Huge iTunes backup (200GB+) won’t restore to iPhone 14 — no error, just blank

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diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Huge iTunes backup (200GB+) won’t restore to iPhone 14 — no error, just blank

Hello, I need help with restoring a backup from iTunes.

Here is my situation:

I hadn’t updated my iPhone for about a year. Then it started shutting down and restarting on its own.
I updated iOS, but after the update the cellular network signal disappeared.
A technician reinstalled the firmware, and during that process I made a backup in iTunes. The backup size is over 200GB, and my iPhone has 256GB storage, so there is enough space.
When I try to restore this backup through iTunes, it starts the process and takes many hours (around 8 hours), but after it finishes, the iPhone is still completely empty.
There are no error messages about storage, corrupted files, or anything else — it just says that the backup is loading, but in the end nothing appears on the phone.

So, my questions are:

Could this be caused by the iOS version change?
Has anyone faced the same problem, where the backup looks like it is restoring but the phone remains empty?
Is there any solution or workaround to fully restore the data?

Any advice or shared experience would be really appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

iPhone 14, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 2, 2025 06:16 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 2, 2025 07:08 AM in response to diemcel

I don't believe there is any way to send a backup to Apple at all. If the backup won't restore to your phone, you'll have to set up your phone manually, not from backup. Items you sync with iCloud will download back to your phone as long as you use the Same Apple Account and turn the switches on for iCloud. You can get your apps back from the App Store, by opening the App Store App > Tap the circle at the top with your Initials > Apps > Not on this phone and you'll see a list of all apps you have which are not on the phone with a cloud icon next to it. Tap the cloud icon and the apps will download.

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Answer 2

Sep 2, 2025 06:27 AM in response to diemcel

A 200GB backup is HUGE. Not contained in the backup are things you sync with iCloud such as photos, app data, messages, email, iOS, system data for example. Not only do you need space for the backup, but all the other things not contained in the backup. It would make sense that trying to restore a 200GB backup to a phone with 256GB of memory, with all the other data requirements you need to have on your phone is too large. Not what you want to hear, but you don't own a phone with enough storage. You really should move up to a phone with 512GB of memory. You can't remove things from a backup. A backup is ALL or nothing.

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Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

220,818 points

Sep 2, 2025 06:32 AM in response to diemcel

Who was the "technician" who updated iOS? Did you take the phone to the Genius Bar at an Apple Store? To an authorized service provider? Or to an unauthorized 3rd party shop?

Restoring the backup shouldn't normally be a problem unless the installed version of iOS is older than the version used to make the backup to begin with.

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Answer 4

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 06:48 AM in response to lobsterghost1

The technician also tried restoring the backup on another iPhone model with 512GB of storage. It only loaded for about 4 minutes and then finished, but the phone was still empty. So it doesn’t look like just a storage issue. Maybe I should try again, but since he tested it on a different model with larger capacity and it still didn’t work, I’m not sure what to do.

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Answer 5

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 06:57 AM in response to KiltedTim

In my country, there is no Apple Store or Genius Bar available. I took the phone to a trusted local technician in my area. He does this regularly for other people — restoring iPhones via iTunes and creating backups through iTunes — so that’s why I went to him.

I just gave the backup to another technician. He mentioned that the backup seems to contain only system files, and I’m not sure if it’s possible to read or extract anything from it. I don’t know what to do next.

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Answer 6

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 06:59 AM in response to lobsterghost1

The problem is that I am in Ukraine, and there is no Apple Store here. I’ve already tried other technicians, but the backup still won’t restore. The last technician said it seems to contain only system files, and I don’t know how to recover it. I’m wondering if there’s any way to send this backup to Apple directly for assistance, if that’s even possible.

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Answer 7

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 07:55 AM in response to KiltedTim

I understand, but the backup itself is about 200GB, and it was created through iTunes. It contains encrypted files and multiple folders. I just want to clarify that the backup seems complete on the computer, and all data is present there. I’m not sure why it won’t restore to the iPhone, since the backup size should fit on the device.

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Answer 8

KiltedTim

Level 10

220,818 points

Sep 2, 2025 07:59 AM in response to diemcel

There is no way for us to verify that. The normal method to verify the backup would be to restore it to an iOS device. As you've already tried that with multiple iOS devices, it's safe to assume that there is something drastically wrong with the existing backup.

If it is not an encrypted backup, you may be able to use 3rd party tools to manually extract some data from the backup (photos, etc.) if that data was not being synced to the cloud.

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Answer 9

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 08:02 AM in response to KiltedTim

I understand. The issue may have been caused by no network, a modem problem, or something similar. Perhaps you have previously used a tool for backup recovery. I would like to try using iMazing, or if you know any other programs that could help recover the data, I would greatly appreciate your advice.

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Answer 10

Sep 2, 2025 06:52 AM in response to diemcel

There could be an issue with the backup, but that's not something we can figure out here. I'd go back to the Apple Store for help.

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Answer 11

KiltedTim

Level 10

220,818 points

Sep 2, 2025 07:24 AM in response to diemcel

Sounds like the backup did not complete successfully.

Unfortunately, if that's the case, it's a lost cause.

The data is likely unrecoverable.

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Answer 12

diemcel Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 2, 2025 07:59 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Thank you for the advice. The phone itself is not the problem, unfortunately—it’s the data that was stored on it that’s most important to me. I really appreciate your suggestion in case I need it.

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