iTunes Can’t Restore from Backup of iPhone and iPad [How to Fix]

While there’s iCloud backup that your iPhone can restore to, people still use iTunes backup. Backups in iTunes are simpler and kind of more manageable even though they’re sometimes prone to errors.

One of those errors is when iTunes can’t restore from backup for your iPhone/iPad. That’s kind of a very bad spot to be in, especially if all the important data is locked up inside the backup.

When You Run Into Backup-Restore Issues, here’s How to Fix a Corrupt iPhone/iPad Backup:

Check the Cable

First off, check the USB cable that you’re using. Many times, while the iPhone/iPad connects (and iTunes recognizes the device) successfully, there are instances where the cable turns out to be the problem. Intermittent connectivity, may be?

Silly as the fix sounds, don’t discount this.

Check Space on Disk

When you try to restore from a backup, you might run into disk space issues. We mention this as an aside because the error message clearly mentions this (so it’s not as obscure as some other iTunes backup errors like 50).

In order to fix an “insufficient disk space” error when you are trying to restore from a backup, the easiest thing to do is clear some space off the disk (typically, C:/ for Windows).

Update iTunes to latest

Make sure you’ve got the latest iTunes version. You can click on About → Check for updates and make sure it’s the latest version of iTunes that you’re running. This is quite important because, for some reason, Apple has this nasty habit of getting features go berserk in older software.

You’ll hear this a million times everywhere in the Apple community: update your iTunes to the latest version. It saves a lot of trouble.

Delete Existing Backup within iTunes

Now, this is where it gets exciting. In most “corrupt backup” cases, this is a viable solution (that has worked a lot many times).

Here’s what you need to do to Fix iTunes Can’t Restore from Backup of iPhone/iPad

Step #1. Quit iTunes first.

Step #2. On Windows:

• Click Start
• In the search bar, type %appdata%
• Now, navigate to Roaming → Apple Computer → MobileSync → Backup
• Copy the backup folder(s) to your desktop

Step #2. On Mac:

• Open the Library folder in your home folder. (If you don’t see one, hold down Option and click Go)
• From here navigate to: Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
• Copy the backup folder(s) to your desktop

Step #3. Now, open iTunes.

Step #4. On Windows, click Edit from the menu and then on Preferences.

Step #4. On Mac, click iTunes on the menu and then on Preferences.

Step #5. Click on the Devices tab

Step #6. Under Device Backups, select all.

Step #7. Click Delete Backup.

Step #8. Now, copy the backup folders from the desktop and move them back to the Backup/ folder.

Step #9. Restart iTunes and try to restore now.

Restart/Reboot

Sometimes, restarting your iPhone does the trick. When you run into backup-restore issues, try disconnecting everything, restarting your iPhone and starting all over again.

In rare cases, if you’ve updated iTunes or some software on your PC, it’s suggested that you restart your system too before attempting to restore from a backup via iTunes.