Have you ever needed to get a new phone, but all of your photos, notes, and contacts were lost in the switch? I have. If you’ve felt that pain—or want to avoid it—iCloud is your friend. If you make use of iCloud Drive or a paid iCloud+ plan, you can wirelessly back up valuable photos, videos, messages, and documents to iCloud, where it can be accessed and downloaded from all your devices.

Apple provides every user with 5GB of free iCloud storage. You can use this storage to back up apps, images, videos, or documents. But 5GB fills up fast; US users can get additional storage of 50GB for $0.99 per month, 200GB for $2.99, 2TB for $9.99, 6TB for $29.99, or 12TB for $59.99. As a subscriber to Apple One, you also get extra iCloud storage bundled with other Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, Fitness+, and more.

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What Does iCloud Backup Include?

When iCloud is used to back up my phone, it’s saving my app data, Apple Watch backups, device settings, Home screen layout, iMessage, SMS and MMS messages, photos and videos, purchase history from Apple services, Ringtones, and Visual Voicemail password. I can also select exactly what data is synced to iCloud storage.

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To do this, I open Settings and tap my name, then choose iCloud > Show All under Apps Using iCloud. Items like Calendars, Contacts, Health, Photos, Reminders, and Wallet can be enabled or disabled from here. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason to leave anything off, unless you’re running out of iCloud space. I leave everything enabled, but you may have different preferences.

If you want your photos and videos backed up, you’ll have to set up iCloud Photos. I did this under Settings > Photos, then enabled iCloud Photos to automatically upload my library to iCloud, including iCloud.com, where you can view and download photos on a computer.

(Credit: PCMag / Apple)

How to Back Up Your Device to iCloud

I have my phone automatically back up each day. You can do the same by heading to Settings, selecting your name, opening iCloud, and then enabling Back Up This iPhone. Your phone will run a back up when it’s connected to power, locked, on Wi-Fi, and iCloud has enough storage space.

Phones that support 5G may also allow you to use your cellular network. Mine does, so I have the option to enable the Back Up Over Cellular feature. Though, if you’re worried about data charges, it’s probably better to just leave this off and wait until you’re on Wi-Fi.

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Even once iCloud Backup is enabled, I can choose to manually back up the device at any time by clicking the Back Up Now button that appears. This will immediately have iCloud preserve a new backup. Here, you can also see the last time your device was successfully backed up.

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How to Manage Your iCloud Storage

It’s important to note that I can only back up my device if there’s enough iCloud storage space. To view the amount of storage in use on my account, I can go to Settings, tap my name, and then choose iCloud. Much like when I manage my on-device storage, there’s a graph showing how much space is available to me on iCloud.

To take a closer look, I can tap Manage Storage Account to see a list of individual apps and services that are included in my backup. Each entry will say how much data it uses, allowing me to see what is eating up the most storage. To free up space, I can tap an entry and set the data to be deleted from iCloud. I can also manage my iCloud storage plan from this screen, if it ever feels like I need more space.

(Credit: PCMag / Apple)

How to Sync Your Photos and Files

Do you use multiple Apple devices? I have an iPhone and MacBook, so if I want my photos and files to be available from both device, I’ll need to enable it on each one. I can do that on an iPhone if I open Settings, tap my name, choose iCloud, and then make sure both Photos and iCloud Drive have Sync this iPhone enabled.

(Credit: PCMag / Apple)

In order to set this up on my Mac, I need to open System Settings, click my name, then choose iCloud. From here, I’d select Photos and enable Sync this Mac, then click iCloud Drive and enable Sync this Mac.

If you have a Windows PC, you can import your photos into the Windows Photos app. You can also sign into your Apple account through the iCloud online portal, allowing you to view your synced photos and files from a web browser, and access your data from any device.

(Credit: PCMag / Apple)

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About Jason Cohen

Senior Editor, Help & How To

As PCMag’s editor of how to content, I have to cover a wide variety of topics and also make our stories accessible to everyday users. Considering my history as a technical writer, copywriter, and all-around freelancer covering baseball, comics, and more at various outlets, I am used to making myself into an expert.

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