Frequently Asked Questions

No. iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive sync your files. When you delete a photo or a damage happens on one device, the change reaches all your devices. Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days, then they are gone for good.

iCloud Backup doesn't cover them either: once iCloud Photos is on, Apple leaves your photos out of iCloud Backup (Apple Support). And with Optimize Storage turned on, your devices only keep small previews, so iCloud holds the only full-quality originals.

Parachute Backup keeps a separate copy of your originals on storage you control. Changes in iCloud never reach that copy unless you ask for it.

Never from iCloud. Parachute Backup only reads from iCloud and never changes or deletes anything there.

By default, your backup only grows: new and changed items are copied, and nothing is removed. If you turn on Remove Deleted Items (Mirroring), items you delete in iCloud are moved to a folder named Deleted at your destination instead. Under Keep Items you choose how long they stay there: forever, 90 days (the default), 30 days, or until the next backup. Until then, you can move them back at any time.

On Mac

Not if you use Optimize Mac Storage. Time Machine only copies files that are on your Mac's disk. With Optimize Mac Storage on, your Photos originals and offloaded iCloud Drive files live only in iCloud, so Time Machine never sees them.

Parachute Backup fetches those originals from iCloud and keeps a full copy on your own storage. Keep both: Time Machine restores your Mac, Parachute Backup protects your photos and files independently of iCloud. Give Parachute Backup its own drive or folder, not the Time Machine volume.

Everything runs right on your device. Parachute Backup copies your files from iCloud straight to the destination you choose, and the developer never sees your photos or files.

Your copy lives on storage you own or control. For cloud destinations like Google Drive, OneDrive or S3, access works the way it always does with that provider.

Parachute Backup works directly with what is available on your device and in your Apple Account. There is no separate sign-in.

On Mac

iCloud: to include iCloud Photos or iCloud Drive, sign in to iCloud in System Settings > Apple Account.

Photos: Parachute Backup works with your System Photo Library. You can have several libraries on a Mac, but only one is the System Photo Library (Apple Support). To include iCloud Photos, turn on Photos in System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud (Apple Support).

Files: Parachute Backup can copy any folder your Mac can access. To include iCloud Drive, turn on Drive in System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud (Apple Support).

On iPhone and iPad

iCloud: to include iCloud Photos or iCloud Drive, sign in to iCloud in Settings > Apple Account.

Photos: Parachute Backup works with the photo library on your device. To include iCloud Photos, turn on Photos in Settings > Apple Account > iCloud (Apple Support).

Files: Parachute Backup can copy any folder available in the Files app. To include iCloud Drive, turn on Drive in Settings > Apple Account > iCloud (Apple Support).

Yes. Parachute Backup uses the iCloud account that is already signed in on your device, so there is nothing to turn off. Advanced Data Protection keeps your data encrypted in iCloud. Your copy is protected by whatever protects the destination, for example an encrypted drive.

Yes. Parachute Backup saves the original of every photo and video. You can also include edited versions, Live Photo movies, RAW sidecars and more.

Yes. Parachute Backup can save the photos and videos from your Shared Albums, too.

Yes, always. An iCloud Shared Photo Library is a second library that you share with up to five other people, and everyone in it can add, edit and delete photos. Shared Albums are different: you pick single photos and videos to share with people you invite, and in Parachute Backup you can choose which Shared Albums to include.

Apple does not let apps find out whether a device uses a Shared Photo Library, or whether a photo belongs to it. Apps like Parachute Backup see your personal and your shared photos as one library, so your backup includes both. It is not possible to leave the shared photos out.

What looks like one iCloud Drive folder is really several separate, individually protected locations. Apple requires that you give Parachute Backup access to each one, and no app can work around that.

Documents from apps like Pages, Numbers or Keynote live in their own app folders. Add each app whose documents you want to include under App Data in Source Folders.

On Mac

On the Mac, Desktop and Documents also need to be added separately. The iCloud Drive entry only covers the files at the top level of iCloud Drive.

