iCloud backup has ballooned 100+GB

[Kurt871]

Got a notification the other day that my iPhone hadn't backed up to iCloud in awhile. Went to investigate only to discover the my backups were now over 100GB in size; normally they are around 1.5 GB. Nothing has changed as far as I can tell; seems to have potentially started around iOS 17.2's release. The data in the backup doesn't even remotely add up; Photos and Messages are all stored in iCloud already and shouldn't be backed up; Music is synced from a Mac so same story there. I basically can't back up now since it takes over 20 hours to get that much up to the cloud. Any tips?

 

[CTHarrryH]

I think if you add a photo or a message the entire data base of either gets re-backed up to the cloud - they are data bases and individual items. Not sure if this is your issue but..

 

[scouser75]

I've had similar issues in the past where I get a notification that my icloud is almost full. When I check I realise that either my icloud photos or I cloud backup has turned itself on. I aiways set these to off, but the come on automatically when I update my iPad or iPhone.

Very frustrating!

 

[Kurt871]

For anyone finding this in the future: turning off iCloud backups and starting a new one from scratch for this device brought it back to a normal size.

 

[scouser75]

For anyone finding this in the future: turning off iCloud backups and starting a new one from scratch for this device brought it back to a normal size.

Thanks for the tip Kurt. How would we start a new backup from scratch?

 

[Kurt871]

Thanks for the tip Kurt. How would we start a new backup from scratch?

Under iCloud Backup settings, go into your most recent backup and select “Turn Off and Delete from iCloud”. Then turn back on.

 

[scouser75]

Under iCloud Backup settings, go into your most recent backup and select “Turn Off and Delete from iCloud”. Then turn back on.

Brilliant. Thank you