Is Restoring Your iPhone from a Computer Backup Taking Too Long? Here Is What to Do
Reading Time: 3 minutes The most common way to back up an iPhone is using iCloud. This is a wireless over-the-air method that occurs automatically (when certain conditions are met). This method offers simplicity and convenience. However, many people also use their computers to back up their iPhones. This method saves a copy of your iPhone on your computer.
Backing up an iPhone to a computer involves connecting the iPhone to a Mac or Windows computer with a cable and using iTunes if it is a PC or an older version of a Mac (macOS Mojave or earlier) or Finder if it is a newer version of Mac. This method gives you local control and requires no internet connection. I use both iCloud and Finder backups. I usually create a backup on my computer once a month, while my iCloud backups happen daily.
Regardless of your backup type, you can restore from a backup if needed. Restoring from backup means recovering your content and system settings from a previously saved copy (the backup).
When you start the restore process, a progress bar will show you how long the process is expected to take. It will say “time remaining: about x minutes or hours.” Sometimes, when I am restoring from a computer backup, Finder takes too long, like several hours. The process should not take that long. Usually, for me it usually takes less than 20 minutes. As you can see in the screenshot below, the restore process is taking 20 hours, which is too long.
Fix iPhone “Restore from Backup” taking too long
If you experience excessively long restore times, there are some steps you can take to fix the problem and reduce the restore time. Here is what I do to fix things when I experience this problem:
- Disconnect your iPhone from your Mac or PC. Unplug the cable from the iPhone and from the computer (both ends).
- Ensure that your Mac and/or iTunes are up to date. Update them if needed.
- Restart your iPhone.
- Restart your computer.
- Now, open iTunes or Finder on your computer, but do not connect your device to your computer with a USB cable yet.
- Select “Restore from Backup with iTunes or Finder.”
- Now, connect the USB cable.
You should see that the popup saying “Time remaining” now shows a much shorter time, as in the screenshot below.
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