What iCloud backup actually contains
An iCloud backup stores a snapshot of your iPhone or iPad at a specific moment in time. It includes your photos, messages, contacts, calendar events, notes, reminders, health data, home automation settings, and app data — but not the apps themselves, which reinstall from the App Store. It also does not include music, movies, or books you bought through Apple, since those live in your library and can be re-downloaded.
The backup captures the state of your device's settings: which networks you trust, which apps have permission to use your location or camera, your wallpaper, your keyboard shortcuts, and your home screen layout. If you use iCloud Keychain, your saved passwords and payment methods are included. If you use iCloud Photos, the backup does not duplicate those photos — it just notes that they exist in iCloud.
What does not get backed up matters as much as what does. Your actual app files are not there. Your music library is not there unless you pay for Apple Music. Your iCloud Drive documents are stored separately, not in the backup. Anything stored only on your device — like voice memos recorded but not synced — will be in the backup, but anything already synced to iCloud is not duplicated.
Key Takeaways
- iCloud backup includes messages, photos, contacts, app data, settings, and health information, but not the apps themselves or content already synced to iCloud.
- You get 5 GB of free iCloud storage per Apple ID, and backups count against that limit — photos and documents stored in iCloud do not.
- A backup is created automatically when your device is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wi-Fi, but you can also start one manually in Settings.
- Restoring from a backup happens only when you set up a new device or erase and restore an existing one — backups do not automatically restore if you delete something.
How much space a backup takes and what counts toward your limit
The size of your backup depends on how much data you have. A typical backup might be 5 to 20 GB, but it varies widely. Your messages with photos and videos attached take up significant space. Your app data — game progress, email cache, app settings — adds up. Your photos stored on the device itself (not in iCloud Photos) are included.
All of this counts against your 5 GB free iCloud storage limit. If you have 8 GB of backup data and only 5 GB of free space, iCloud will not create a new backup until you either delete old backups, buy more storage, or reduce what is being backed up. You can see exactly how much space your backup uses by going to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups, then tapping your device name.
Documents and photos stored in iCloud Drive or iCloud Photos do not count toward your backup size — they have their own storage bucket. If you turn on iCloud Photos, your device photos sync to iCloud instead of being backed up, which actually frees up backup space. Music and books do not count either, because they are not stored on your device in the first place.
Which apps and data actually restore from backup
When you restore from an iCloud backup — usually when setting up a new device — the system reinstalls your apps from the App Store and then restores their data. This means your game progress, your email inbox, your notes, your photos, and your app-specific settings all come back. The apps themselves read fresh from Apple's servers, so you always get the current version.
Some apps store their data in iCloud instead of in the backup. If you use iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or any cloud service, those files are not restored from the backup — they sync from their own cloud storage. The same is true for email: if you use Gmail or Outlook, your messages live on those servers, not in the backup. The backup just remembers that you had those accounts set up.
Third-party apps vary. Some store everything locally on your device and rely entirely on the backup. Others sync to their own servers and the backup is just a safety net. You can see which apps have data in your backup by looking at the backup details in Settings, but the easiest way to know is to think about where the app stores its information: if it has its own cloud sync, the backup is secondary.
When backups are created and how to start one manually
iCloud creates a backup automatically once a day when three conditions are met: your device is plugged in, your device is locked, and your device is connected to Wi-Fi. If you use your phone while it is charging, or if you are on cellular data, the automatic backup does not run. This is why many people's backups are from the middle of the night — that is when the device is most likely to be plugged in, locked, and on Wi-Fi.
You do not have to wait for the automatic backup. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups, tap your device name, and tap "Back Up Now". This creates a backup when ready, regardless of whether your device is plugged in or locked. It uses Wi-Fi if available and cellular data if not. The backup usually takes a few minutes, depending on how much data you have and your connection speed.
If you are about to travel, sell your device, or make major changes to your phone, starting a manual backup beforehand is a good habit. It ensures you have a recent snapshot before anything changes. You can also see the date and time of your last backup in that same Settings screen, so you know whether the automatic backup has run recently.
