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What does “iPhone Not Backed Up” mean, and how can I fix it?

Aidan Fitzpatrick

Published June 14, 2018· Updated October 6, 2020

iPhone Not Backed Up

This iPhone hasn't been backed up in X weeks. Backups happen when this iPhone is connected to power, locked and on Wi-Fi.

If you run into this problem, the cause is as it says: you need to keep your phone powered, locked and on Wi-Fi on a regular basis. Your iPhone will try to create a backup on a daily basis when these criteria are met, and if they're not it'll alert you with this error.

It's good that Apple alert you to this, as keeping an up-to-date backup of your iOS device is a good idea: if you lose or damage the device, or accidentally delete a file, you may not otherwise be able to get it back.

If regularly leaving your phone locked, on Wi-Fi and powered isn't easy for you, consider switching from iCloud backups to iTunes backups.

Backing up with iTunes is free, and has a number of benefits. We publish a short guide detailing the pros and cons, as well as how to do it.


About the author

Aidan Fitzpatrick

Founder, CEO

Aidan founded Reincubate in 2008 after building the world’s first iOS data recovery tool. Since then he has grown the company into one of the world’s top ISVs, working with companies like AMD, Qualcomm and HP to pioneer meaningful machine-learning features for video software, headlined by the Camo app ecosystem. Under Aidan’s leadership, Reincubate has won the UK’s highest business honour four times, earned a place on The Sunday Times’ 100 Tech list, and garnered industry recognition with Apple Design Award and App Store nominations. His work and techniques are often cited in academic papers on mobile forensics, and he’s been invited to speak at events hosted by companies like Google, Microsoft and Snap.


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