How to Back Up an iPhone on Windows With the Apple Devices App (or iTunes)

The Short Answer

Plug your iPhone into your Windows PC with a cable, open the Apple Devices app (Windows 11) or iTunes (Windows 10 or 11), and tap Trust on the phone when it asks. Select your iPhone, choose "Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this PC," tick "Encrypt local backup," create a password and write it down, then click Back Up Now and wait — a first backup can take twenty minutes to over an hour depending on how much is on the phone.

The one decision that actually matters is that encryption checkbox, and it's worth understanding before you click anything. Your photos, contacts, notes, and text messages back up either way. Apple's own support documentation is specific that a handful of categories — saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, browsing history, Health data, and call history — are written only into an encryptedbackup. Skip the checkbox and your backup will look complete and still be missing your call log. There's no separate setting for "include calls"; encryption is the setting.

Once the backup exists, what you do with it depends on why you needed it. To turn messages or call history into something readable — for a custody case or your own records — the browser tool at getexhibita.com/appreads the backup folder in Chrome or Edge, asks for the password if it's encrypted, and exports a timestamped PDF. Nothing is uploaded, no account needed, and the free tier exports the complete exhibit with a watermark, so you can confirm the calls and messages are really there before paying for a clean copy. The rest of this guide covers the backup itself: both tools, both Windows versions, and the troubleshooting Apple's own instructions skip.

Apple Devices App or iTunes: Which One Do You Need

Apple retired the old all-in-one iTunes on Mac years ago and replaced it with separate Music, TV, and Devices apps. On Windows, both the new and the old tool still exist side by side, and which one you can use depends on your Windows version:

• Apple Devices app — Apple's current tool, free from the Microsoft Store. It requires Windows 11, version 22H2 or later. It will not install on Windows 10.
• iTunes for Windows — the familiar interface, still maintained by Apple, and it runs on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Available from the Microsoft Store or as a direct download from apple.com.

Functionally, for backing up, they do the same job. If you're on Windows 10, iTunes is your only option between the two. If you're on Windows 11, either works — the Apple Devices app is the newer interface, but plenty of people stick with iTunes out of habit and it's just as capable. One practical difference to know before you start: the two programs save backups to different folders, which matters further down.

Before you plug anything in, have these ready: your iPhone, unlocked, with its passcode handy; a USB or USB-C cable your phone actually charges from, not just a random cable in a drawer (a failing cable is a common reason a backup stalls); enough free disk space for the whole phone — a full backup often runs to tens of gigabytes, so check Settings > General > iPhone Storage on the phone and leave at least that much room; and, if this is your first time installing either program, a Microsoft account signed in to reach the Store.

Step by Step: The Apple Devices App (Windows 11)

1. Install Apple Devices from the Microsoft Store if you don't already have it, and open it.
2. Connect your iPhone to the PC with a cable. On the phone, a "Trust This Computer?" prompt appears — tap Trust and enter your passcode.
3. In the Apple Devices app, click your iPhone in the left sidebar, then select General.
4. Under Backups, choose "Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this PC."
5. Tick "Encrypt local backup." A dialog asks you to create a password — choose one you'll remember, type it a second time to confirm, and write it down somewhere durable before you go further.
6. Click Back Up Now. Leave the phone connected and the app open until it finishes — a progress bar tracks it.
7. When it's done, click Manage Backups to confirm the new backup is listed with today's date.

Step by Step: iTunes (Windows 10 or 11)

1. Open iTunes and connect your iPhone with a cable. Tap Trust on the phone and enter your passcode.
2. Click the small phone icon near the top left of the iTunes window.
3. Under Backups, select This Computer as the backup destination.
4. Tick "Encrypt local backup." Set a password when prompted, confirm it, and write it down.
5. Click Back Up Now, and don't disconnect the phone until the progress bar in the iTunes window clears.
6. Go to Edit > Preferences > Devices to see the finished backup listed with its date and a small padlock icon confirming it's encrypted.

The Encryption Step, One More Time

This is worth repeating on its own because it's the step that generates the most confused emails and forum posts after the fact: encryption is not about keeping the backup safe from other people on your PC, even though it happens to do that too. It's the switch that decides whether your call history is in the backup at all.

iOS keeps a call history database — timestamp, duration, direction, missed or answered, FaceTime included — that holds far more than the roughly 100 calls the Recents list shows. It isn't unlimited, though: it keeps a capped number of recent calls (commonly reported as about 1,000) and drops the oldest as new ones come in, and nothing can put a call back into a backup after the phone has dropped it. That's why the date you make the backup matters. An unencrypted backup does not copy that database out; an encrypted one does, along with your saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, and Health data. If you are certain you only need text messages and iMessages, an unencrypted backup captures those fine and skips the password step. But it's a one-way door: nothing can add call history to a backup afterwards, and a backup you make in three months will only hold the calls the phone hasn't dropped by then. If there's any chance calls will matter later, tick the box now.

Two things to get right when you do:

• The password is yours to keep, not Apple's. It never gets sent anywhere or stored by Apple, which means there is no "forgot password" email to click. Write it down somewhere you'll actually find it — a password manager, a sticky note in a drawer, anywhere but memory alone.
• It's a setting on the iPhone, not on the PC. The backup password is stored on the phone itself, so once encryption is on, every local backup of that phone is encrypted with that password — on this PC, on a different PC, and in Finder on a Mac. If the box is already ticked when you plug in, that's why: someone (maybe past you) set it already. You can untick it, but only by typing the existing password — so moving to another computer is not a way around a password you've lost.

