Had 64gig Iphone 5 - now 16gig not enough space to restore backup!!?

[pb748]

Sorry to dig up this old thread but I just had the same problem as the original poster. Firstly, I'd like to say that there were a lot of very unhelpful posts both in this forum and in other places. I eventually managed to do almost exactly what the OP was trying to do.

I started with a backup from a 128GB iPhone 6 and restored it to a 32GB iphone 5S. The backup was too large for the 32GB iPhone, so I kept whenever I tried the standard "Restore Backup" option, I got an error saying there was not enough space on the device. I didn't mind if I had to get rid of some apps, music, pictures, etc, but there was not even an option to do that. It would just fail, then all I could do was click on "Ok" and the phone would restart. I was trying not to update the iOS version, because I wanted to stay on 9.0.2.

Anyway, eventually I realised that wasn't going to be an option. I put my iPhone 5S into recovery mode and did a full restore/update. Now this time when I chose to restore from my large iPhone 6 backup, it actually let me do it! It started populating the phone with my data: "Restore in Progress". Eventually the iPhone was back on the Springboard screen and the apps were slowly being installed. At this stage, I was able to deselect a whole lot of music and photos and even delete unnecessary apps - either from the phone itself, or from iTunes. So now I have managed to squeeze my most important apps and data onto this 32GB iPhone 5S, from what was originally most likely a 80GB+ backup.

I hope this helps someone else in the future.

[Edit: iBackupBot may be another solution, but it is not free]

Sorry to reanimate an old thread but I've tried this solution a couple of times to try and get one of two 5S 32GB backups (12.8 GB & 11.8 GB) to my new 6S 16GB with no luck.

A couple of questions:

Has this 'option' been removed in the latest version?

If there's a backup from a higher capacity iPhone (32GB in this case), then what size does the backup need to be in order to fit on a lower capacity (16GB) iPhone?

Any help would be appreciated

(PS. This was a replacement from my insurance company and I had no option to get a higher capacity phone, only take the cash value of my old phone and start again)

 

[pinkasme]

Sorry to dig up this old thread but I just had the same problem as the original poster. Firstly, I'd like to say that there were a lot of very unhelpful posts both in this forum and in other places. I eventually managed to do almost exactly what the OP was trying to do.

I started with a backup from a 128GB iPhone 6 and restored it to a 32GB iphone 5S. The backup was too large for the 32GB iPhone, so I kept whenever I tried the standard "Restore Backup" option, I got an error saying there was not enough space on the device. I didn't mind if I had to get rid of some apps, music, pictures, etc, but there was not even an option to do that. It would just fail, then all I could do was click on "Ok" and the phone would restart. I was trying not to update the iOS version, because I wanted to stay on 9.0.2.

Anyway, eventually I realised that wasn't going to be an option. I put my iPhone 5S into recovery mode and did a full restore/update. Now this time when I chose to restore from my large iPhone 6 backup, it actually let me do it! It started populating the phone with my data: "Restore in Progress". Eventually the iPhone was back on the Springboard screen and the apps were slowly being installed. At this stage, I was able to deselect a whole lot of music and photos and even delete unnecessary apps - either from the phone itself, or from iTunes. So now I have managed to squeeze my most important apps and data onto this 32GB iPhone 5S, from what was originally most likely a 80GB+ backup.

I hope this helps someone else in the future.

[Edit: iBackupBot may be another solution, but it is not free]

[doublepost=1495950750][/doublepost]hi, i have the same issue, i'm switching from a 128 iPhone 6 to an 32 iPhone se, have the same storage message.
i have a lame question, how do u set it to RECOVERY MODE in the first place?

 

[C DM]

[doublepost=1495950750][/doublepost]hi, i have the same issue, i'm switching from a 128 iPhone 6 to an 32 iPhone se, have the same storage message.
i have a lame question, how do u set it to RECOVERY MODE in the first place?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263

 

[pinkasme]

@MattFrom1972
thank you! will try it out tonight

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Having the same problem with an iPhone X 256GB backup that I am transferring to a 128GB SE (Got my hands on a mint Space Gray 128GB SE, can't wait to get back to a pocketable phone!) and my X has used 75GB, so there shouldn't be an issue because the SE has plenty of space for the restore...

