How to Make Sure You Can Recover Your iCloud Data

We tend to never think that the worst is going to happen, until it actually does happen—and that applies to everything in the digital realm too, whether it’s losing data or having your accounts compromised.

The worst sometimes does happen, and with that in mind, it’s important to make sure you’re prepared for it. When it comes to the iCloud data being backed up from your Apple device, that means having a recovery plan in place should you find yourself locked out from your backups.

Apple has recently introduced some new features for iCloud data recovery, so we’ll go through them all for you here. Once you’ve followed these instructions, you’ll have a safety net should you run into trouble getting your data back.

To be clear, we’re talking about a situation where you need to recover your iCloud data backups, maybe if the original copies of your files have been lost, or you’re setting up a new device. Ordinarily, getting at these backups shouldn’t be a problem—you just enter your Apple ID credentials and you get access to your data again.

However, if you can’t use your Apple ID credentials—maybe you’ve forgotten your password, or someone else has changed it—that’s when you do have a problem, because you can’t prove to Apple you are who you say you are. iCloud backups are encrypted, which means unauthorized users are completely locked out.

In such a scenario, you risk losing your data for good, but this is where the iCloud Data Recovery Service comes in. You set it up when you do have access to your Apple account, and you can then use it in an emergency when you don’t have that access.

To get started on your iPhone, head to Settings, tap your name at the top, and then pick Password & Security and Account Recovery. You’ve got two options to pick from here: Add Recovery Contact and Recovery Key, both of which can help you get back into an iCloud backup that you’ve been locked out of.