Fix the “iTunes could not back up the iphone because it has not been set up yet” error
If you suddenly get the “iTunes could not back up the iphone because it has not been set up yet” error, well fret not, the fix for this is really easy. In fact, it’s kinda stupid too. Apparently this may happen when you update your iPhone to a new iOS version. It happened to me after updating to iOS 9.
The fix? Just change your iPhone’s language and your iPhone should now backup properly again. Really. It’s that Simple. If you don’t know how to change the language of your phone, the following video would guide you all the way.
Let me know if this works for you too.
Brilliant!!! I’ve tried deleting backups, renaming backups then i came across this fix and boom worked within seconds.
Glad I was able to help!
It worked!!! You are a genius!!
Glad it worked for you!
what if your iphone is smashed and you cannot get into it to change the language???
Yikes. That’s a tricky one then. But this guide is kinda old, 5 years old to be exact. I’m not sure it applies anymore with the newer iOS versions. Which version of iOS is your iPhone running on and which version of macOS? The latest macOS no longer uses iTunes too to sync/backup iPhones, but is now with the Finder app.