How to recover your iPhone's data with or without a backup

 You should always have a recovery option for the data on your iPhone. You never know if or when something bad is going to happen to it. Here is how to recover iPhone data using iCloud or, in some case third-party alternatives.

As a rule, the simplest way to recover data is using an iCloud backup if you have one. If you are not using a new iPhone, wipe your device first by going to Settings> General Transfer> of Reset iPhone. When you perform setup again, choose Restore from iCloud Backup at the App & Data screen. The process will take some time.

How to recover iPhone data from iCloud  

If you have iCloud sync on, a lot of individual files should be accessible without your having to do much, assuming you haven’t accidentally deleted them. That includes personal photos, videos, and documents, and in some cases, app data. All you need to do is visit iCloud.com, or turn on iCloud sync on one of your other devices.

Otherwise, your best bet (once you have a working iPhone) is restoring from an iCloud backup. This can take a while, and you won’t be able to recover anything saved between the backup and device failure, but the option is baked into iOS and iCloud.

Here’s what to do:

ü  If you are not starting with a fresh iPhone, you will have to perform a factory reset. Go to Settings> General Transfer> of Reset iPhone, then tap Erase All Content and settings.

ü  During device setup, choose Restore from ICloud Backup at the Apps & Data screen. You will have to sign into iCloud with your Apple ID.

ü  Pick the most recent backup entry unless you suspect an associated app update (or other software change) triggered your problems

ü  You will be asked to sign into one or more Apple IDs associated with apps and purchases. If all you can remember is your own Apple ID, you can skip signing into secondary accounts for now.

ü  Once you are dropped back at the homescreen, your iPhone should be operational, but apps and files will have to finish downloading in the background. You may have to force some file downloads if you want them in the phone’s storage. With iCloud Photos, for instance, you may have to open a photo or video first.

How to recover data from your iPhone without backup

If you don’t want to restore an iCloud backup, or you didn’t turn the feature on before things went south, you may still be able to recover data using few different means. Remember that your files may have copies on third-party cloud services, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive. In fact, you should avoid any situation where data is solely on your iPhone, unless perhaps it’s very personal.

If you have iCloud sync active, some apps save data there that can be restored separately. WhatsApp, for examples, has an iCloud option for chats and media. You do have to enable it manually before tragedy strikes.

If none of the above solutions are working and you undeniably, certainly need to recover files, you will want to try third-party desktop software. One option is iMyFone D-Back, which is available for Windows and Mac and does selective data extraction from devices, iTunes backups, and iCloud.

Be mindful that iOS has tight security precautions and encryption, so some data may still be out of reach if you try to direct recovery and don’t remember associated passwords.