iTunes could not back up iPhone because there is not enough free space

[Howard Brazee]

More often than not, when I connect my iPhone and iPad to my Mac, or when it boots up in the morning with them connected, I get the false message saying:

iTunes could not back up iPhone because there is not enough free space on this computer to save the backup. I quit and restart iTunes a few times until I don't get that message anymore. I have 482.47 GB free right now. This is getting irritating.

 

[honestone]

What Mac OS are you running? And what exact Mac model do you have?

 

[Howard Brazee]

macOS 10.12.1
Mac (27-inch, Late 2013)
iTunes 12.5.3.17

 

[honestone]

It looks like you got the latest versions of Sierra and iTunes. Need someone else who is an expert with your issue.

 

[oldscribe]

Hi Howard,


Do you by chance have antivirus software installed?

 

[honestone]

Hi Howard,


Do you by chance have antivirus software installed?

Hmm, never thought of that. And if you have any installed, is it compatible with Sierra?

 

[JakeTse]

With so many files on your iPhone, it is indeed necessary for your to backup your iPhone and data. I have also received notification like "iTunes could not back up the iPhone". And I agree with you that this is really irritating. Now I have another solution to this, rather than backup iPhone to iTunes library, I would like to transfer from iPhone to Mac or Windows and don't have to be irritated by iTunes. Here I would share with you iPhone Data Transfer, maybe you could have a try. Below is the screenshot of this app.

 

[Howard Brazee]

With so many files on your iPhone, it is indeed necessary for your to backup your iPhone and data.

Actually, it would be quite acceptable to have the option to *not* back up all of my media files that are already in my iTunes library. It would work quite nicely to restore everything else, including the sync settings - then load the media files with my first synchronization.