Messages are often among the most important data stored on your iPhone. To ensure they are safe, message backup is crucial. Many people tend to back up messages to iCloud on their Apple devices. Therefore, we have provided the up-to-date and accurate guide for iMessage and SMS backup to iCloud or a computer. Also, you can restore your messages from iCloud with the restoration steps.
Part 1: Can iCloud Back Up Messages?
Yes, iCloud can back up your messages, including iMessages, SMS, and MMS. iCloud's automatic backup feature allows your messages to be safely stored on Apple's cloud service. Once enabled, iCloud will back up your messages along with other app data like photos, contacts, and more. This ensures that even if you lose or upgrade your device, your messages will be retrievable from iCloud when you restore your backup.
Part 2: How to Back Up Messages to iCloud Directly
It's very simple to upload messages to iCloud on an iPhone with the Settings app. As long as you connect your iPhone or iPad to a stable network, you can start to wirelessly back up your iMessage to your iCloud account.
Here's how to upload messages to iCloud with the Settings app:
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone, and tap your name at the top to open your Apple ID.
Step 2: Scroll down to find "iCloud".
Step 3: Click "See All" > "Messages", and turn on "Use on this iPhone".
Tips: On the devices running iOS 16 to 17.1, you can click "Show All" > "Messages", and enable "Sync this iPhone".
You can also back up messages to iCloud on Mac:
Step 1: Open the Messages app on your Mac computer.
Step 2: Click "Messages" > "Settings" > "iMessage", and select "Enable Messages in iCloud".
Step 3: Select the email addresses and phone numbers you want, and then your messages will be stored in iCloud on the Mac computer. You can open the Messages app to view your messages now.
Part 3: How to Restore Messages from iCloud
Whenever you want to restore your messages from the iCloud backup, you can do it without effort. However, to restore messages on your iPhone, you have to reset the iOS device first, since the data restoration is only supported during the setup.
Here's how to restore messages from iCloud:
Step 1: Please go to Settings, and click "General" > "Reset" > "Erase All Content and Settings". By the way, this step will erase all your current data on your mobile device, so please back up your important data first.
Step 2: After resetting your iPhone, please start to set it up.
Step 3: On the "Transfer Your Apps & Data" screen, please choose "From iCloud Backup". Then sign in with your Apple ID and select the backup file containing your desired messages.
Step 4: Complete the setup, and then you can access your messages on the iPhone.
Extra Tips: How to Back Up iMessages to Computer Without iCloud
If you don't want to save messages to iCloud, you can choose your computer as the backup location. To achieve the SMS backup on your computer, you can use iReaShare iPhone Manager, a comprehensive management tool for various iOS data. With it, you can preview your iPhone text messages on the desktop, and select the messages you want to export to your computer for backup.
Main features of iReaShare iPhone Manager:
* Export text messages from an iPhone to a computer without iCloud.
* Save your messages as easily accessible file formats, such as HTML, TXT, and CSV.
* Support the backup of iPhone contacts, notes, photos, videos, music, documents, and more.
* Allow you to preview your specific messages and other data before transferring them.
* Support iOS 5.0 and upper, including iOS 18.
Download the iPhone Manager software.
Download for Win Download for Mac
Here's how to back up iMessage to a computer without iCloud:
Step 1: Install and launch iReaShare iPhone Manager on your computer, and then connect your iPhone to the computer with USB.
Step 2: Make the iOS device trust your computer, and the connection will be established.
Step 3: Choose the "Messages" option to preview your messages. Then tick off the messages you want, and tap "Export" to save them on your PC or Mac.
Conclusion
Now, you have understood how to back up your iPhone messages to iCloud and restore your messages from iCloud backup. Even though you don't want to back up iMessage to iCloud, you can choose iReaShare iPhone Manager to back up your data to your computer. Anyway, to protect your important messages, please start your backup as soon as possible.
Download for Win Download for Mac