Confirming the Backup Worked

Don't take the progress bar's word for it — check the file. Backups are saved to one of two folders depending on which program made them; paste the matching path into File Explorer's address bar:

• Apple Devices app, or iTunes from the Microsoft Store: %userprofile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup
• iTunes downloaded from apple.com: %appdata%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

Inside is a folder for each backup, named with a long alphanumeric string rather than anything readable — sort the view by Date modified and the newest one should match when you just ran the backup. If you see an Info.plist file and a Manifest.plist file inside that folder, the backup completed; a folder with almost nothing in it usually means it stopped early.

Troubleshooting

The phone doesn't show up at all. Try a different cable and USB port first — it's the quickest thing to rule out, and often it is the problem. Make sure the phone is unlocked, since the Trust prompt won't appear on a locked screen. If Trust never appears, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy, reconnect, and you should be asked to trust the computer again. Restarting both devices and updating the Apple Devices app or iTunes clears most of what's left.

The backup is stuck or extremely slow.A first backup of a phone with years of photos and video can genuinely take over an hour — let it run rather than assuming it's frozen. If the progress bar hasn't moved in a long while, disconnect, restart the PC and the phone, and start again; a flaky USB connection is the usual cause of a backup that hangs partway through rather than one that's simply large.

"Not enough available free space" or a disk-space error. A full backup is roughly the size of the phone's used storage, and tens of gigabytes is normal. Run Windows' built-in Disk Cleanup, or move your existing backups to a bigger drive — neither iTunes nor the Apple Devices app has a setting for where backups land on Windows, so the way to do it is a directory junction, which our guide to where Windows stores iPhone backupswalks through. Think before deleting an older backup to make room: it may hold call history the phone itself has already dropped, and getting rid of records while a case is live is something to ask your attorney about first. There's no way to back up only part of the phone to save space — it's an all-or-nothing snapshot.

You forgot the encrypted backup password. There is no reset link and no support ticket that gets it back — Apple designed it that way on purpose. The only route forward is on the phone itself: Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings, enter your passcode, and confirm. That clears the saved backup password (plus small things like your Home Screen layout and paired Wi-Fi networks) without touching your photos, apps, or messages, and it needs iOS 11 or later. Read this part twice before you do it: Apple is explicit that creating a new password does not give you access to previous encrypted backups. Every encrypted backup already on your PC stays locked for good — so if an old backup is the only place a call from last year still exists, resetting the password destroys your route to it. Copy that old backup folder somewhere safe first, in case the password turns up, then back up again and set a fresh password — this time, write it somewhere durable before you click Back Up Now.

What to Do With the Backup Once You Have It

An encrypted backup on your hard drive isn't, by itself, a document anyone can read — it's a folder of databases. If you need the call log or a message thread formatted as something you can hand to a court, our guide to getting a call log off an iPhone for court covers turning that backup into a dated, printable list, and printing iPhone text messages on Windows walks through the message side in more detail.

The short version: open getexhibita.com/app in Chrome or Edge, point it at the Backup folder you just confirmed above, and enter the backup password when asked. Everything is read and decoded on your own PC — no upload, no server, no account — and comes out as a court-formatted PDF with a timestamp on every message and call. Worth checking, too: how long an iPhone actually keeps call history, before you assume an old backup has what you need.

FAQ

Do I need iTunes or the Apple Devices app to back up an iPhone on Windows?

Either works, and both are free from Apple. The Apple Devices app is Apple's current tool, but it requires Windows 11 version 22H2 or later through the Microsoft Store — it isn't available on Windows 10. If you're on Windows 10, or you'd rather not install from the Store, iTunes for Windows does the same backup on both Windows 10 and 11. Pick whichever one your version of Windows supports.

Why does my iPhone backup need to be encrypted?

Because of one specific thing Apple leaves out otherwise: call history. Apple's own documentation lists call history, along with your saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, and Health data, as data that only an encrypted backup includes. An unencrypted backup still captures text messages and iMessages fine, so encryption isn't strictly required for texts. But you can't add call history to a backup after the fact — you'd have to make a new encrypted backup, and it holds only the calls the phone still has that day. If there's any chance you'll want the call log, tick "Encrypt local backup" now; if you know you need it, it isn't optional.

What if my iPhone doesn't show up in the Apple Devices app or iTunes?

Check the basics in order: a different USB cable and port (a cheap or worn cable is a common cause), unlock the phone and look for the "Trust This Computer?" prompt, and tap Trust and enter your passcode if it appears. If it never appears, reset the prompt by going to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy, then reconnect. Restarting both the phone and the PC clears most remaining cases, and installing the latest Apple Devices app or iTunes update fixes driver mismatches.

What if I forgot my encrypted backup password?

There's no recovery for it — Apple can't reset it. On iOS 11 or later you can clear it with Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings, which removes the backup password without touching your photos or messages. Know the trade first: Apple states that setting a new password does not unlock previous encrypted backups, so any encrypted backup you already made stays unreadable permanently. Back up again afterward and set a new password you'll write down.

How do I know the backup actually finished, and where is it?

Check the device summary in the Apple Devices app or iTunes for today's date under Backups. On disk, look in %userprofile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup for the Apple Devices app or Microsoft Store iTunes, or %appdata%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup for iTunes from apple.com — each backup is a folder named with a long alphanumeric string, dated by its last-modified time.

As always: this is a technical how-to, not legal advice. What your court expects from a phone-based exhibit varies by state and by judge — ask your attorney.