Full Guide on How to Backup iPhone on Broken/Black/Unresponsive Screen 2024
- Jerry Cook
- Updated on 2023-12-29 to  iPhone Backup
Hi, I just broke my iPhone screen and the new phone is in the mail , but I don’t want to lose all the important stuff I had on my last iPhone 5. And iTunes fails to recognize my device. I can’t navigate through my device due to the broken screen. So, is there any solution to this?
There’s no doubt that the worst thing you can encounter after having your iPhone screen broken is knowing that your personal data is not yet backed up. In this scenario, getting the important data off iPhone with a broken screen becomes vital. When it comes to how to backup iPhone with unresponsive screen, you would probably connect your device to iTunes for a backup before replacing the broken screen. The catch is that if you haven’t connected your iPhone to iTunes and trusted your device on your computer before, you’ll have to enter your device’s passcode to unlock and backup it in iTunes. But what if your iPhone screen is broken in a way where some portion of the screen becomes unresponsive to touch?
No worries!! This guide has several solutions for you to resolve this issue. So, continue reading and learn how to backup iPhone with broken screen.
- Part 1. How to Enter Passcode on a Broken iPhone Screen
- Part 2. How to Trust Computer on iPhone with Broken Screen
- Part 3. How to Backup iPhone with Broken Screen on iTunes/iCloud (In a Trusted Computer)
- Part 4. Free Download UltFone iOS Data Manager to Backup iPhone with a Broken Screen
- Bonus Tip: How to Selectively Extract Data from iTunes Backup
Part 1. How to Enter Passcode on a Broken iPhone Screen
If some small part of your device’s touch screen still works, then you can make use of that working portion to take advantage of VoiceOver mode and unlock your device. So, before you learn how to backup iPhone with broken screen and passcode, let’s first unlock your device.
- Step 1: To activate Siri, press and hold down the Home button and then say “Turn on VoiceOver”.
- Step 2: To bring up the passcode screen, press the Home button twice.
- Step 3: Use the responsive portion of your device’s screen to swipe left and right. This will move your VoiceOver cursor to different password number buttons. Moreover, VoiceOver will say the button being used, and it’s handy if you can’t see the touch screen.
- Step 4: When the VoiceOver cursor is on the next password number you need, then double click to “tap” the selected password number.
- Step 5: Once the iPhone is unlocked, you may have to use VoiceOver one last time to click “Trust” in the dialog that appears when you connect your iPhone to your system.
NOTE: To disable VoiceOver mode, say “Turn off VoiceOver” to Siri. Or you can navigate to Settings> General> Accessibility to disable it manually.
Part 2. How to Trust Computer on iPhone with Broken Screen
To trust the computer on iPhone and learn how to backup broken iPhone, you'd need a USB keyboard, a lightning to USB adaptor, a bluetooth keyboard, and a computer. If you’ve connected your iPhone to your system before, then it’s easy. That’s because you just need to click on a single button to trust the computer. Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to get the job done:
- Step 1: Unlock your iPhone using Face ID/Touch ID and enable VoiceOver by asking Siri to “turn on VoiceOver”. Thereafter, connect your lightning to USB adapter to your iPhone and connect your keyboard to it.
Step 2: To connect your Bluetooth keyboard, navigate to the Bluetooth settings from the Settings app. You can simply say “open bluetooth settings” or just “turn bluetooth on” to Siri. Then press the Right cursor key on the USB keyboard until you can’t go further.
After that, press “CTRL+ALT+ SPACE” (Control-Option-Space on Mac) to pair the device.
- Step 4: Once your Bluetooth keyboard is paired, you can disconnect your USB keyboard and connect your iPhone to the computer using its charging cable. You’ll get a message on your iPhone, requesting whether you trust the computer, as shown below.
- Step 5: Use the Right cursor key again to choose the “Trust” option and click it by pressing CTRL-ALT-SPACE (Control-Option-Space on Mac) on the bluetooth keyboard. After that, confirm that you'd like to trust the computer by using the bluetooth keyboard to enter your device’s passcode or PIN.
NOTE: Since you can’t use a USB keyboard if your iPhone is already connected to your system before, you’ll have to use a Bluetooth keyboard instead. However, you’ll have to use the USB keyboard to get that working, considering that you haven’t connected it before.
