Is your iCloud backup procedure taking so long that you sometimes just cancel it? It is a bit frustrating and irritating to wait for a long time for the backup of iDevices. Besides, the question of “how long does iPhone take to backup to iCloud” is quite common on Apple forums, for we often apply iCloud to back up iDevices. If you are wondering why iCloud backup process takes so long and how to make the iCloud faster, this guidance will tell you the answers and tips to get rid of this issue, which might help you out in speeding up your backup with iCloud.

Part 1: About iTunes

iTunes is also quite handy for you to back up your iPhone. It is known as one media player, media library and management utility. Users can make use of it to buy, play, download and manage digital multimedia easily. To use iTunes to share your iTunes library is also a great idea. You can use it to enjoy everything you desire to be entertained, such as music, films, and TV shows. Here I would like to tell you in detail about the file types that iTunes will and won’t back for your iPhone. Read on and you will learn more, for this can also affect how long does it take to backup iPhone to iTunes.

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The following will list the files on your iPhone that can be backed up by iTunes. It is difficult to name all of them. After all, all in all, iTunes stores a lot of data.

√ iTunes will back up:

  • Photos, Videos, Music
  • Text Messages, iMessages, Voice Memos
  • Contacts, Call Log, Notes
  • App Settings, Device Settings (like network settings)
  • Calendar & Bookmark, Attachments
  • Documents, Browser Cache and more

Although iTunes backup files store nearly all of your iPhone data, some items are still not contained in the backed-up list. Now let’s check out what kind of data iTunes will not help you back up.

× iTunes won't back up

  • App Stores Data, or PDFs in Apple Books
  • Repeated data like synchronous photos (including My Photo Stream), videos, audios, and ebooks
  • Face ID or Touch ID settings are not included in iTunes
  • iTunes will not back up Activity, Health, and Keychain data unless you make an encrypted backup

Part 2: How Long Does It Take to Backup iPhone to iTunes?

It is so hard to say the actual time it will take to use iTunes to back up your iPhone, but many users have reported that it takes too much time to use iTunes to back up iPhone files. Do you also wonder how long does it take to backup iPhone to iTunes? Have you ever encountered the process that the iTunes backup progress bar is hardly moving and your iPhone seems like it gets frozen entirely? This circumstance is so bothersome and all users desire to get rid of this issue. As for how long does it take to backup iPhone to iTunes, there is also no definite reply, for the factors that affect the iTunes backup process are various. Now let’s take a look at the factors that can influence the iTunes backup time.

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  1. The data amount present on your iPhone. The larger the data on your iPhone, the lower speed will be.
  2. The speed of your network while backing up to iTunes. If your network is slow, the time will be longer for you to back up files to iTunes from iPhone.
  3. The disk space on your iPhone can also affect the iTunes backup speed. The less free space you have on your iDevice, the more time it will take to complete the backup.
  4. If it is the first time for you to back up your iPhone to iTunes, the time will be considerably longer than future backups.

The conditions of every iPhone user are not the same and iTunes only allows you to backup the entire files, which is unlike iCloud that enables you to choose the files you desire to backup. It is a waste of time to wait for the termination of the iTunes backup.

Part 3: How to Make iTunes Backup Faster?

Although the answer to the question of “how long does it take to backup iPhone to iTunes” is not clear, what you can do is to figure out some methods to speed up the process. The following solutions will assist you to fix this issue properly.

 Use iTunes alternatives to back up iPhone

Apart from iTunes, you can also make use of a professional third-party program to back up your iPhone. Leawo iTransfer is one of the best tools for you to apply. It is powerful in transferring files among iDevices, iTunes and computers. It can help you back up 12 kinds of files with 6X higher speed.

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 Back up your iPhone more frequently

To back up your iPhone regularly to iTunes will speed up the later back up. The initial iTunes backup can take a longer time, which is almost inevitable, for all the files on your iPhone are new to iTunes

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 Remove unused applications or unwanted files from your iPhone

It is clever for you to delete some unwanted apps on your iPhone or try to discard some useless files like images, videos, and audios from your iDevices to make your iTunes backup speed higher.

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 Avoid sending crash reports to Apple every iTunes sync

To save time by terminating the crash reports is also feasible. You can make it via turning off syncing on your iPhone and navigating to iTunes by hitting on “Advanced> Reset Warnings> Do not ask me again> Don't Send”.

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These solutions to cope with how to speed up iTunes backup process are useful. You can choose one way or several methods to assist you. If you think they are quite fantastic to apply, you can also recommend these tips to your friends to help them get rid of the same trouble quickly.

Part 4: Using iTunes Alternatives to Backup to Backup iPhone

If you desire to get rid of the bad condition of using iTunes to backup your iPhone, you can turn to a third-party tool to help you make it. Leawo iTransfer is excellent in backing up iOS files, including songs, music, messages, contacts and so on. It can process 12 kinds of files on your iPhone and the transferring speed is quite high. There is no need for you to worry about the time it will take at all. Now let’s begin to have a look at the detailed steps to deal with how to use iTunes alternative to backup your iPhone data smoothly. Music will be taken for example in this part.

Step 1. Download Leawo iTransfer

Choose the version that matches your computer, then download and install Leawo iTransfer on your computer.

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  • Leawo iTransfer

    - Transfer files among iOS devices, iTunes and PCs with ease.
    - 6x faster than iTunes
    - Transfer up to 14 kinds of data and files without iTunes.
    - Support the latest iOS devices like iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, etc.
    - Play back, view, and delete data and files on iOS devices.
    - Support Windows & Mac OS

Step 2: Run Leawo iTransfer and Connect iPhone

Use a matched USB cable to connect your iPhone with computer and run the tool on PC to prepare to use Leawo iTransfer to back up your iPhone data. You can see your iPhone in the main interface quickly.

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Step 3: Select iPhone Songs

Hit on your iPhone icon and then click on the “Music” menu under the tab of “LIBRARY” to choose the songs you desire to backup to your computer. After that, you need to right click on one piece of music you select to call out the transfer menu. After the new menu shows up, you can select “Transfer to > My Computer” to hit.

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Step 4: Set Output Folder and Transfer Songs

A panel will pop up to ask you to set the output folder to save your iPhone data. Here you need to hit on the button of “Save to Folder” to check this option and then click on “Change” button to select a place on computer to save the exported iPhone music files. Finally, you need to hit on the “Transfer Now” button to wait for the procedure to complete. In several seconds, the backup process will end and your iPhone will be available on your computer local folder for you to enjoy.

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You may find that this way to back up your iPhone data is so clear and accurate. You are able to choose the exact data your desire to back up and the process is quite fast, which can save you a lot of time.

Part 5: Conclusion

Since iTunes back up process is not so perfect, you can resort to Leawo iTransfer to help you transfer your iPhone data to computer for backup. You can also try to use the methods mentioned in this guidance to try to make iTunes backup faster, but you need to know these methods are not so effective in many cases. Therefore, it is sensible for you to give up iTunes backup and use the iTunes alternative to achieve your aim perfectly. If you would like to get rid of the long time it takes to use iCloud to back up iPhone, this alternative is also helpful indeed. Have a try with Leawo iTransfer and you will know how powerful this tool is.