Big size of Medical ID iCloud backup
What's the reason of Medical ID iCloud backup being large (~1.5 GB) despite having Apple Health iCloud backup turned on? Could it be related to "Export all data" function?
[Edited by Moderator]
Yes, the large size of your Medical ID iCloud backup (~1.5 GB) is most likely due to using the “Export All Health Data” feature in the Health app.
Medical ID itself is very lightweight, containing only basic info like your name, allergies, and emergency contacts. It should only use a few kilobytes of storage—not gigabytes.
However, when you use the “Export All Health Data” option, the Health app creates a large XML file containing years of data—workouts, vitals, sleep, cycle tracking, and more. This file can easily reach hundreds of megabytes or more, especially if you've had an Apple Watch or long health history.
This export file is usually saved to iCloud Drive (in the Files app) and may be counted in your iCloud backup, even if Health syncing is enabled. The syncing feature doesn’t prevent exported or app-generated files from being included in the backup.
To check, go to Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → Manage Storage → Backups → [Your Device], then tap Show All Apps to see what’s taking up space. You can also look in the Files app → iCloud Drive for large files like export.zip.
In short, Medical ID isn’t using 1.5 GB—your Health data export likely is. You can delete or move the export out of iCloud Drive if you no longer need it.