1. Computer Backup

In case of theft or other troubles it is always a good idea to have a backup of your data. This goes for the iDevice as well. In the following we give you instructions on how to backup your iDevice either via iTunes or iCloud (iOS 5 required). The backup includes all of your data, not just the Smurf’s Village.

To setup iTunes to backup first plug your device into iTunes and choose it from the left sidebar:

Then in the main window, scroll down to the section “Backup” and choose the second option “Backup to this computer”.

Now every time you sync your device to iTunes it creates a backup that is saved on your computer.

2. Manually forced backup

You can also manually force iTunes to create a backup by doing a command/right mouse click on the iDevice from the sidebar, and then choose “Back Up”. It is advised to first transfer your purchases to your computer via the “Transfer Purchases from …” option so they get backed up as well.

3. Show Saved Backups

If you have iTunes set up to back up to your computer you might find yourself in a situation were you want to look at what backups were saved for which device. To do that, just go to Preferences and there choose “Devices”. It shows you your current backups.

4. Wireless iCloud Backup

If your device is running at least iOS 5.0 you can also backup all of your data to iCloud. For that you need a free iCloud Account set up on your device. Please read here on how to do that and what an iCloud Account is: http://www.apple.com/icloud/

An iCloud backup is created wirelessly and saved on Apple’s servers and hence lets you keep your backup even if something were to happen to your hard disk.

The backup is automatically created once per day when your device is connected to a power cable and has a Wi-Fi connection.

To set up a backup via iCloud, follow the same steps in iTunes for the computer backup, but then choose “Back up to iCloud”. This means that iTunes will not back up to your computer anymore unless you force the backup via the manual function.

5. Restore from a backup

If you ever find yourself in the situation were you have to restore your device from a backup, just plug in your device to iTunes and with a command/right mouse click on the device choose “Restore from Backup”. iTunes will then guide you through the necessary steps.

If you have your backup saved via iCloud, just reset your device, then log into your iCloud Account and it will restore everything automatically.