I haven’t backed up an iPad nor iPhone since iTunes on my old MacBook Pro. So I need specific directions on how to back up an iPhone 15 and an iPad Air 5 on my newer MacBook Air running Sonoma.
I don’t use Apple Mail. Just Comcast to send and receive.
Also, is there a way to back up my Comcast email?
I appreciate and than any help.
jane
It works very similar to back in the day with iTunes. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac over USB and open a Finder window. Under Locations in the sidebar you should see the device listed. Select it. The next screen should remind you of iTunes. There’s a button for backup there (“Back Up Now”) and pretty self-explanatory backup options right above it. The “Manage Backups” button reveals your list of past backups. A newer backup will always delete an older backup (for the same device) unless you select that old backup in the managed backups list so it gets locked (small lock icon on the right). If a backup has that lock, it will remain ob your Mac and listed there until you manually delete it with the button at the bottom left. There’s finally also a sync button at the very bottom of that device window in Finder. Options for sync again listed right above the button.
For mail backup, if you use Apple Mail, the easiest is probably to select a specific mailbox (like your Comcast email archive folder) and then from menu Mailbox > Export Mailbox. That will save its entire contents (incl. attachments) to a file in mbox format which you can import again in Apple Mail (or another client). If you have multiple email accounts you can also drag a mailbox (folder) from one service to another (or to the On My Mac section which is local and can be backed up by TM), eg. from your Comcast archive to your iCloud email account. You can also select individual emails instead of entire mailboxes to move in that same manner. For individual emails the default is move, so option-drag if you prefer to copy (eg. for backing up). For mailboxes (folders in an individual account) the default is reversed, it’s copy. And here I’m not aware of a modifier like option-drag or command-drag if you’d prefer to move instead of copy. But you can always move first and then delete to accomplish a de-facto move. Note also, that when you copy an entire mailbox (folder), the target is either another folder (you rest your mouse pointer on the remote folder and it lights up) or between folders (rest your pointer between folders and you’ll see a line with a circle on its left end that indicates the new location of the copied folder) if you want it to sit at the same level. If at any time during a copy or move drag, you hesitate and want to think things over first, just hit esc so no changes will be made, i.e. no moving/copying will take place.
Also be aware that backing up/syncing iDevices in Finder may generate several messages on Mac and iDevice regarding trusting the device and multiple times entering passcode. If you overlook one confirmation, Finder/iDevice just sit there with spinning symbology for a while until they give up. There’s no reminder window or anything ‘hey human I asked you a question’ kind of thing.
First backup/sync might take a while depending on amount of content in iDevice, and all you get is a horizontal black and white Barbers Pole symbology.
So I’d suggest, have the devices there and make sure the sync/backup is actually occuring before you make a cuppa or go on to other things. And check back on it after a while to make sure it’s not waiting for some interaction.
I don’t use Apple mail. I have never been able to send any email and no one has quite figured out why. So I just use Comcast to send and receive, Thanks for the response.
Use of Apple mail has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with your ability to backup to your Mac.
@Simon was pointing out how to back up my mail with Apple Mail.
Ok, but that isn’t exactly the first question you originally ask and his instructions apply to any mail, not just Apple.