cant restore backup from itunes on pc

i backed up my iphone 12 pro max to my laptop, it was a big backup i think over 120gb and my laptop is only 200gb, it took a long time but it backed up. i reset my iphone to factory settings, the next morning when i was restoring it, it seemed to be working but i had to leave and i unplugged the phone to take with me thinking ill just do it when i get back, then when i tried later it didnt work, it said something like 'there was an error while writing to or reading from the iphone' i tried so many different things, i restarted the iphone, i restarted the laptop, i tried a different lightning cable, then i came to the internet and i tried more things. in the end i had a external hard drive that was 500gb so i tried moving the backup to there in hopes that more space would solve my problems and now itunes is saying 'your iphone has never been backed up to this folder' even though i tried putting the backup folder back exactly where i found it i cant get itunes to see the backup. is there ANYBODY who can help i dont know what more to do, and it would really break my heart to lose some of this data :'(

iPhone 12 Pro Max

Posted on Oct 7, 2023 07:57 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 1, 2024 06:52 AM

Hi @Essdot28,

Yes, luckily, it got resolved. The problem is space on your computer (C drive). Backup data will get stored in %appdata% (C:\Users\UERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup).

If your phone is 256 GB (ex: 230GB occupied), then iTunes backup may consume around 180-190 GB. So, to restore your computer, you should have additional free space of 180-190GB. So before taking a backup, you must check that you have approximately 380-400 GB of free space on your C drive. (I didn't try restoration with external HDD ). Failure restorations will also create files, and they consume space every time you try.

Ex: your backup filename is : av61ghsfsg-hausfr123

Restored file names will be : av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-123edr

av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-42rseds

av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-16hjdvb

I hope this helps. Cheers

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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 1, 2024 06:52 AM in response to Essdot28

Hi @Essdot28,

Yes, luckily, it got resolved. The problem is space on your computer (C drive). Backup data will get stored in %appdata% (C:\Users\UERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup).

If your phone is 256 GB (ex: 230GB occupied), then iTunes backup may consume around 180-190 GB. So, to restore your computer, you should have additional free space of 180-190GB. So before taking a backup, you must check that you have approximately 380-400 GB of free space on your C drive. (I didn't try restoration with external HDD ). Failure restorations will also create files, and they consume space every time you try.

Ex: your backup filename is : av61ghsfsg-hausfr123

Restored file names will be : av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-123edr

av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-42rseds

av61ghsfsg-hausfr123-16hjdvb

I hope this helps. Cheers

Oct 8, 2023 04:12 PM in response to ahilas145

Hello ahilas145,


Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.


Let's review these steps to restore your backup:


"Try again after each step

  1. Make sure your Mac or PC is up-to-date. If you're using iTunes, make sure that you have 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 or iTunes, learn what to do. If you forgot your passcode or your device is disabled, learn what to do
  3. Restart all your devices.
  4. If you use a Mac, skip this step. If you use a Windows PC and iTunes won't respond or your backup never finishes, you might need to update, change, disable, or uninstall your security software.
  5. If you own more than one computer, try to make a backup on your other 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, find your error message below to learn what to do next.
  7. Contact Apple Support."


Additional details can be found here: If you can't back up your iOS or iPadOS device to a computer or restore it from a backup


If the issue persists, reaching out to Apple may be the best option.


You can do so by going to Get Support


Cheers!

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cant restore backup from itunes on pc

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