Export and import data from iPhone after restoring with iTunes (or 3rd party apps)

Question

I want to backup my iPhone to my Mac with iTunes, but the problem is I cannot backup because my iPhone needs to be wiped first but I have no backup data on my Mac and I don't know how to force it to backup without wiping so I can restore my iPhone and reimport the data back to my iPhone such as messages, emails, photos, videos and music.

I looked at PhoneView, it can export messages, but it cannot import anything to the iPhone, how can I import important data because I want to import my messages that I do not want to be wiped.

I need an effective program or solution for this to be possible, I do not want to do illegal activities such as jailbreaking my iPhone.

Answer 1

Interesting... What happens when you plug in your iPhone to the computer? What's the message of iTunes? As far as you can find the iPhone from your iTunes, you can always do the backup by right-click on your iPhone icon in iTunes and select "Backup" to force it to back up.

However there is one thing you should know: based on my experience when upgrading the iOS 5, even I did the force backup as above, after restoring it still not the same as the point when I did the backup. I am not sure whether it really "backups", but at least this is an option.

Answer 2

It is not clear from your question, but if your iTunes library does not contain your iPhone's music already, you can try and use DeTune a small third-party program which will load your iPhone's music to your Mac iTunes.

Next, you can proceed to restore the restore process will automatically backup your iPhone's emails, calendars, Camera Roll photos and contacts. When prompted, select restore from a previous backup and select the most recent backup you just made.

The restore process will indeed delete your iPhone music; however, if you already have it loaded in your iTunes library, you can quickly restore that too with a sync.