# Restoring Iphone from backup: Where are the rest of my backups?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restoring-iphone-from-backup-where-are-the-rest-of-my-backups/607143>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restoring-iphone-from-backup-where-are-the-rest-of-my-backups/607143 "2011-12-23T02:01:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restoring-iphone-from-backup-where-are-the-rest-of-my-backups/607143/1 "2011-12-23T02:01:39Z")

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Every time I sync my Iphone, it says it’s making a backup.

This morning, I deleted some apps and their data from my Iphone and later changed my mind. So I thought I would go back and restore from my last backup.

When I went to do that however, I saw only a handful of dated backups, most of them from months ago. What happened to all the rest of my daily backups?

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restoring-iphone-from-backup-where-are-the-rest-of-my-backups/607143/2 "2011-12-23T07:04:48Z")

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I can’t speak for where your recent backups went, but something you should know: This daily backup backs up none of your apps or data (music, photos etc.) All it backs up is your iPhone’s current original state (your current version of iOS and I think maybe its firmware?) I recently found this out the hard way.

Personal data only goes one way with an iPhone, from your computer to it, never the other way around (unless you jailbreak).

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**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restoring-iphone-from-backup-where-are-the-rest-of-my-backups/607143/3 "2011-12-23T07:10:23Z")

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> [@Hail\_Ants](#):
>
> I can’t speak for where your recent backups went, but something you should know: This daily backup backs up none of your apps or data (music, photos etc.)

It contains some data, but not music or apps:

> **[Backup methods for iPhone or iPad - Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108771)**
>
> A backup allows you to copy and save the information from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you replace your device, you can use a backup to transfer your information to a new device.