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Feb 21, 2025 • Filed to: Backup & Restore Data • Proven solutions
When it comes to creating a backup on an iPhone, many people tend to choose iTunes for the job. The most common reason behind this is the ease of use. You can back up all your data from an iPhone with one click using iTunes and restore it any time you want. With iTunes, moreover, you can store the backup on your PC as well as iCloud, ensuring double safety.
But, like everything else, even iTunes backup is prone to unexpected errors. One such error is the “iTunes backup session failed”. It’s a common iTunes error that usually occurs when an iTunes backup session expires due to an external factor. If you have encountered the same error with your iTunes account, we can understand your frustration. But, the good news is you can easily fix the issue on your own.
In this article, we’re going to address a few effective techniques that’ll help you troubleshoot the “iTunes backup session failed” error.
The truth is different factors, ranging from hardware-related issues to malware attack, can interrupt the iTunes backup session and prompt the said error instead. While there’s no definite answer on what causes the error, we have identified a few reasons that might be responsible for triggering the “iTunes backup session failed” issue. These reasons include:
Irrespective of the reason that caused the error, here are a few solutions that’ll help you troubleshoot it and continue backing up your data using iTunes without any interruption.
First, we’re going to talk about a few quick fixes to instantly fix the error. In case these solutions don't work, we’ll also take a look at an alternative method to back up your data that works all the time with a 100% success rate. So, without any further ado, let’s start with our first solution.
Let’s start with something simple! If you haven’t updated the iTunes app on your laptop, make sure to update it to the latest version. You can easily update iTunes through the “App Store” on your Macbook.
Step 1 - Go to the App Store on your Macbook.
Step 2 - Tap the “Updates” option at the top of your screen.
Step 3 - If you see any iTunes updates, simply click “Install” to install them on your laptop.
Once iTunes is successfully updated, try creating a backup again and see if you encounter the “iTunes could not back up the iPhone because the backup session failed” error or not.
If you are already using the latest iTunes version, the error may be caused due to a hardware related issue. In this case, you can simply reboot both the iPhone and the Macbook separately and check if it fixes the issue. Before rebooting the devices, however, make sure to disconnect your iPhone from the laptop.
If you are trying to back up the data to your iCloud account, it’ll be imperative to keep the backup file size up to 5GB (maximum), unless you've bought additional cloud storage space. So, delete unnecessary files from the backup and try backing up data once again.
In case you still encounter the same “backup file too large” error, you can create the backup on your Macbook as well. In this case, however, make sure that your laptop has enough storage space to accommodate the backup file. You can easily free up some storage space on the Macbook by deleting a few unnecessary files.
Since, Antivirus software can also interrupt the iTunes backup process, it’s always a wise strategy to disable it before you start taking backup with iTunes. You can directly turn-off the Antivirus from the taskbar on a Windows PC.
However, in a few situations, you’ll have to follow a different approach to get the job done. Check the official website of your Antivirus provider and follow the mentioned guidelines to turn it off for a few minutes. Once the backup process completes, you can again resume the Antivirus.
Every time you connect your iPhone to the PC, dedicated records are maintained in the “Lockdown” folder. These records help the iPhone interact with the PC and exchange files. But, in case there’s an issue with the lockdown folder, it can also cause a backup session failed on iTunes. In this case, all you have to do is reset the Lockdown folder to fix the error. However, keep in mind that you’ll have to follow a different approach to find the “Lockdown Folder” in Windows and macOS.
For Windows:
Step 1 - First of all, close the iTunes app and disconnect your iPhone from the PC as well.
Step 2 - Open File Explorer and enter “C:\ProgramData\Apple\Lockdown” in the search bar.
Step 3 - At this point, delete all the files from the “Lockdown” folder.
Again, restart iTunes, connect your iPhone to the PC, and try creating a backup for your files.
For macOS:
Step 1 - On your Macbook, close iTunes and disconnect the iPhone too.
Step 2 - Open Finder and select “Go To Folder”. Type “/private/var/db/lockdown/” and press enter.
Step 3 - Simply delete all the files from the Lockdown folder and try backing up data through iTunes again.
If none of the above solutions fix the “iTunes backup session failed” issue, it would be better to use an iTunes alternative to backup your data. But since Apple is extremely serious about user’s privacy, there are very few tools that can be used to create a backup for your files from an iPhone.
After going through several solutions, we’ve found Dr.Fone Phone Backup (iOS) to be the most reliable backup tool for iPhone. The software is specifically tailored to back up your data from an iPhone/iPad and save it securely on your PC. Dr.Fone works with both Windows and macOS, which means you’ll be able to back up your data on any laptop/PC.
What makes Dr.Fone more reliable than iTunes or iCloud is that it supports “selective backup”. To put it in simple words, you’ll have full control over what types of files should be included in the backup. Unlike iTunes, Dr.Fone doesn’t add everything to the backup file, even if the majority of data is irrelevant. You have the complete control on what to add and what not.
Dr.Fone supports a wide variety of data types that you can include in the backup. A few of these files include pictures, videos, contacts, messages, Whatsapp data, etc. Another benefit of using Dr.Fone is its intuitive user-interface and ease-of-use. You can create a backup file for your iPhone with three easy steps.
Let’s check out a few additional features of Dr.Fone - Phone Backup a reliable tool to back up data from an iPhone.
So, now that you’re ready to use Dr.Fone - Phone Backup, here’s how to use it to backup data from an iPhone to your PC.
4,039,074 people have downloaded it
Step 1 - Install and launch Dr.Fone on your PC and select “Phone Backup” on its home screen.
Step 2 - Make sure to connect your iPhone to the PC via USB and click “Backup” in the next window.
Step 3 - In the next window, select the file types that you want to include in the backup. Also, choose the destination folder where you want to store the backup file and click “Backup”.
Step 4 - Dr.Fone will automatically start creating the backup and it may take a few minutes for the process to complete.
Step 5 - Once the backup is successfully created, simply click “View Backup History” to check all your backup files. You can further click the “View” button next to each backup file to check what’s been included in it.
Backup session failed on iTunes is a pretty common error that many users encounter while trying to back up their iPhone using iTunes. If you’re stuck in a similar situation, you can either use one of the troubleshooting methods to fix the issue or switch to Dr.Fone to backup your iPhone on your laptop.
staff Editor
