How to Back Up iPhone without iCloud [Two Alternative Approaches]

Backup iPhone to transfer them over to the new one? You may be interested in iTransfer and Phone Transfer.

I am trying to back up my iPhone XS and everything that's on it with iCloud, but I get a notification saying that "iPhone Backup Failed". Is there any way to back up data on my 64GB iPhone XS without the use of iCloud. And I don't want to pay for more iCloud storage. Thanks in advance.

So you're looking to get yourself a backup strategy? Great. Over the years, the robust way is to back up your iPhone with iCloud by Wi-Fi or using your computer by iTunes. With simplicity of a wireless backup being the focus instead of a cable connection, an iCloud backup can happen automatically each day when the device is connected to Wi-Fi network, connected to power, and the screen is locked.

The thing is that you can't back up to iCloud — you're getting this message "This iPhone cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available.", or you do not wish to use iCloud to back up the iPhone but only to find that an iCloud backup has been performed. If you want to pass on an iCloud backup of your device, we've put together alternative approaches that can help you set to back up iPhone without iCloud. We'll show you:

• How to Back Up to iTunes & Finder
• How to Back Up iPhone without iCloud or iTunes

Solution 1: How to Back Up to iTunes & Finder (without iCloud)

The venerable rule for backing up data on iPhone is storing backups in iCloud and on your Mac or PC. iTunes or Finder, technically, is not an iCloud alternative, but it works for local backups saving all your device's data and settings to the computer: photos, media files not purchased from iTunes Store, Calendar, Voice Memos, messages, call history, Apple Pay information and settings, etc.

Although using iTunes or Finder in macOS Catalina is nor as simplistic nor as automatic as simply enabling iCloud Backup in the phone's iCloud settings, it's not that hard than you might think if you follow these steps. An iTunes backup for iPhone will not take up much space on the computer.

• Open iTunes on your computer. If you're using a Mac in macOS 10.15 Catalina, launch Finder.
• Connect your iPhone to the Mac or PC. When prompted, tap Trust this computer.
• Locate your device, and click on it.
• Turn on "Encrypt local backup" to set up an encrypted iPhone backup.
• Click Back Up Now.

Solution 2: How to Back Up iPhone without iCloud or iTunes

Owners of iPhones will naturally tend to favor Apple own backup tools, but there are other options out there. iOS Data Backup & Restore is overall a smart alternative to back up and restore iPhone and iPad to and from a computer.

The software is considered to be a no-nonsense backup utility that makes backing up iPhone to computer a painless experience. It features a classic interface where you can select what you'd like to back up before you start the process—something noticeable lacking when using iCloud or iTunes. You could also back up the iPhone to an external hard drive by changing the default location set by the software.

To give an idea of the way the tool works, let's walk through the simple procedure for creating a backup of iPhone without iCloud involved.

Get started: Backing up iPhone without iCloud backup

Step 1: Run the tool and select "iOS Data Backup & Restore"

Navigate to the green Download button above, click it to download the utility on your Mac or PC. After that, follow the on-screen directions to finish setup process.

Open the utility, click on "More Tools" option form the left panel, then on the opening window, choose "iOS Data Backup & Restore" tab.

Step 2: Attach iPhone device with computer

Plug iPhone into your computer on which you wish to store a copy of information, and ensure that it's unlocked during the process.

Then, click on iOS Data Backup button on the interface.

Step 3: Highlight certain types of data to back up

On the next screen, you can check either "Standard backup" option or "Encrypted backup" option, then click the Start button to move on.

The Caveat: Don't forget the password you set for the backup. There's no way to recover your encrypted backups without it.

From the window that displays, select whatever types of files you'd like to back up by clicking the checkboxes.

Step 4: Start a backup from iPhone without using iCloud

Once you've done that, press Next button and the program will start backing iPhone up without iCloud on the computer. The progress bar in the window indicates the progress of the process.

Done! If you want to transfer music, videos, photos to and from iPhone without using iTunes, you can try our popular utility — iTransfer. It is a great application for managing your iPhone files.

How to Back Up with iCloud

It will save you loads of pain to let iCloud back up your device:

• On iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud.
• Tap iCloud Backup.
• Turn on iCloud Backup.
• Tap Back Up Now.

To automatically back up iPhone in iCloud, make sure iCloud Backup is toggled on, your phone is locked, connected to Wi-Fi network connection, and plugged into power source. You won't be able to make an iPhone iCloud backup without WiFi access; and if there is not enough iCloud storage available, the backup will fail.

Luckily for you, the article offers troubleshooting methods to check whether the next backup size is larger than the space you do have left on iCloud, and manage the storage.

Chance are if you prefer to back up your device to a cloud server, you could google for alternatives to iCloud.