I am going to try the recovery mode method here and will report back.
[doublepost=1549726977][/doublepost]Didn't work. What is the deal here? There should be plenty of space, to the tune of 40GB or so!!

Anyone have any insight??

 

[Apple_Robert]

Having the same problem with an iPhone X 256GB backup that I am transferring to a 128GB SE (Got my hands on a mint Space Gray 128GB SE, can't wait to get back to a pocketable phone!) and my X has used 75GB, so there shouldn't be an issue because the SE has plenty of space for the restore...

I am going to try the recovery mode method here and will report back.
[doublepost=1549726977][/doublepost]Didn't work. What is the deal here? There should be plenty of space, to the tune of 40GB or so!!

Anyone have any insight??

How much space do you have with the Apple cloud?

 

[MyopicPaideia]

How much space do you have with the Apple cloud?

I have a 2TB subscription and 1.54TB free, so there shouldn't be an issue there.

Ok, the weird thing here is this.

Now I have iTunes showing my iPhone X as having 104GB of photos on it, but my iPhone X is showing me that I only have 9.38GB of photos on it. My iTunes backup is 144GB large, so I see why it is trying to tell me that I don't have enough space to restore to the 128GB iPhone SE. But my X shows only 75GB used...the backup is twice that size.

Am I having an iCloud Photos syncing issue or what can I do? I have the optimise iPhone storage active (always have). But this is very frustrating...

I have also verified by logging in to iCloud.com and checking that my latest photos are indeed uploaded and available - they are.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Now super confused. After I used another MacBook to make a new backup, iTunes now shows this:

But, the backup is 147GB? Why!?

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Just wanted to update everyone on the status of this. I did resolve the issue, but not using a local backup. I instead backed up to iCloud with my 256GB iPhone X and then restored from that iCloud backup on my 128GB iPhone SE. It has 52GB free space after completing the restore, just as it should.

Having done some research, it appears that there was something corrupted with the data on the iPhone X that caused the backup to be twice the size it should have been.

It was a pain having to log in to every account and app again, but it did show me that Apple has a pretty stable cloud service in iCloud, and for that I am super happy.

Just hope my iPad restore goes smoothly, as I already sold that device and only have a local iTunes backup of that one...

 

[jaqlynegrant]

Just wanted to update everyone on the status of this. I did resolve the issue, but not using a local backup. I instead backed up to iCloud with my 256GB iPhone X and then restored from that iCloud backup on my 128GB iPhone SE. It has 52GB free space after completing the restore, just as it should.

Having done some research, it appears that there was something corrupted with the data on the iPhone X that caused the backup to be twice the size it should have been.

It was a pain having to log in to every account and app again, but it did show me that Apple has a pretty stable cloud service in iCloud, and for that I am super happy.

Just hope my iPad restore goes smoothly, as I already sold that device and only have a local iTunes backup of that one...

For clarity, you backup to your iCloud? How so? I have an old backup that I'm trying to put on my 64gb iPhone XS Max. I'm not sure how big the file is, but I'm assuming it was from my 128gb iPhone 6 and it must be more than 64gb. I have the backup files on my MacBook. What options do I have to restore that old backup. I'll even consider purchasing software if that is an option.

The only other thing I can think of doing is locating my old 128gb iPhone 6 (it got lost in some box when I moved) and backing it up to that then uploading it to my iCloud, then manually adding what I want to my current phone.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

For clarity, you backup to your iCloud? How so? I have an old backup that I'm trying to put on my 64gb iPhone XS Max. I'm not sure how big the file is, but I'm assuming it was from my 128gb iPhone 6 and it must be more than 64gb. I have the backup files on my MacBook. What options do I have to restore that old backup. I'll even consider purchasing software if that is an option.

The only other thing I can think of doing is locating my old 128gb iPhone 6 (it got lost in some box when I moved) and backing it up to that then uploading it to my iCloud, then manually adding what I want to my current phone.

Yup, that will be your only option. There is no way to get a local backup into iCloud that I have found. You’ll need to find that phone as far as I know, restore it from the backup, and then backup to iCloud.