How to back up your iPhone to Windows

From a new PC to a verified backup in about five minutes, plus the time the copying takes. You need your iPhone, its cable and a Windows 10 or 11 PC. Nothing is installed on the iPhone.

• First backup
• Wi-Fi
• Next time
• If something is not right
• Full version

Your first backup

1. Install SaveMyRoll

   Get SaveMyRoll from the Microsoft Store and open it. The free trial starts straight away, with no account.

2. Only if SaveMyRoll asks: get Apple Devices

   Windows needs Apple’s free connection component to talk to an iPhone. If you have iTunes or Apple Devices already, skip this step. Otherwise SaveMyRoll shows One quick step: Apple Devices: click the button, then Get in the Microsoft Store. It takes about a minute, you do not need to open it or sign in, and SaveMyRoll continues by itself.

3. Connect your iPhone

   Plug the iPhone in with its cable and unlock it. When the phone asks “Trust This Computer?”, tap Trust and enter your passcode. SaveMyRoll shows “Your iPhone is here”. Click Continue.

4. Choose where it goes

   The suggested folder is C:\iPhone Backup. Click Change… to pick another folder, a second drive or an external hard drive. SaveMyRoll reads your library and shows how many files are on the phone, how many are already saved, how many are new, and whether there is enough free space.

5. Start the backup

   Click Start backup. You see the progress, the speed and the time left. If the cable comes out, SaveMyRoll continues over Wi-Fi if it can, or waits for you to plug it back in.

6. Read the report

   When it says Everything is safe, every file was read back from your drive and matched the original. If something failed, the report says which file and why. Click Open folder to see your photos, sorted into year and month folders.

Use iCloud Photos with “Optimize iPhone Storage”? Then the full-size originals of older photos are in iCloud, not on the phone. To back up the originals, choose “Download and Keep Originals” in Settings → Photos first, and give the phone time to download them.

Back up over Wi-Fi

1. Connect with a cable once

   Plug the iPhone in and tap Trust, as above.

2. Turn on Wi-Fi in Apple Devices

   Open the Apple Devices app, select your iPhone, and under General turn on Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi. Click Apply. Using iTunes instead? The same option is in iTunes, under your iPhone’s Summary page: Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi.

3. Unplug and back up

   From now on, when the iPhone and the PC are on the same network, SaveMyRoll finds the phone without a cable. The connection shows as Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is slower than a cable. Use the cable for the first big backup, and Wi-Fi to top up with new photos.

Next time

Open SaveMyRoll, connect the phone and choose the same folder. Only the new photos and videos are copied; everything already saved is skipped. Each run gets its own verification.

If something is not right

• The iPhone does not show up. Unlock the phone and look for the Trust question. Try another cable or USB port. If SaveMyRoll asks for Apple Devices, install it with the button it shows.
• “This folder cannot be written”. An antivirus (for example Avast) or Windows Controlled Folder Access is protecting the folder. Allow SaveMyRoll in it, or pick another folder. Everything copied so far is verified and safe.
• Not enough space. SaveMyRoll checks before it starts. Choose a bigger drive, such as an external disk.
• The backup stopped. Connect again and start it. It continues where it stopped.

Still stuck? Write to [email protected]. I answer myself.

Unlock the full version

The trial saves the first 100 files per iPhone. To save everything, buy a license. You get the key by email straight away. In SaveMyRoll, click Free trial in the top right, paste the key and click Activate.