi password. Try backing up after that. This might solve your problem.

 

[Vismich]

Okay. I'd suggest you to, on your wife's phone, sign out of iCloud, then sign back in again. After that, reset the phone's network settings. Once the rest it completed, you'll need to select your WiFi network and enter your WiFi password. Try backing up after that. This might solve your problem.

Ok. Ill give that a try tonight. It gives me an option to "delete back ups", but also says we never backed up to the cloud. Do you suggest o select the back up in case there is something making it not work?

 

[iThingsGurl]

Do you suggest o select the back up in case there is something making it not work?

That won't be necessary. Also, if there's something making it not work, it should be taken care of once you update to iOS 10 later today. (Or, we hope it is taken care of!)

 

[Vismich]

That won't be necessary. Also, if there's something making it not work, it should be taken care of once you update to iOS 10 later today. (Or, we hope it is taken care of!)

Ok Thanks. So we tried last night, and this morning it said she had 15 more hours.... Much better, but she had to go to work. two questions.

1. Is the first back up always the longest?

2. If she unplugs the phone, and leaves wifi. Will the back up start at the same place tonight, or will it start over every time?

 

[iThingsGurl]

1. Is the first back up always the longest?

Yes. First backups are always the longest. Even on my Mac, for a backup to a local disk, it took much longer the first time. Besides, since you have to rely on your Internet upload speeds I think a 15 hours estimate is normal (that is, unless you have a super-fast Internet upload speed! In which case I'm wrong).

Subsequent backups will be much quicker because only new files and edited files will be updated.

2. If she unplugs the phone, and leaves wifi. Will the back up start at the same place tonight, or will it start over every time?

The backup will start from the same place it was interrupted every time she leaves the WiFi range. Luckily, iCloud Backups never happen over cellular data so she won't have to worry about that either.

On a side note, while 15 hours is quite normal for 40 GB of backup data at an upload speed of up to 5 Mbps, if it takes longer than that, delete the iCloud account from her iPhone (do not delete the account itself, just de-link it from the iPhone!) and connect to the account afresh like you would on a new device.