How to Back Up Your iPhone Before a Repair
iCloud, Mac or PC, a phone with a broken screen, and what to do about Find My and your passcode.
Why bother, if the repair does not touch data
Screen, battery, port and camera repairs do not touch your storage, and we have never lost a customer’s data on one. But a phone that arrives with liquid damage or a boot loop is a different case, and any phone can fail unexpectedly during any repair. A backup takes ten minutes and removes the only real risk. If your last backup was months ago, do it before you leave the house.
Method 1: iCloud, from the phone
Connect to Wi-Fi, open Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now. It includes photos (if iCloud Photos is off; if it is on, they are already in iCloud), messages, app data and settings. The free 5 GB is often too small; a month of iCloud+ at the 50 GB or 200 GB tier costs little and can be cancelled after the repair. Check the “Last successful backup” line before you hand the phone in.
Method 2: Mac or PC, full local backup
Connect with a cable, open Finder (macOS) or the Apple Devices app or iTunes (Windows), select the iPhone, choose Back up all data to this Mac/PC, tick Encrypt local backup so passwords and Health data are included, and click Back Up Now. This is the most complete backup and does not need iCloud storage. Tap Trust on the phone when asked.
A phone with a broken screen
If the display is black but touch works, you can often unlock blind: press the side button, swipe up from the bottom, type the passcode in the usual keypad positions. If touch is dead, connect to a computer you have previously trusted; the backup runs without the screen. If the computer has never been trusted, the screen must be repaired first, which is fine: the repair does not touch data, and you can back up straight afterwards. Never let anyone “extract” data by opening the phone if a screen repair would make a normal backup possible.
Find My, passcode and SIM
You do not need to turn off Find My for a repair at an independent shop, and we do not ask you to. We do need the passcode, or you present to enter it, to test Face ID, cameras and the screen after the repair; a shop that cannot test cannot warranty. Take your SIM out if you want to keep using it in another phone during a longer repair. Remove any privacy screen protector that hides the display from our test camera.