It is a good idea to backup your documents, photos, and videos in iCloud in case you lose your Apple device. Many iOS apps automatically back up to iCloud after you install them. However, when you backup your devices a lot, you will quickly run out of storage space in your iCloud storage – especially if you only use the 5GB free space that Apple gives you when you set up iCloud. Now, the good thing is that you can delete iCloud backup that you no longer need and that have been hanging around and occupying your storage space. Thus, in this article, you are going to learn the steps involved to delete iCloud backup stored in your iCloud storage
What Gets Backed Up to iCloud
Here is the list of things that can get backed up in your iCloud storage that can end up eating your storage space;
iTunes purchase history
Photos and videos (unless you have iCloud Photo Library enabled)
- Device settings
- Apps data
- Home screen and app organization
- iMessage, text messages, attachments in messages (if restoring, the SIM card used during backup is required)
- Email messages
- Ringtones
- Visual Voicemail password (if restoring, the SIM card used during backup is required)
- Health data
- HomeKit configuration
- Voice Memos
Why you Need to Delete iCloud Backup
If someone suggests that you should delete your iCloud backup, the person is actually making sense. Most times, storage space can be an issue for most iOS device users because purchasing an extra space will definitely cost them a fortune. So, the idea behind deleting your iCloud backup can easily be traced to freeing up storage space in your iCloud Drive. Besides, if you have your device backed up on your Mac or Windows you can still have your items back since they don’t count against iCloud storage.
How to Delete iCloud Backup
Having seen the reasons why you may need to delete your iCloud backups, now let’s take you through the steps involved in the process itself. Just follow through the steps below;
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Delete iCloud Backup for iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
1. Launch the Settings app on your device
2. Click on your Apple ID, which can display as Your Name. Then tap on iCloud
3. Next, click on the Manage Storage option.
4. Then click Backups.
5. Select the device whose backup you want to delete.
6. Click on Delete Backup at the bottom
7. Then tap on Turn Off & Delete.
For Mac
1. From your Apple menu, Finder or dock, launch System Preferences
2. Click on Apple ID, then tap on iCloud
3. Next, click Manage at the bottom right corner of the window
4. Then Backups
5. Now, select the device backups that you want to delete.
6. Click on Delete to delete the backup.
Meanwhile, if you want to turn off Backup and remove all backups for that device from iCloud, choose Delete when you are asked to confirm.
How to Delete Backup for Windows PC
- Open the iCloud for Windows
- Click Storage
- From the items listed, select Backup
- Next, select one of the device backups that you want to delete
- Then click on Delete.
Also, if you want to turn off Backup and remove all backups for that device from iCloud, choose Delete when you are asked to confirm.
Again, when you delete a backup, it equally turns off iCloud Backup for your devices. However, iCloud backups are available for 180 days after you disable or stop using iCloud Backup.
Those are the simple and quickest steps you can take when deleting iCloud backup to free up some space in your iCloud storage.
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