By Dylan / Last update September 21, 2022

Scenario

 

How to backup iPhone to Google Drive instead of iCloud

My iPhone is almost full because there are many photos stored on iPhone. I tried iCloud but the photos still consume my storage so I want to try Google Drive this time. Anyone could tell me how to use Google Drive on iPhone?

- Question from Reddit

Why backup iPhone data to Google Drive?

With iPhone, we can communicate with others, listen to music, watch videos, and download many games and other applications. As you are enjoying your life with it, iPhone saves a large amount of data making your iPhone storage full. So you may want to backup some data and delete them to release storage. Besides, Backup important data is necessary to protect them from loss. 

Actually, Apple provides iCloud with iPhone users to backup and sync data. But it only provides 5GB of free space, which is totally not enough for most people in today's world, so some users will turn to other backup serve to save their data. For example, Google Drive. It is a Google product enabling users to store files and sync data just like iCloud. And every Google Drive user can be allocated 15GB of free space, so it is a nice choice if your iCloud storage is full.

google drive

 Next, you can refer to the following content, and this article would introduce how to use Google Drive to backup iPhone.

✍ Note: If you are using other Google products, you may find the 15GB would run out soon. Because other files from Google products will also take the space. You can buy more space or just backup your iPhone on your Windows computer instead. 

How to backup iPhone to Google Drive with 2 Methods

You can download the Google Drive app on your iPhone and create an iPhone backup via the app. If your iPhone doesn't have cellular data or Wifi connection, go to method 2 to backup iPhone to Google Drive via computer.

Method 1. Backup iPhone to Google Drive on iPhone

Google Drive provides an app allowing users to backup and restore data and manage backup with their iPhone. Refer to the following steps below to backup music, texts, contacts, and other data from iPhone to Google Drive. 

1. You need to download Google Drive in App Store. Make sure you have a Google account or you need to sign in first.

2. After you have signed in Google drive, you can tap the blue-circle button in the bottom right and then select Upload to upload the files.

Google Drive upload

If you want to back up your iPhone, you should follow these steps.

1. Tap the horizontal icon in the upper left.

2. Tap the Settings icon.

3. Select Backup.

4. Tap Start Backup. In this step, you can select whether to backup contacts, calendar events or photos &videos.

Google Drive Backup

Method 2. How to save iPhone to Google Drive via computer(without Wifi/network)

Cloud tools make it easy to upload and view files with network but how can you do that when you are not accessible to the network? You could easily leave a duplicate on your computer and upload iPhone data to Google Drive. It would also be faster to upload files to Google Drive via your computer and doesn’t affect the function of your phone.

FoneTool is a free professional iPhone data backup/transfer, allowing you to transfer photos, videos, music tracks, contacts, and messages between computer and iPhone. It supports previewing and selecting files and cross-device transfer. You can transfer your iPhone data to your computer via FoneTool. Then upload them to your Google Drive on your computer. 

Step 1. Download and launch FoneTool. Connect your iPhone to computer with a USB cable and tap Trust on your phone.

Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 2. Click "Phone Transfer" on the left window. Locate "iPhone to PC", and click "Start Transfer".

transfer to pc

✍ Tip: FoneTool also supports creating a full backup of your iPhone, you can click "Full Backup" to backup iPhone to computer.

Step 3. Select the "+" icon and select the files you need. and click "OK".

choose photos

Step 4. Choose a location on your computer, and save the select files by clicking "Start Transfer".

transfer

Step 5. After the transferring process completed, sign in Google Drive with your Google account, you can click on New in the upper-left corner and select backup folder to upload it to Google Drive. You could also drag the files in Windows Explorer directly into the page.

Google Drive folder upload

With the 5 steps, you quickly upload a file to Google and leave a copy on your PC.

Conclusion

Google Drive gives you 15GB of free storage and you can easily back up iPhone or any files to Google Drive under the guide of this article. If you want to view the files without the Internet, you could use FoneTool to save data on your computer, and upload them to your Google drive on your computer.

FoneTool Runs Perfectly on

iOS Versions
  • iOS 16/15/14/13/12/11 and former
  • iPadOS 16/15/14/13/12/11 and former
iOS Devices
  • iPhone 14/14 Pro (Max), 13/13 mini/Pro (Max), iPhone 12/12 mini/Pro (Max), iPhone 11/11 Pro (Max)
  • iPhone X/XR/XS/XS Max, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6s/6s Plus
  • iPhone SE (1st, 2nd, 3rd generations)
  • iPod touch 1/2/3/4/5/6/7
  • All models of iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad Pro and iPad