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I am not been able to backup my data on iCloud . It says backup size of 10+ G.B while I have selected only "Notes" + "Contacts" and "fitness” only.

These three items can not possibly have the 10+G.B data so I don’t think I need more than the default 5 GB of space

IPhone 13Pro Max , IOS 17.1.2

The size of actual data (Notes+Contacts+Fitness) Unknown to me.

How can I proceed?

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    Did you check the actual storage needs of Notes, Contacts and Fitness data?
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Dec 6, 2023 at 14:53

1 Answer 1

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The backup space estimate (like the estimate that’s made for enough free space to upgrade) can be wrong, and it’s almost always wrong by over estimating the data.

Here’s steps to move forward that are better IMO than previously documented.

  1. Put the phone in airplane mode ( no WiFi / no cellular) be sure WiFi is off since if you used WiFi before in airplane mode it will still be on.
  2. Power off the iPhone
  3. 20 seconds after it’s off, plug into power and once you see it start, let it sit for 10 minutes (to let the space calculation run without any sync causing hiccups). Wait up to 10 more minutes if the space calculation is all gray or other and you don't get realistic information from the storage space calculation.
  4. Open iPhone storage (settings > general > iPhone Storage) and see how much space is used (screenshot if needed for uploading here or for Apple support later)
  5. My notes is 7.02 GB my Health is 2.35 GB and my contacts 0.3 GB
  6. Try to back up only the smallest item (turn off all other backup data) and get a short, good clean backup. (This means turn off airplane mode now)
  7. Repeat turning on things you want backed up one by one for the next larger item until you agree the space in iCloud is full or you’re done.

Worst case, you will need to contact Apple support if the numbers don’t match up. They can fix things on the server side if the calculation is really off for your account. I’ve also purchased extra storage for one month to let a big backup happen and then cleaned things and slimmed down and cancelled the storage a few weeks later once I had time to clean house on the iPhone.

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  • Thanks . Much Appreciated . Will Check as advised.
    – Mubeen
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 4:26
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    Just tried this on an iPad that's been resisting backup since it was new. Eventually, after going through this method twice, it still said 'not enough space' though all other evidence indicated there should be, but I hit the Backup Now button anyway. I did this a couple of times, each time hitting a different response of the two offered at that point. One worked, but I didn't take a picture so I'm now not certain exactly what it said. I think it was the Cancel. [There are only two options anyway & one doesn't do anything.] & off it went, finished in under 5 minutes.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 12:41
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    Excellent @Tetsujin My hunch is the devices that have issues - at the core have a dirty sync / one that's not getting resolved so it keeps trying and then the "estimate" hedges too much. Something about powering on in AirPlane mode then enabling the network after you force spotlight to rebuild offline lets us get leverage to push a small backup before the cloud sync (bird) gets going again, perhaps?
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 12:44
  • I'd actually rejigged what to backup until it was well down at 1.5GB, plenty of room even in the free 5GB… but it was not believing its own numbers - "1.5GB will not fit in your 4.5GB of free space" in effect. I just kept hitting buttons almost at random by that point util.. omg, it started. That's why I don't know exactly which option finally did it. I wasn't expecting it to work, so wasn't paying the best attention.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 13:04

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