iPhone iCloud backup stuck estimating time remaining

Bhooshan wrote:

1. Hey y'all,

I'm trying to backup my iPhone to iCloud for the past 3-weeks without success. I always take my backups with the phone on charging and connected to WiFi, and I'm on iOS version 26.1.

When the iPhone starts backing up it says 'Estimating time remaining', it starts with '1 minute remaining' and gradually increases to almost '23 hours remaining'! So much, that I have kept the phone on charge overnight and yet it's still backing up non-stop. Eventually I have to cancel the process.

Steps which I've undertaken to resolve the issue in the past few weeks/days:

Restarting the iPhone

2. Disabling the VPN during backups

3. Disabling Screen Time (after I read it on one of the community posts)

Can somebody offer any insight to resolve the issue?

Yes before going to bed tonight, connect to wifi, plug phone to power source, enable the backup, lock the phone, leave it alone and go to sleep at least 7 to 8 hours.

When you wake up the phone will backed up.

Bhooshan wrote:

Hey R, thanks for responding. You mean to say that everything's going perfectly well, and maybe I should give it more time than usual? Thanks for your validation. I appreciate it!

Yes, I'm speaking from my personal experience.

If you don't sleep longer than 7 to 8 hours, then start the process earlier.

Bhooshan wrote:

You're right, I don't sleep much. Greatly appreciated. I'll start the process sooner and report back if it goes or does not go well! Thanks a lot, R! :)

My backup started and said 37 minutes and then jumped to 4 hours and then to 2 hours, then I just left it alone and went to sleep.