How To Sync Your iPhone And iPad In A Few Simple Steps

Anyone who uses multiple devices for work or personal projects knows how much easier everything gets when you can quickly and easily share files between them. iCloud syncing is one of the simplest ways to do so with Apple products — from Macs and MacBooks to iPhones and iPads. It's also the only official way to sync files between iOS devices, since Apple doesn't do direct syncing through USB or Lightning cables.

By default, iCloud will automatically sync app info like contacts, calendar events, and memos, as well as photos and videos, messages, ringtones, App Store purchase history, and more. But if you'd rather only sync certain types of data, you can do that by opening your device's iCloud menu and turning off specific apps and info categories you want to have iCloud ignore.

When it's turned on and both devices are set up, your files will sync every evening while both of them are locked. So long as they're connected to the same Wi-Fi network — you'll also need to make sure of that if you plan to start using iCloud syncing.

This is a fairly simple process, but bear in mind that you'll need to empty out the device you wish to share and sync files to (rather than from) for this to work, so transfer or backup anything you don't want to lose permanently.

1. Make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Perform a factory reset on your target device (i.e. the one you want to transfer or copy files over to).
3. Open the Settings (gear icon) app on whichever device you want to be your main source, and select your name at the top of the menu, then choose iCloud. You can see how much storage you have used versus what's available at the top of the iCloud menu.
4. Select iCloud Backup from the menu, under Device Backups, then turn on the Back Up This iPhone (or iPad) toggle.
5. Select Back Up Now, then wait for the backup process to finish. This may take several minutes, depending on the number of files and amount of space required.
6. Turn on the new or factory reset device and follow the on-screen setup prompts, then select Restore from iCloud Backup.
7. Choose your recent backup and wait for the syncing process to finish.

Now both your iPhone and iPad are synced over iCloud. Any documents, photos, videos, etc that are created, saved, or edited one will automatically sync to the other with no additional input necessary.