Catch 22 - Cannot Backup My iPhone but Also Cannot See Any Backups to Verify How Big "Next Backup" Is

Question

Level 1

8 points

Catch 22 - Cannot Backup My iPhone but Also Cannot See Any Backups to Verify How Big "Next Backup" Is

Hi everyone,

Just as the title says, my iPhone has been rejecting any attempt to back itself up to iCloud, stating that there is not enough space in the iCloud. My current usage is approx. 170MB of 5GB. I have selected only small apps to back up such as Contacts, Calendars, Notes, Reminders, etc. (i.e. no Photos, Mail or similar).

When I was looking online for how to solve this, I realized I should check the size of "Next Backup" which is supposedly located under Settings >My Info > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups. The issue is, I do not have Backups at that location. Once I go to Manage Storage I can only see three items: iCloud storage size bar, Change Storage Plan and list of apps using the aforementioned 170MB of iCloud storage.

This is all quite annoying as red badge regularly keeps popping up in the Settings, reminding me to back up my phone. Honestly, it makes me think this is deliberately made this way so to nudge me towards buying more storage space, which I have no intention of doing. Any ideas how to solve this?

Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated.

iPhone XR

Posted on Sep 9, 2019 8:23 PM

Reply

Answer 1

2ndlaw Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 11, 2019 5:42 AM in response to MoonJ.

Hi MoonJ.,

Thank you for your reply.

I did try the steps mentioned in the linked article. More so, that article links to another one which explains how to check the size of your backup. There it's mentioned:

iOS 10.3 or later:

1. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.

2. If you use iOS 11 or later, tap Manage Storage > Backups. If you use iOS 10.3, tap iCloud Storage > Manage Storage.

The issue I have is that I do not see Backups there, as I explained in my first message. Because of this, I am unable to figure out why there is insufficient space in my iCloud for the backup:

Also as I mentioned, I'm only trying to backup light apps: Notes, Reminders, etc. I deselected Photos, Mail, and all the heavy apps from the backup. Screenshot shows that there should be more than enough space for backup but iOS is both not letting me backup nor check how much the backup would be.

Thanks again.

Reply