Auto backups don't ever happen. only manual

Question

Jim Jaocby Author

Level 1

12 points

Auto backups don't ever happen. only manual

Once upon a time, whenever I connected my iPhone to my PC by USB, iTunes

would open and my phone would be backed up. That doesn't happen anymore

(since two phones ago). I have all the boxes checked in iTunes like

"Automatically Backup" to "This Computer" and "Automatically sync when

this iPhone is connected", but the only backups on my computer are those

that were initiated manually. My iTunes is up-to-date and my phone is

running 18.3. Any ideas?

iPhone 16 Pro, 18

Posted on Jan 28, 2025 10:07 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,729 points

Jan 28, 2025 06:30 PM in response to Jim Jaocby

Should you need it this is a link to the standalone installer:

https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/win64

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

277,729 points

Jan 28, 2025 05:40 PM in response to Jim Jaocby

Did you get your copy of iTunes from the Microsoft Store or via a traditional installer. Uninstalling one and switching to the other might potentially help. Bear in mind however that the two different versions store their backups in different places so if you switch you'll be making a new backup in a new location and won't see your old backups.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,729 points

Jan 28, 2025 10:33 AM in response to Jim Jaocby

Is iCloud Backup enabled on the device? This may override choices made in iTunes.

tt2

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Answer 4

Jim Jaocby Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 28, 2025 06:04 PM in response to turingtest2

I had iTunes on my PC that I had installed maybe two years ago. I uninstalled it and loaded the version from the MS store. No difference. Same version. It found my old backups. Yesterday, when my phone tried to update to 18.3, it froze. Hard reset didn't help and a full restore wouldn't work either. So I tried the new install of iTunes. That didn't help either. I had to restore if from another PC. Anyway, long answer to a short question... I already tried that. Thanks.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

277,729 points

Jan 29, 2025 02:10 AM in response to Jim Jaocby

Jim Jaocby wrote:

no luck

That's a shame. Do you have any third party security software? Temporarily disabling this during installation might might help. With the standalone installer it is possible to right-click it and use the Run as administrator option, which could potentially help update registry entries that might otherwise go unchanged during an installation due the privilege level of the installer.

tt2

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Answer 6

Zurarczurx

Level 4

2,568 points

Jan 29, 2025 02:36 AM in response to Jim Jaocby

I assume you're on a Windows PC.

On a Mac you can manage iPhone backups using a Terminal Command

defaults write com.apple.AMPDevicesAgent AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled -bool false

There might be an equivalent for Windows if you do a google search.

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Answer 7

Jim Jaocby Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 28, 2025 05:21 PM in response to turingtest2

No, iCloud backup is off.

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Answer 8

Jim Jaocby Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 28, 2025 06:06 PM in response to turingtest2

I just re-read your post. It is possible that the old version of iTunes came from MS Store, too. So maybe I didn't actually try what you suggested. I will give it a shot. Thanks

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