Just like everyone else, I get the notification that my iCloud is full and no backup can be made. iOS gives me the suggestion to upgrade my storage on my iCloud account. Because I only want to store my settings, phone numbers and other 'light' stuff, I see no reason to upgrade. I think a few gigabytes should be more than plenty to backup my device(s).
What is taking all the space on my iCloud?
First I checked on my Mac - OS X Mavericks
On OS X I have checked the following in 'System Preferences' -> 'iCloud':
- Backup 4.44 GB
- Documents 550.7 MB
- Mail 5 MB
Okay, my major storage exists of the type 'Backup'. I Guess these are the backups from my iPad and iPhone, but System prefs gives me no further clue. Lets look at my iPhone
I got out my iPhone - iOS 8.4
I go to 'Settings' -> 'iCloud':
- iCloud Drive ON
- Photos ON
- iCloud Photo Library OFF
- My Photo Stream OFF
- iCloud Photo Sharing ON
- Mail OFF
- Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Safari, Notes, Passbook ON
- Backup, Keychain, Find My iPhone ON
Then I go to 'Settings' -> 'iCloud' -> 'Storage':
- Total storage 5.0 GB
- Available 15.9 MB
I go to 'Settings' -> 'iCloud' -> 'Storage' -> 'Manage Storage':
LAST BACKUP FAILED
An additional 5 GB of storage is required. To continue backing up this iPhone do one of the following:
- Change your backup options
- Delete some data
- Buy more storage
Also, it gives me the following use of my data:
Backups:
- iPhone backup of 4.3 GB
- iPad backup of 137.4 MB
Documents & Data:
- Some documents with a total of 534.6 MB
Okay, so all my storage goes to 'Backups'. Lets select the iPhone backup (and here is where I get lost...)
'Settings' -> 'iCloud' -> 'Storage' -> 'Manage Storage' -> 'iPhone Backup':
BACKUP OPTIONS
Choose the data you want to back up. An additional 5.0GB is required to back up this iPhone
Next Backup Size 5.0 GB ⚠️
- Photo Library 2.3 GB OFF
- WhatsApp 550 MB OFF
- Keynote 238 MB OFF
There is no space requiring stuff to backup and still is it taking 5.0GB... What does my phone want to backup that takes 5.0 GB of space? Is there a way to visualise this? I only want to backup some settings and contacts, no major stuff...
How can I backup my stuff with the default 5 GB?