How Much Storage Is Needed to Backup Your iPhone?

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How to Check the Backup Size on iPhone

First things first, let’s use Apple’s own tools to see how much space your next backup might claim.

1. On your iPhone, open Settings.

2. Tap your name at the top, then iCloud.

3. Then Manage Account Storage or iCloud Backup (on newer iOS versions).

4. Choose your iPhone, and look for Next Backup Size.

   

That number isn’t fixed—it can grow if you add more apps, photos, or data—but it gives a good snapshot of your current needs.

As shown in our screenshot, your iPhone might display a message like, “This iPhone cannot be backed up because there is not enough iCloud storage available” (the exact wording may vary). If you see this, you have two options: either turn off certain items in your backup or upgrade to a larger iCloud plan. Taking this step now can save you a lot of frustration later.

How Much Storage Does an iPhone Backup Require?

So, how much space does an iPhone backup actually need? There’s no single answer—it depends on what’s on your device, what’s already synced to iCloud, and whether you’re backing up everything or only the essentials.

If you’re relying on Apple’s free 5GB of iCloud storage, a full backup probably won’t fit unless your device is very light—few apps, minimal messages, and almost no photos. Typical iCloud backups can range anywhere from 1GB to over 100GB, depending entirely on the amount of data on your iPhone.

What affects backup size?

• Photos & videos – If you don’t use iCloud Photos, these get included in the backup.

• Messages & attachments – Those GIFs, videos, and memes in your text threads? They add up.

• App data – Some apps store a ton of data, even if you rarely use them.

• Device settings & preferences – Not a huge factor, but still part of the backup.

How many GB are needed for an iCloud Backup? For a very rough estimate:

• Light user (few apps, minimal photos & messages) → 2GB – 5GB

• Average user (moderate app usage, some photos, iMessage history) → 5GB – 20GB

• Heavy user (lots of apps, full-resolution photos, years of messages) → 20GB – 100GB+

If your backup is larger than the available iCloud space, you’ll need to either reduce the backup size or upgrade your storage plan—which we’ll cover next.

How to Free Up Space for an iPhone Backup

Apple makes it easy to upgrade to an iCloud+ plan, but before spending any money, there are ways to shrink your backup size. In many cases, you can free up enough space for an iPhone backup without paying a dime. We’ll discuss iCloud+ shortly, but most people prefer to start with free methods to make their backup fit within their current plan.

1. Turn Off Apps in iCloud Backup

Not everything on your iPhone needs to be backed up. Some apps store all their data on their own servers, so including them in your iCloud backup is unnecessary—they just end up taking up space that could be better used for essential backups.

To stop unnecessary apps from taking up space:

1. Open Settings and tap [Your Name] at the top.

2. Select iCloud, then Manage Account Storage > Backups.

3. Tap your iPhone from the list.

4. Scroll through the list of apps and toggle off the ones you don’t need in your backup.

   

A few large apps can instantly reduce your backup size by several gigabytes. After trimming your backup, check the estimated size again. If it now fits within your available iCloud storage, you’re good to go. If not, don’t worry—we’ve got more ways to free up space.

2. Clean Up Photos and Videos

If your backup is still too large, photos and videos are often the main culprits. But first, let’s clear up a common confusion: many people aren’t sure how photo backups actually work.

You may have heard of—or even use—iCloud Photos. This is separate from iCloud Backup, and whether it’s turned on or off affects how your photos are stored and whether they count toward your backup size.

Apple separates photos into two categories: iCloud Photos and iCloud Backup. If iCloud Photos is turned on, your pictures are uploaded directly to Apple’s sync service, so they don’t take up space in your daily backup. This helps keep your backup file smaller.

If iCloud Photos is off, however, every photo and video in your camera roll is included in your iCloud backup, which can dramatically increase its size. Apple’s official guidance confirms this distinction.

So, your photos always use iCloud storage in some form. Sure, you could disable both iCloud Photos and Photos in your iCloud Backup settings—but then your pictures wouldn’t be stored in iCloud at all. Lose your iPhone or local storage? Those photos are gone forever. Not exactly ideal.

A smarter approach is to clean up your photo library to reduce its size. You could go through the Photos app manually, but who really wants to scroll through thousands of pictures and videos just to decide what to delete? Plus, iOS doesn’t let you sort by file size.

This is where iPhone cleaner apps can help. Many of these apps require payment, but our research uncovered a few excellent free options. One standout is Clever Cleaner: AI Photo Cleaner by CleverFiles. This free app does the heavy lifting for you—completely unrestricted, unlimited, ad-free, and impressively fast. Curious how fast? We detail everything in our full Clever Cleaner review.