Finally, you can now back up your iDevice to your computer. Read on to learn how to backup iPhone if screen is broken using a trusted computer.
Part 3. How to Backup iPhone with Broken Screen on iTunes/iCloud (In a Trusted Computer)
It’s time now to learn how to backup an iPhone with a broken screen to your trusted computer. The good news is that you can do either using iTunes or iCloud.
Backup iPhone with Broken Screen on iTunes
If you’re using a Mac, then follow the below steps:
- Step 1: If you’re using MacOS 10.15 or above, go to the Finder and select your device. On earlier macOS versions, you can open iTunes to back up your device.
- Step 2: At the top of the Finder panel, tap General > Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac > Back Up Now.
If you’re using a Windows PC or older MacOS versions, follow the below steps:
- Step 1: Open iTunes and select your iPhone.
- Step 2: Tap Summary > Back Up Now.
Backup iPhone with Broken Screen on iCloud
To learn how to backup iPhone with broken screen and locked using iCloud, you need a USB keyboard, a lightning to USB adaptor, an iCloud account with adequate storage and the connection to a strong Wi-Fi network.
- Step 1: Unlock your iPhone using Face ID/Touch ID and request Siri to turn on VoiceOver. Connect the lightning to USB adaptor to your iDevice and then connect the USB keyboard.
- Step 2: Request Siri to launch “iCloud Settings”.
- Step 3: Scroll down the list of settings using the Right cursor key on the keyboard. At this time, press it 22 times to access “iCloud backup”.
- Step 4: To press the “iCloud Backup”, hit Ctrl-Alt-Space (Control-Option-Space on Mac) on the keyboard.
- Step 5: To find out if iCloud Backup is enabled on your iPhone, use the Right cursor key three times. You’ll hear “iCloud Backup On/iCloud Backup Off”. If it’s off, then press Ctrl-Alt-Space (Control-Option-Space on Mac) to turn it on.
- Step 6: Connect to a Wi-Fi connection. To press the “Back Up Now” button, use the Right cursor key two times, then press Ctrl-Alt-Space (Control-Option-Space on Mac) again.
That’s how to backup iPhone with broken touch screen using iCloud.
Part 4. Free Download UltFone iOS Data Manager to Backup iPhone with a Broken Screen
If you want a hassle-free way to backup iPhone with a broken screen, then look no further from UltFone iOS Data Manager. The tool offers a one-click solution to backup iPhone. In fact, it has many advantages over backing up data through iTunes or iCloud.
The key features of the tool include:
- Support to backup more than 30 file types, including photos, videos, etc.
- Support to preview backup files and backup iPhone data selectively.
- Back up iPhone to PC without space and network limitations.
- Compatible with all iPhone models.
- Work well on both Mac and Windows PC.
Here’s how to access iPhone with broken screen and backup using UltFone iOS Data Manager:
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Step 1Run the program, connect the iPhone to the computer, and select “Backup & Restore” from the software's top menu and select the file types you want to back up.
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Step 2 Click the “Backup” button to commence the backup process.
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Step 3 Once the backup is complete, view the backup data and then hit “Export to Computer” and select the location where you want to save the files and hit “Ok”.
Bonus Tip: How to Selectively Extract Data from iTunes Backup
Now, you have a god decent idea about how to backup iPhone with black screen/broken screen. If you ever want to restore the backup from iTunes selectively, then UltFone iOS Data Manager can help you thanks to the software’s restore function. The software will allow you to preview and perform a selective restore from iTunes backup.
Here’s how to extract data from iTunes backup selectively:
- Step 1: Run UltFone iOS Data Manager, select the Backup & Restore feature from the top menu and click “To view or restore previous backup files” at the bottom.
- Step 2: You’ll now see all the backup files on your computer, including iTunes backup files. Select a backup you want to restore and click the “View” button.
- Step 3: Select the data you would like to restore from that backup and click "Restore to Device" or "Export to Computer".
What Would You Do to Backup iPhone with Broken Screen?
Before getting your iPhone screen repaired or replaced, it’s smart to perform a backup beforehand. No doubt, performing a backup on iPhone with a broken screen is challenging. But the solutions mentioned above on how to backup iPhone with broken screen can surely help you get the job done. Most importantly, the tools like UltFone iOS Data Manager have made the iPhone backup much hassle-free. So, download it for free today!