How to Create iPad Full Backup Without or With iTunes

How Do I Fully Backup My iPad?

I'm trying to back up everything on my iPad so that I can erase my iPad, upgrade to iOS 15 on Monday, and restore the backup. How do you guys complete an iPad full backup? Please help!

- Question from Apple Community

Why Should Create Full Backup for iPad?

Hardware failure, software failure, human operator error, virus infection, and a variety of other reasons can cause data loss. Loss of important data is a disaster. Therefore, it is necessary to make backups of your data.

Regular full backups of your iPad ensure that iPad data is always safe. If hardware is lost or fails, you can easily restore your personal data on the device with the backups you have created. After recovery, your applications and related data, Wi-Fi passwords, browsing history, etc. are exactly the same as the original device.

Besides, when you have a new iPad 10/9/8, iPad Pro/Mini/Air, backup your old iPad data and restoring to your new iPad is a safe way to transfer data from old iPad to new iPad. This page provides you with three ways to complete iPad full backup and restore without iTunes or with iTunes. Hope it will be helpful to you.

How to Create iPad Full Backup Without iTunes Effortlessly

If you have some problems running iTunes to backup your device, like iTunes running slowly, iPad cannot connect to iTunes, and so on, you can use the following two simple solutions on how to create an iPad full backup without iTunes.

Way 1. Backup iPad Fully to Computer

Backing up your iPad to a computer is a very good option since computers usually have a large storage space that can hold all the data on your iPad. If you are using a Windows PC, we recommend you to use FoneTool to complete the iPad full backup.

FoneTool is a professional iOS device backup software that can easily backup various models of iPad/iPhone/iPod to computer. When needed, you can safely restore the backup files to the specified device without worrying about data loss.

In addition to backing up iPad to computer, this freeware also has exclusive features like:
√ Backup iPad to external hard drives, NAS, and other storage devices, as well as other iOS devices.
√ Selectively backup photos, videos, and other types of files on your iPad as needed.
√ Backup iPad with very fast speed, much faster than other tools.
√ Transfer data from one iPad to another iPad or iPhone with a few clicks.

Download this tool on your computer and follow the steps below to learn how to perform iPad Air, iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Pro full backup without a hitch.

Step 1. Connect your iPad to PC via USB cable and run FoneTool.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup > Full Backup.

★Tips:

If you want to transfer data from old iPad to new iPad, you can choose "Phone Transfer" > "iPhone to iPhone" to make it in one click.

To selectively backup iPad photos, videos, contacts, messages, and other data, you can choose "Selective Backup".

Step 3. Please enable backup encryption for backing up personal data, like Health data and Keychain. Select a backup path and click Start Backup to begin the task.

How to Restore Backups with FoneTool:

Backup files can easily be restored to the original device or a new device with this tool.

Step 1. Plug in your iPad that you want to save the backup to your computer and select Backup History on the Tools bar.

Step 2. Tap the three-dot button of the full backup task and click Restore to start the recovery.

Way 2. Backup Entire iPad to iCloud

iCloud is a simple solution for iPad backup, which can automatically backup various iPad data. However, iCloud only provides 5GB of free space. Given that, you may need to buy some iCloud storage space to complete a full backup of iPad.

iCloud backups typically contain various types of data such as app data, iOS settings, photo library, calendar, bookmarks, email, purchase history, phone ringtones, call history, health data, and so forth. Here is how to back up iPad data using iCloud:

Step 1. Turn on a network connection and open the Settings app on your iPad.

Step 2. Tap [your name] at the top > Select iCloud > Click Backup > Turn on iCloud Backup. Then, wait for the iCloud backup to complete.

How to Restore Backups from iCloud:

You can follow the instructions beneath to recover files from iCloud backup.

Step 1. Set up your new iPad when you want to restore backup files. When it comes to the App & Data screen, choose the Restore from iCloud Backup option.

Step 2. Sign in with your iCloud Apple ID, pick the latest backup version, and initiate the restoration.

Additional Reading: How to Backup iPad with iTunes

If you prefer to use iTunes to perform an iPad full backup, the guide below can guide you through the backup. It is important to note that if there is a lot of data on the iPad, the iTunes backup may take a long time.

How to backup the entire iPad via iTunes? The following is a how-to guide.

Step 1. Make sure you have installed the latest iTunes on computer and connect iPad to PC using a USB cable.

Step 2. Tap on the phone-shape icon in the upper-left corner and go to the Summary tab.

Step 3. Choose the backup destination under Backups and click Back Up Now.

How to Restore Backups with iTunes:

After the backup is completed, you simply recover data when you reset iPad to factory settings or update iPad software and data is lost.

Connect iPad to computer > Head to Summary on iTunes > tap Restore Backup > Choose the backup you want > Click Restore.

Final Thoughts

Whether you perform an iPad full backup with or without iTunes, please remember that you should create an entire backup for your iPad to keep all the data safe before updating the device operating system or doing a factory reset. Of course, performing regular iPad backups is a surefire way to go.