Backing up iPad and iPhone to iMac

[ColinBird]

According to https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchla3c8ed03/10.15/mac/10.15, when I connect my iPad or iPhone to my iMac and select the device in the Finder sidebar, I should see a button bar. However, in both cases, all I see is the text "Loading..." above a spinner. I am very keen to back up both of these devices, as I have not done it for some time (naughty me) - the last time would have been using iTunes!

My iMac is running Catalina, 10.15.7, and both the iPad and iPhone are on 15.5

Thanks in advance for the answer - Colin

 

[TonyAguila]

According to https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchla3c8ed03/10.15/mac/10.15, when I connect my iPad or iPhone to my iMac and select the device in the Finder sidebar, I should see a button bar. However, in both cases, all I see is the text "Loading..." above a spinner. I am very keen to back up both of these devices, as I have not done it for some time (naughty me) - the last time would have been using iTunes!

My iMac is running Catalina, 10.15.7, and both the iPad and iPhone are on 15.5

Thanks in advance for the answer - Colin

Are the iPad and iPhone connected to the USB of the computer? I can’t remember how it worked in Catalina but it should be much the same with Monterey. After you connect to USB, unlock it and it might ask you to “Trust This Computer,” or something like that. Click OK. Afterwards, you should be able to bring it up in the Finder sidebar and perform the local backup.

Depending on your settings on the iPhone and iPad, regular backups should have been done to iCloud daily, so even if you don’t have a local backup on your Mac, you should still be able to restore it from iCloud. I still do a local backup myself before updating the OS, only to make it easier and quicker to do a restore should it be needed.

 

[ColinBird]

Thanks, Tony,
Apologies for the slow response: I've been away for the last day and a half.
Unfortunately, I no longer get asked to "Trust This Computer", possibly because I've done that previously. I've looked through Settings on the iPhone and I could remove the iMac from the Apple ID list, but I'm reluctant to do that.

 

[TonyAguila]

Thanks, Tony,
Apologies for the slow response: I've been away for the last day and a half.
Unfortunately, I no longer get asked to "Trust This Computer", possibly because I've done that previously. I've looked through Settings on the iPhone and I could remove the iMac from the Apple ID list, but I'm reluctant to do that.

Next thing to try… Connect the iPad and/or iPhone to the Mac with the charging cable. Make sure they are awake and open. Open a Finder window on the Mac and show the Sidebar. Open Finder Preferences, select Sidebar. Check the box for CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices. If already checked, and your iOS devices are still not showing up in the Sidebar, uncheck and then check the box again. Let us know if this works. If not, you may have to reinstall macOS.

 

[ColinBird]

The iPhone and iPad both show in the Sidebar, always have, but when I open either of them in a new tab I get the text "Loading..." above a spinner. I'm connecting them via the charging cable to a USB port; the device shows in the System Report for USB.