If you’re planning to buy the new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus and wondering how to transfer data from your old iPhone to the new iPhone, then follow the steps mentioned below to first take a backup of your old iPhone and then restore the backup to your newly purchased iPhone using iTunes or iCloud.

Personally, I set it up the new iPhone “as a new iPhone” in the set up process so I can start off with a clean slate. It is the quickest way to nuke the apps, I haven’t been using for a long time, and eating up valuable storage space. The same goes for the thousands of photos and videos I have taken in the last year.

But if you want to transfer data from your old iPhone to the old iPhone, you can follow the instructions provided below. This process will transfer your saved messages, email accounts, photos, notes, and other personal settings to your new iPhone.

Before you begin

Upgrade to latest version of iOS 10

We would recommend you to update your old iPhone and your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus to the latest version of iOS 10 to ensure that you don’t hit any compatibility issues when you migrate from your old iPhone data on iOS 10 or lower to iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone 7 running on iOS 10 or later. If you need help, you can follow our guide on how to update your old iPhone to iOS 10.

Read: How to Install iOS 10 on Your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

When you’re setting up your new iPhone, you can initially set it up as a new iPhone, and update to the latest version of iOS 10, and then Erase All Content and Settings (Settings > General > Reset)  and restore the data from the iTunes or iCloud backup.

Unpair Apple Watch

If you have an Apple Watch and you’re planning to move content to your new iPhone, then you need to unpair your Apple Watch from your current iPhone first so that it automatically backs up your Watch.

Set up Another Device for 2-Step Verification

If you’ve enabled two-step verification for your Apple ID, and have set up your old iPhone as the primary device for 2-step verification for your Apple ID then it is advisable to setup another device as the trusted device so you can get past the Apple ID verification while setting up your new iPhone.

You can then transfer the data from your old iPhone to the new iPhone using iTunes or iCloud by following these instructions:

Make a Backup Using iTunes

• Ensure that you’ve installed the latest version of iTunes. You can update it via Software Update or download it from Apple’s website.

• Connect your iPhone to a computer with the latest version of iTunes installed

• Select your old iPhone in iTunes under Devices.

• Click on File > Devices > Transfer Purchases to save content you’ve download from the iTunes Store or App Store.

• If you also want to transfer passwords, health and activity data to your new iPhone then you’ll need to encrypt iPhone backup so that your keychain information, which includes email account passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, and passwords you enter into websites and some other applications, health and activity data is also backed up and transferred to your new iPhone. Select the box called Encrypt [device] backup and select a password.

• Click Back Up Now.

• To make sure the backup was successful, go to iTunes Preferences > Devices. You should see the name of your old iPhone, along with the date and time of the latest backup. It should see the current date and time.

Now you can transfer your iTunes backup to your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

Transfer iTunes Backup to New iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus

• Turn on your new iPhone. When your device turns on, follow the on-screen instructions.

• When prompted to Set Up iPhone, tap on Restore from iTunes Backup.

• Now connect your new iPhone to iTunes (on the same computer you used to back up your old iPhone).

• iTunes will ask you to restore from backup or set up as new. Select the backup of your old device and choose Continue (Ensure that iTunes is showing you the latest backup of your old iPhone). Please note that restoring from the backup can be a time-consuming process and depends on the size of the backup and on the speed of your Internet connection.

• When the restore process is complete, your new iPhone will restart. Then it will be ready for use. You should keep your new iPhone connected to iTunes to sync data not contained in the backup (such as music, videos, apps, and so on).

• You can verify and change which data are synced by clicking the syncing tabs in iTunes.

• If you haven’t encrypted your iPhone backup, then you will also need to enter your password for your Apple ID, email, and other accounts, and voicemail again. The passwords are not restored to a new device due to security reasons.

Make a Backup Using iCloud

• iCloud backs up your device once a day. But it is good practice to backup your old device to iCloud one last time before migrating so nothing is missed out. Launch the Settings app and navigate to iCloud > Backup in iOS 8 or later or iCloud > Storage & Backup and tap on Back Up Now. This may take time depending on the amount of data to be backed up.

• After the backup is complete, check the Last Backup time (should show current time) to ensure that your backup was successful.

• Now turn off your old iPhone.

Now you can transfer your iCloud backup to your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

Transfer iCloud Backup to New iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus

• Turn on your new iPhone. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup assistant by selecting your language and country, and choose whether to enable Location Services. When prompted, choose your Wi-Fi network.

• When prompted to Set Up iPhone, tap on Restore from iCloud Backup.

• Enter your Apple ID and password, and tap Next at the top right corner.

• It will prompt you to agree to the terms and conditions. Tap on Agree in the bottom right corner.

• You will now see a list of backups. Select the latest backup of your old device and tap Restore. Wait until the device has finished restoring from the backup. Please note that it can be a time-consuming process and depends on the amount of data contained in the backup and on the speed of your Internet connection.

• When the restore process is complete, your iPhone will restart. Then it will be ready for use. You should also connect the device to iTunes to sync data not contained in the backup (such as music, videos, apps, and so on).

• iPhone will also start re-downloading all your apps in the background.

• You will also need to enter your password for your Apple ID, email, and other accounts, and voicemail again. The passwords are not restored to a new device for security reasons. However, if you want them to be restored then using the iTunes method above.

You should now be able to use your shiny new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. After the data has been restored, you can turn on your older iPhone on and erase all the content and settings.

It is advisable to keep your iPhone connected to Wi-Fi and plugged into a power source until the data from iCloud is downloaded to your device. The data is downloaded automatically from iCloud in the background.

Let us know how it goes and feel free to drop me a line in the comments if you’ve any questions.