(330 votes, average: 3.68 out of 5)There are critical situations in the life of iPhone owners. And if iTunes lets you down (or you’re not a fan), a question arises: how to restore iPhone without iTunes? This article suggests one effective way to restore iPhone from backup – CopyTrans Shelbee. Bear with us and learn how to restore iPhone without iTunes in full or in part without complications!
Select the section you are interested in:
- iTunes could not restore the iPhone because an error occurred
- How to restore iPhone without iTunes
- Restore iPhone from backup selectively
- How long does it take to restore iPhone
iTunes could not restore the iPhone because an error occurred
If your iPhone just froze, a simple reset might do. However, if you lost some data and want to recover them, you might need to restore your iPhone from an iTunes backup.
We have prepared a troubleshooting guide for those who encountered an error “iTunes could not restore the iPhone”:
Follow these steps to fix the issue:
- Restart your iPhone and PC;
- Make sure you have the latest version of iOS and iTunes;
- Use a different iPhone USB lightning cable and a USB port;
- Make sure you are entering the right passcode.
If the above doesn’t work, try alternative methods to fix iPhone not restoring with iTunes:
➡ Restore iPhone backup without using iTunes
➡ Restore iPhone in DFU mode
How to restore iPhone without iTunes
CopyTrans Shelbee is a multifunctional tool to restore and back up iPhone without iTunes.
What makes CopyTrans Shelbee such a versatile and reliable tool? We’ve drawn a little comparison table:
| iPhone reset | iTunes | iCloud | ⭐CopyTrans Shelbee | |
| Full restore |  |
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| Custom restore (restore only one type of data, e.g. only photos) |
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| Restore from iCloud backup | |
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| Restore from PC backup | |
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| Restore WhatsApp | |
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| Restore apps that are no longer on the App Store | |
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*apps should be backed up before removal |
| Restore passwords, Wi-Fi settings, browsing history | |
*backup should be encrypted |
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*backup should be encrypted |
With CopyTrans Shelbee you can:
⚡ restore selected data;
⚡ restore apps to any iOS device with ease even if they have been removed from the App Store after ***;
⚡ restore data from an iTunes backup;
⚡ restore data from a corrupted iTunes backup;
⚡ restore an encrypted backup.
***provided you did a backup with CopyTrans Shelbee v2.1 and above before they were removed from the App Store.
When restoring data with CopyTrans Shelbee remember:
⚠ the data restored from a backup will not be merged with the one on your iPhone;
⚠ you can’t restore backup from iPhone on a higher iOS version to a device on an earlier iOS version.
Follow these steps to restore data with CopyTrans Shelbee:
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To restore the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch from backup, run CopyTrans Shelbee and connect the iOS device.
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Click on Full restore.
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Click on the green pencil icon on the right to select a backup to restore from.
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In the newly-opened window, select the backup file that you wish to restore from. If you made multiple backups, you will all the backups stored in the chosen folder.
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If you wish to restore your apps as well, please log in to iTunes Store with your Apple ID.
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Wait until the restore process completes.
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That’s it. You’ve restored your iPhone from backup without iTunes!
NOTE
While restoring, CopyTrans Shelbee may ask you to enter the iOS backup password to decrypt the data in the backup. What is an iOS backup password?
Restore iPhone from backup selectively
With CopyTrans Shelbee, you can also choose which data you want to restore. Here’s how to restore selected data to iPhone:
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Open CopyTrans Shelbee and connect your iPhone. Click on Custom restore.
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Click on the green pencil icon to select which backup you want to restore your data from.
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After you’ve chosen the right backup file, click “Next”.
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Wait until the loading process finishes.
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Select the data you wish to restore. For example, it is possible to only restore photos from an iPhone backup. Just select Photos, then click on Next.
For contacts, the process is the same: select Contacts, then click on Next. You can select as many items as you want. Restore calendars, WhatsApp, Notes – in any combination you want!
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Please note that the data you selected will be overwritten. So, if you want to restore contacts, the device contacts will be replaced with the ones from the backup.
Click “Next”. -
CopyTrans Shelbee will ask you to choose where you want to save the backup of your device in case something goes wrong during Custom restore. Select the destination and click “Start”.
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Wait until the restore process finishes.
NOTE
If the restore fails for some unknown reason, see the troubleshooting steps for when the backup is corrupt.
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That’s it! Your device will now restart.
NOTE
While restoring, CopyTrans Shelbee may ask you to enter the iOS backup password to decrypt the data in the backup. What is an iOS backup password?
How long does it take to restore iPhone
When using iTunes to restore iPhone, it usually takes up to 1 hour depending on the size of your backup. However, the larger your iTunes backup is, the longer it takes to restore iPhone.
Overall, the speed of the process depends on several factors:
➡ your internet connection;
➡ the type of a cable that you are using;
➡ PC operational capabilities.
When using CopyTrans Shelbee, note that due to how custom restore works, you need to have enough space for a full restore in order to perform custom.
We hope the methods described in the article will help you avoid the dreaded iTunes error messages and successfully restore your iPhone. You gave CopyTrans Shelbee a go but the restore still failed? See the troubleshooting steps for when the backup is corrupt.