How to see what is in your backup and what is being backed up
You cannot see a detailed list of every file in your backup from your phone. Apple does not provide that level of visibility. What you can see is the total size of your backup and which device it belongs to. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups, and you will see a list of all your devices with backups, the date of the last backup, and the total size.
To see which apps are being backed up, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups, tap your device name, and scroll down to "Choose Data to Back Up". This shows you a list of apps and services with toggles next to them. If a toggle is on, that app's data is included in the backup. If it is off, that app's data is not backed up — though the app itself will still reinstall when you restore.
You can turn off backup for specific apps if you want to save space. For example, if you do not care about restoring your game progress, you can turn off backup for that game. Your photos, messages, contacts, and other system data cannot be toggled off — they are always backed up if you have backup enabled at all.
What happens if you delete something on your device
Deleting a photo, message, or app from your device does not automatically restore it from your backup. Backups are snapshots taken at specific times — they do not actively monitor your device or undo deletions. If you delete a message thread and then realize you needed it, the backup will have that message only if it was included in a backup created before you deleted it.
This is why backups are a safety net for device failure or loss, not a recovery tool for accidental deletions. If you delete something and when ready realize your mistake, your best option is to check whether that data is synced to iCloud separately. Messages in iCloud, photos in iCloud Photos, and notes in iCloud are all synced in real time, so deleting them on your device also deletes them from iCloud.
If you need to recover something you deleted, you would need to restore your entire device from a backup created before the deletion — which means losing any changes made since that backup. This is a significant inconvenience, which is why it is worth thinking about what you are deleting and whether it matters.
iCloud backup versus iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos
iCloud backup, iCloud Drive, and iCloud Photos are three separate systems that often confuse each other in people's minds. iCloud backup is a snapshot of your device created once a day. iCloud Drive is a folder where you can store documents and files that sync across your devices in real time. iCloud Photos is a system that syncs all your photos and videos to iCloud and removes them from your device to save space.
If you turn on iCloud Photos, your photos are no longer stored on your device — they live in iCloud. This means they do not take up backup space, but it also means they are not included in your backup. If something goes wrong with iCloud Photos, your photos are still safe in iCloud. If something goes wrong with your backup, your photos in iCloud Photos are unaffected.
The three systems work together but independently. You can have iCloud backup turned on, use iCloud Drive for documents, and use iCloud Photos for photos, and they will not interfere with each other. Each one uses its own storage allocation, though they all count toward your total iCloud storage limit.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I turn off iCloud backup, do I lose my data?
No. Turning off backup does not delete anything on your device. It only stops new backups from being created. Your photos, messages, contacts, and apps all stay on your phone. The next time you set up a new device, you will not be able to restore from that backup, but your current device is unaffected.
Can I back up to iCloud and also use a computer backup?
Yes. You can have an iCloud backup and also plug your device into a Mac or Windows computer to create a local backup using Finder or iTunes. Having both is actually a good idea — if iCloud is unavailable, you still have a local copy. The two backups do not interfere with each other.
What happens to my backup if I do not use iCloud for a year?
Apple keeps your backup as long as your iCloud account is active. If you do not sign in to iCloud for 180 days, Apple may delete your backup to free up space, but your account itself remains active. If you sign in again, your backup is still there. You would only lose your backup if you delete your Apple ID or if Apple deletes your account due to inactivity.
Does iCloud backup include my passwords?
If you use iCloud Keychain, your saved passwords and payment methods are backed up. If you do not use iCloud Keychain, passwords are not backed up — they are only stored locally on your device. You can turn on iCloud Keychain in Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Keychain.
Can I restore just one app's data from a backup?
No. Restoring from a backup is an all-or-nothing process — you restore the entire backup or none of it. If you need to recover data from just one app, your best option is to check whether that app syncs to its own cloud service. Many apps have their own recovery options separate from iCloud backup.