My phone is showing about 31 GB of storage used by Maps data, and a factory reset seems to be the only way to fix it. I can't use iCloud Photos because my family shares the same iCloud account and I don't want my pictures appearing on someone else's device. I have around 16 GB of important photos, including insect pictures and memories of pets that have passed away. What's the most reliable way to back them up before resetting the phone? I'm considering copying them to my computer, an external hard drive, a USB drive that connects to the phone, or some kind of cloud storage. I'd ideally like two separate backups, and I'm also wondering how likely file corruption is during the transfer.
3 Answers
If you have a Windows computer, connect the iPhone with a USB cable, unlock it, choose “Trust” if prompted, and use the Photos app’s Import feature. After the import finishes, open several photos and videos from the computer to confirm they copied correctly before resetting the phone.
A good general rule is the 3-2-1 backup approach: keep three copies, on at least two different types of storage, with one copy somewhere separate from your home. For your immediate problem, first make a local computer copy and a second copy on an external drive. You can add cloud storage later if you want an off-site backup.
I’d use two different destinations, such as your computer plus an external hard drive or USB drive. Don’t rely on a single device for irreplaceable pictures. Once everything is copied, compare the file counts and open a selection of older photos, newer photos, and videos from both backups. A normal file copy is unlikely to corrupt files, but checking the backups is still worthwhile.
That strategy is useful long term, but the immediate priority is simply getting the photos safely off the phone. Make the computer copy first, verify it, then duplicate it to another drive before doing the factory reset.