iPad storage (backups)

[den]

For you techy guys. 
My IPad storage is almost full. A huge amount of that space is taken by backups. Is it safe, or indeed should I delete all of my backups?

thanks.

[47er]

8 hours ago, den said:

For you techy guys. 
My IPad storage is almost full. A huge amount of that space is taken by backups. Is it safe, or indeed should I delete all of my backups?

thanks.

I faced the same problem a few weeks ago Den. I had a 7th Gen iPad with 32 GB of memory. I'd already deleted the Music App to create more space. Then I couldn't download updates because they use more memory to install than I had left.

Answer for me---give away a perfectly good iPad and buy a new one with more storage space. I'm not a techie as you can tell but that was my solution!

[den]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

I faced the same problem a few weeks ago Den. I had a 7th Gen iPad with 32 GB of memory. I'd already deleted the Music App to create more space. Then I couldn't download updates because they use more memory to install than I had left.

Answer for me---give away a perfectly good iPad and buy a new one with more storage space. I'm not a techie as you can tell but that was my solution!

That’s an expensive way 47er! 
 

For me, I know deleting backups will free a huge amount of space but I just want to be sure that I won’t lose anything that I don’t want to lose. I want to know if there are any downsides to doing that.

[47er]

I got a 9th Generation half price!

[wilsdenrover]

11 hours ago, den said:

That’s an expensive way 47er! 
 

For me, I know deleting backups will free a huge amount of space but I just want to be sure that I won’t lose anything that I don’t want to lose. I want to know if there are any downsides to doing that.

Are much of your back ups either photos or videos?

If so Sandisk do a flash drive you could back these up to.

[den]

5 hours ago, wilsdenrover said:

Are much of your back ups either photos or videos?

If so Sandisk do a flash drive you could back these up to.

Thanks for that Wilsdenrover.

Ive been spending a bit of time trying to figure this out. I came to the conclusion that if photos were synced to iCloud, which I thought they were, then they wouldn’t be included in the backups. Anyway, I took the plunge just about 15 minutes ago and deleted backups and turned backups off. I was a bit nervous to be honest because I wasn’t certain what I would lose. Anyway, I did it and from what I can see I still have my photos and so far, everything else. Turned backups back on of course. By doing that, deleting unused apps I now have around 60% free space. That’ll do for now.

Thanks for your input.

Edited December 10, 2024 by den

[ChrisyG]

If anyone's unsure what's being backed up on your Apple device, on your device go to Settings > iCloud

You can then see what is and isn't backed up, change what's backed up, and view when your device was last backed up.

You can also log in directly to iCloud to view your backed-up files here: https://www.icloud.com/