Note. Clever Cleaner comes packed with 4 features to help clean up your iPhone’s photo library:

• Similars – The app’s AI identifies and clears both identical and visually similar images. Unlike your iPhone’s built-in duplicate detector, which only catches exact matches, Clever Cleaner finds similar images—like multiple shots of the same person or object from different angles.

• Screenshots – Quickly detects and removes all screenshots in a single tap.

• Lives – Converts Live Photos into standard images by stripping that short video clip, so you free up extra space without losing the main picture. Pretty unique feature.

• Heavies – Sorts files from largest to smallest (especially helpful with large videos) to quickly delete the biggest storage hogs first.

All these combined will help you reduce your library without losing anything important. When we tested it, we were surprised to find around 17GB of unnecessary files in total we could clean up. You have to agree—that’s a lot.

The process is super simple. Here’s an example of how to clean your library of duplicates using Clever Cleaner:

1. Download Clever Cleaner, open it, and grant access to your Photos.

2. Tap the Similars tab. The app will automatically group similar photos.

3. Tap Smart Cleanup at the bottom. The app will suggest photos for deletion. The AI automatically selects the best photo to keep in each group.

   

4. Want to keep a specific group? Tap Restore to remove it from the deletion list.

5. If you approve the AI’s selections, use Slide to delete all marked photos.

6. Prefer manual review? Tap on a group to compare photos yourself.

7. You can choose a different Best Shot to keep.

8. Tap Move to Trash if you want to delete the photos, or tap Skip All to keep them.

9. When you’re done, just tap Empty Trash at the bottom and confirm deletion once more.

   

Note: Clever Cleaner also appears in our ranking of the best iPhone AI cleaners. If you want even more AI-powered cleanup options, that list is worth a look. However, few are as generous as Clever Cleaner. More developers could take a page from this app’s playbook. According to its official Clever Cleaner page, the developers promise to keep it free for all current users, regardless of future feature updates. That means if you download it now, you’ll lock in unlimited access—something rarely seen in free apps.

3. Delete or Manage Old Device Backups

If you’ve owned multiple iPhones over the years, old backups may be quietly taking up iCloud space. Apple doesn’t automatically delete them when you switch devices, so they can accumulate over time. Here’s how to locate and remove them:

1. Open Settings and tap [Your Name] at the top.

2. Go to iCloud > Manage Account Storage > Backups.

3. You’ll see a list of backups for all devices linked to your iCloud account.

4. Tap on any old or unnecessary device and hit Delete Backup.

   

Keep in mind—deleting a backup removes all data associated with that device, so make sure you don’t need it before clearing it out. If the backup belongs to an iPhone or iPad you haven’t used in years, though, it’s just wasting valuable space.

After removing unnecessary backups, check your available iCloud storage again. If your current iPhone’s backup still won’t fit, there are a few more steps you can take before upgrading your iCloud plan. Let’s keep going.

4. Clean Up iCloud Drive and Mail

Your iPhone backup isn’t the only thing taking up iCloud space. Files stored in iCloud Drive and emails in Mail iCloud also count toward your storage limit. Clearing out unnecessary files and messages can free up enough room for your backup—without deleting anything from your iPhone itself.

How to Clear iCloud Drive Storage

iCloud Drive stores files from apps like Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and third-party cloud storage apps. If you’ve ever manually saved a document, screenshot, or large download to iCloud Drive, it’s worth checking for old files you no longer need.:

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.

2. Tap Browse > iCloud Drive.

3. Look through your folders and delete any large or unnecessary files.

4. Empty the Recently Deleted folder to permanently remove them.

   

How to Free Up Space in Mail iCloud

If you use Mail iCloud as your primary email, your inbox might be holding onto years of emails and attachments that eat into your storage. To clean it up:

1. Open the Mail app and go to your iCloud inbox.

2. Sort by attachments or search for large files.

3. Delete old emails you no longer need.

4. Empty the Trash folder to permanently free up space.

   

While clearing out files and emails won’t directly shrink your iCloud backup, it can free up enough iCloud storage overall to allow the backup to go through.

5. Clean Up Messages to Reduce Backup Size

And don’t forget about Messages—many people, like a Redditor here, don’t realize how much space their texts and attachments take up in iCloud Backup. Even if Messages in iCloud is turned off, your entire chat history—including photos, videos, and GIFs—gets backed up.

If your iCloud backup size seems unexpectedly large, old large messages could be the hidden culprit. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Open the Messages app and find conversations with lots of attachments.

