How much PC storage is needed to restore a 46 GB iPhone backup?

I have an Iphone 12 mini. I backed up the phone using itunes on my PC. Now when I try tor estore the phone, I am running out of disk space on my PC. My pc is old and I cannot upgrade to a bigger drive. How much free space is required to restore?

The backedup data size is around 46 GB.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Apr 28, 2025 8:29 PM

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Apr 28, 2025 8:37 PM in response to barbad_phone

You're going to need to delete things you don't need off your computer. One of the first things I'd do is remove the Cache, which can often accumulate significantly. Delete photos, music, apps, files, email etc. to free up space, then see if you can restore your backup to your iPhone.

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Apr 29, 2025 12:57 AM in response to lobsterghost1

I will try to be more accurate.

I have been facing heating issues with my 12 mini from a long, long time. not that it has grown old with time.

Yesterday, after I woke up. I had an idea to Backup, reset and restore. 2 step process.

So I installed and Older version of itunes I had the executable for in my windows 7 Laptop.

Note: Never used an Itunes before.

Manually deleted some files and apps from my iphone which can be installed later and just kept the ones I need once i have setup the phone again which computed to whatever was left in the phone.


Now I connect the phone, and create a Back up on the local drive.


hence I have nothing else in my PC using itunes other than this back up


Now i reset the phone

I open itunes. For no joy I check the free space on Primary Windows drive which "c:" in this case and the free space is roughly about 20 GB

Then I try to restore the phone from the backup.

>>>> it fails


i click on the message for the failed attempt with error and close I tunes.

Soon my windows PC on the system tray notification, tells me my "c" drive is out of space.


I open the "my computer" and I see 100 mb free space left

I restart the PC

but I still see just about 80 mb now


So i decide to clean up. I go to.... Start> Run>

  1. %temp% Shift+delete everything possible
  2. temp Shift+delete everything possible
  3. prefetch Shift+delete everything possible
  4. Clear recycle bin


My lost space is not yet back. I got scammed

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May 1, 2025 9:41 AM in response to barbad_phone

Forget it. I fixed the problem with the temporary files. I found how and where itunes creates the temporary file.

did a couple of test and most importantly backed up a few folders. I successfully solved a problem created by apple and I do not get paid for the time and effort.


Think I will be a long lasting apple customer.


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How much PC storage is needed to restore a 46 GB iPhone backup?

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