How to Restore Your iPhone From iCloud or iTunes Backup

If you’re reading this, then you probably took our advice and created a backup of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. This means all of your data, such as pictures, messages, call logs, and passwords, is saved somewhere safe and you can switch to a different iOS device in no time.

Now it’s time to learn how to restore your iOS device from a backup. Follow these steps, depending on which backup method you chose to use - iTunes or iCloud.

How to restore iPhone from iTunes backup
Here’s how you can restore your iOS device from an iTunes backup.

1. Open iTunes on your PC or Mac.
2. Connect your iOS device to your computer via the USB cable.
3. You may see a prompt on the iOS device asking if you want to trust the computer. If so, then tap Trust.
4. In iTunes on your computer, click the tiny icon (representing an iPhone, an iPad, or an iPod touch) at the top.
5. Under Backups, click Restore Backup in iTunes.
6. In the next pop-up, select the backup you want to restore to. Usually, the most recent backup is the one you want.
7. Click Restore. This process takes a long time, so just sit tight until the restore is complete. Once it’s done, you’ll find all your data on the iOS device.

How to restore iPhone from iCloud backup
Here’s what you need to do to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from an iCloud backup:

1. Remember that you need an Internet connection. Make sure that you are connected to Wi-Fi to restore your iOS device from an iCloud backup.
2. If you’ve set up your device already, you will have to erase all content before you can restore from an iCloud backup.
3. Once that’s done, or if it’s an iOS device you’re setting up from scratch, you’ll see a Hello screen.
4. Follow the simple on-screen instructions and you will reach a screen called Apps & Data.
5. Tap Restore from iCloud Backup.
6. Sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID.
7. Pick the backup you want to restore by tapping on it in the list you see.
8. Sign in to your Apple ID to restore your purchases — this includes any apps you’ve downloaded.
9. Now, a progress bar will appear and you’ll just have to sit tight until the restore is complete. This can take more time if your Internet connection is slow, or the backup file is very large.

If you restore via iCloud, initially some apps and data such as photos are the only things that appear. Later, iOS will slowly keep restoring other content in the background over the next few hours or days. Just keep your iOS device connected to Wi-Fi as much as possible and the restore will complete itself.

For more tutorials, visit our How To section.