iPhone ‘Attempting Data Recovery’ Screen: What It Means & How To Fix

If you’ve ever connected your iPhone to your computer and seen the Attempting Data Recovery screen, you may wonder what it means. And, more importantly, how you can fix it and recover your data.

When you connect your iPhone to your computer, iTunes tries to back up your device. If there is an issue with the backup, you may see the “Attempting Data Recovery” screen. 

This screen means iTunes is trying to recover data from your device, but it cannot do so.

The good news is that you can solve it quickly and restore your device to its normal state.

Things you can do to fix iPhone Attempting Data Recovery:

• Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed.
• Connect your iPhone to a different computer.
• If you have a backup, you can restore your iPhone from it.

How to fix attempting data recovery on iPhone

1. Force iPhone to reboot

If you are stuck in the Attempting Data Recovery loop, you can try force restarting your iPhone. To do this on iPhone 8 and all the recent versions after it, you’ll have to:

Step 1. Press and fast release the Volume Up button.

Step 2. Press and fast release the Volume Down button.

Step 3. Press and hold the Power button until the Apple logo appears.

To force iPhone 7 and 7 plus to restart. You’ll have to:

Step 1. Press the power button and volume down button at the same time.

Step 2. Keep holding the side buttons until the Apple logo appears

To force the earlier iPhones to restart, press and hold the Home button simultaneously with the Power button. Hold them until the Apple logo shows on the screen.

2. Update iTunes

Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. You can check for updates by opening iTunes and going to Help > Check for Updates.

3. Restart the computer

Try restarting your computer and then connect your iPhone to it again.

4. Connect to another computer

Try connecting your iPhone to another computer. This will help you determine if the issue is with your iPhone or with your computer.

5. Put the iPhone into the Recovery Mode

You’ll likely lose your data after this action. Therefore, make sure you have a backup to restore your iPhone data.

Step 1. Close iTunes and then connect your iPhone to the computer.

Step 2. Hold the restart buttons from the first solution (the buttons depend on which iPhone version you own).

Step 2.a. Don’t release the buttons when the Apple logo appears. Wait until the message “Connect to iTunes” is shown.

Step 3. Open iTunes and let the program run. A pop-up will appear. You can choose the Update, which prevents data loss. But, if it doesn’t work, you can click on Restore, which will erase your files while restoring the device.

Summary: Most solutions to fix the Attempting Data Recovery issue won’t cause data loss. You can reboot your iPhone, and see if the problem is with iTunes or with the computer. But, when your options end, you’ll restore your iPhone and then will need a data recovery solution or a backup.

How to recover data in case Attempting Data Recovery fails

If you had to click on Restore, or if any other mistake happens during the process leading to data loss, there’s still hope to recover your iPhone data.

Restore iPhone data from iCloud backup

After fixing the attempting data recovery issue, you’ll reset your iPhone. As soon as the APPs & Data screen appears, select “Restore from iCloud Backup”.

From there, you can restore the data by signing into your Apple ID and selecting the latest backup.

Restore iPhone data from iTunes backup

With the iPhone connected to the computer, open iTunes. Select your device and then click on “Restore Backup”. Then you choose which backup you want to restore, click on it, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Restore iPhone data with recovery software

Data recovery software is useful when you don’t have a recent backup to restore data from.

Download the iPhone data recovery software, launch it, and follow the instructions to recover the data. It will ask you to choose the files and folders you want.

You have three options to restore your iPhone data:

• From iCloud
• From iTunes
• With a data recovery software

Make sure to backup your iPhone regularly. This will guarantee that no matter what happens to your device, you’ll always have access to your data.

If you need any help to recover your iPhone data, contact SalvageData experts. Our team is ready to assist you at any moment.