How-To

How to Download a Copy of Your Data from Apple

By Brian Burgess

Last Updated on October 23, 2018

Apple has overhauled its data portal and now allows customers in the U.S. download a copy of the data associated with their Apple ID. Here’s how.

Apple has overhauled and expanded its Data and Privacy page and one of the key additions is it now allows U.S. customers to download a copy of your data that is associated with your Apple ID. You can get info about app usage, data from calendars, photos, and more. We have covered how to delete your Apple ID via the Privacy Portal before. Now with this overhaul of the site, we will take a look at how to download an archive of your data.

Download Your Data from Apple

First, head to privacy.apple.com and log in with your Apple ID and password. Then enter your two-factor authentication code if you have that enabled. You do have 2FA enabled with Apple and all other sites, right? If not, read our two-factor authentication guide for securing your online life.

On the next page, click Get started under the Get a Copy of Your Data section at the top of the list.

Now go through the list and select the items you want a copy of. Or, if this is your first time, you might just want to select everything.

If you scroll down a bit on the page, you will see a section that says the items may be large and take a long time to download. Currently, the items include iCloud Drive files, iCloud Mail, and iCloud Photos. If you already have backups of your photos and other data from iCloud you might want to skip those items.

After you have made your selections, Apple will divide your data into file sizes between 1GB and 25GB. Choose your preferred size from the dropdown box and complete the request.

Apple will then send you an email letting you know it is creating your data archive. It will send you a second email once it is ready to download. Keep in mind that it can take up to seven days for it to be available. Once you are notified the download is available, you have two weeks to download the Zip file.

This new feature is available thanks to the new EU GDPR data regulations that went into effect back in May. Other services have allowed you to download archives of your data for some time now. You can get a copy of your data from Google or download an archive of your Facebook data, for example.