2. Tap the contact’s name at the top of a conversation.

3. Go to Photos, Videos & Documents—this shows all the media in that chat.

4. Delete anything unnecessary, especially large video files.

   

To stop this from happening again, you can set Messages to auto-delete old conversations:

1. Go to Settings > Messages.

2. Tap Keep Messages and change it from Forever to 1 Year or 30 Days.

Note. Some people also report that their settings showed Messages wasn’t included in iCloud backup, yet message content was still being backed up. Toggling Messages in iCloud off and then back on finally forced iCloud to update properly and reduced backup size significantly. If you’re still seeing a large backup size, you might want to try this trick.

6. Upgrade Your iCloud Storage Plan

If you’ve tried everything, but your iCloud backup still won’t fit, it might be time to consider an iCloud+ upgrade.

As we mentioned earlier, Apple gives every user 5GB of free iCloud storage, but let’s be honest—that’s barely enough for most people. If your backup size is consistently too big, upgrading to a larger plan might be the simplest solution.

How to upgrade your iCloud storage:

1. Open Settings and tap [Your Name] at the top.

2. Select iCloud > Manage Account Storage (or iCloud Storage).

3. Tap Get More Storage or Upgrade to iCloud+.

   

Now, choose a plan:

• 50GB ($0.99/month) – Enough for backups if you manage storage wisely.

• 200GB ($2.99/month) – Best for families or those who store a lot of photos and videos.

• 2TB ($9.99/month) – Ideal for multiple devices and heavy iCloud users.

Once you upgrade, your backup will resume automatically. The extra space also gives you more breathing room for iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, and any future storage needs.

Tip: Apple lets you downgrade your iCloud plan at any time. If you only need extra space temporarily, you can upgrade and later switch back to a lower plan. Just make sure to download or remove any content that exceeds your new storage limit before downgrading—otherwise, you could lose access to certain files.

Alternative Backup Options

If iCloud isn’t working for you—whether due to limited storage, slow backups, or personal preference—there are other ways to back up your iPhone. Apple offers a local backup option via Mac or PC, and third-party software can provide even more control over what gets saved. Here’s how to back up your iPhone without relying on iCloud.

Finder Backup

Backing up through Finder stores your data locally on your computer, making it a great option if you want a direct copy of your iPhone. This method is especially useful for large backups, as it’s only limited by the storage capacity of your computer.

1. Use a USB cable to connect your iPhone to your Mac.

2. On your Mac, open a new Finder window.

   

3. In Finder, locate your iPhone listed under “Locations” and click on it.

   

4. Under the “General” tab, click “Back Up Now” to begin the backup process to your Mac.

Note. If you’re on Windows (or a Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier), use iTunes instead of Finder. The steps are nearly identical—connect your iPhone, open iTunes, select your device, and click Back Up Now under the Backups section.

Third-Party Software

If iCloud and local backups aren’t flexible enough, third-party backup software offers more control. Unlike Apple’s built-in options, these tools can be a great alternative, especially for users who need more control over their backups or who prefer not to use iCloud or iTunes. We recomend to start your search with these apps:

• IDrive: IDrive offers a cloud-based backup solution ideal for users needing to manage large files without relying on physical storage. The service is compatible with iOS 13.0 or later and provides various storage plans to accommodate different user needs. While IDrive is appreciated for its functionality, some users have noted the need for improved customer service communication.

  

• iMazing: iMazing provides a solution for backing up a wide range of file types from your iPhone to a computer. It stands out for features like automatic backup scheduling, backup encryption, and the ability to archive backups to prevent data loss. iMazing also supports customized data restoration and efficient data transfer between devices, making it a versatile tool for iPhone data management.

  

Both alternative backup options offer unique advantages for iPhone backup solutions beyond iCloud, catering to various user preferences and needs.

Short & Sweet: iCloud Backup Guide

How much iCloud storage do you need?
It depends on what’s on your iPhone—backups can range from a few GBs to over 100GB. Apple gives you 5GB for free, but that’s usually not enough.

Check your backup size:
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > iCloud Backups > Your iPhone and look at Next Backup Size. If it’s bigger than your available storage, you’ll need to free up space or upgrade iCloud.

Ways to free up space:

• Disable unnecessary app backups – Turn off apps you don’t need backed up (Settings > iCloud > Backups).

• Clean up photos & videos – Delete unneeded media or use an app for automatic cleanup.

• Remove old device backups – Delete backups from devices you no longer use.

• Clear out Messages – Delete chats with large attachments or enable Messages in iCloud so they don’t take extra backup space.

• Manage iCloud Drive & Mail – Remove unnecessary files and emails with large attachments.

Alternative backup methods:

• Mac (Finder) – Connect your iPhone, open Finder, and click Back Up Now (macOS Catalina or later).

• PC (iTunes) – Connect your iPhone, open iTunes, select your device, and click Back Up Now.

• Third-party tools – Apps like iMazing, IDrive, and Dr.Fone let you back up to external drives or cloud services and give more flexibility than Apple’s options.