On iPhone and iPad

On iPhone and iPad, the iCloud Drive entry already includes Desktop and Documents.

Yes. Besides iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive, you can add any other folder on your device as a source.

There is no restore button in the app. Your copy is made of regular files and folders, with no special format, so you can copy anything back yourself at any time. For a Live Photo, take the image and the movie file together, because they belong to one item.

On Mac

In Finder, drag files back where you want them. To put photos back into Apple Photos, drag the folders into Photos, ideally into a new Photos library.

On iPhone and iPad

Open your backup in the Files app, start dragging the items, switch to the Photos app while you keep dragging, and drop them onto the Library. This is much easier on iPad than on iPhone.

Parachute Backup lists every item it couldn't copy in the summary after each run and in Backup History. Often the cause is a file that is damaged in iCloud itself. You can try exporting it from Apple Photos manually, but damaged files often can't be recovered, which is one more reason to keep a copy of your own.

The first backup of a large library can take days. Parachute Backup saves every photo and video individually through Apple’s Photos framework, so capture dates, locations, Live Photos and edits are preserved, and tens of thousands of items take much longer than copying a few large files. Items that are only in iCloud also have to be downloaded first.

Later backups only transfer what is new or changed, but they still check every item (why?). That check is fast on a directly connected drive and slower on a network drive or in the cloud.

To speed things up, use a directly connected SSD, narrow the date range in the Photos settings, or turn off Shared Albums if you do not need them.

So that nothing is missed. Parachute Backup keeps no separate database. Each run compares every item with your copy, which catches anything that went missing or changed. Only new and changed items are actually copied.

The check is quick on a directly connected drive and slower on a network drive or in the cloud.

Yes, and you always get the full-resolution originals. Parachute Backup downloads each item from iCloud as it reaches it and copies it to your destination, one item at a time. You only need a little more free space than your largest photo or video, not room for the whole library.

iCloud Drive files that Parachute Backup downloaded are released again right after copying. For photos, the system decides when to free that space, so your Photos library can take up more room than usual for a while.

On Mac

On the Mac, the setting is called Optimize Mac Storage.

On iPhone and iPad

On iPhone and iPad, the setting is called Optimize iPhone Storage or Optimize iPad Storage.

On Mac

Anywhere you like: external drives, a NAS or network share, and anything mounted in Finder, such as SFTP or WebDAV volumes or a Dropbox folder.

Google Drive, OneDrive, and Amazon S3 or any S3-compatible storage are built in, with no mount needed.

On iPhone and iPad

Anywhere you like: USB drives, a NAS or network share, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Amazon S3 or any S3-compatible storage.

On Mac

Yes. Set a schedule in the app, and Parachute Backup takes care of the rest. You can also start any backup plan from Shortcuts or Siri, and run your own Shortcuts on backup events.

With several backup plans, each one can have its own schedule.

On iPhone and iPad

Yes. Pick a time of day in the Schedule screen, which sets up a Shortcuts automation for you. You can also start a backup when your iPhone joins a Wi-Fi network, or just ask Siri.

iOS decides when apps may work in the background, so scheduled backups run while your iPhone is charging and online. If iOS interrupts a run, the next one continues where it stopped.

You can follow the progress on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.

On iPhone and iPad

Only if you allow it. By default Parachute Backup waits for Wi-Fi, because photos and files often have to be downloaded from iCloud first, and a backup should never quietly use lots of cellular data. To change that, turn on Allow Cellular Data in Settings.

On Mac

Yes, with Backup Plans. Each plan has its own sources, destination, schedule and settings. For example, one plan can copy your photos to a NAS every night, while another copies iCloud Drive to Google Drive once a week.

On iPhone and iPad

Not on iPhone and iPad. Parachute Backup for iPhone and iPad saves everything to one destination. Backup Plans are available in Parachute Backup for Mac.

Yes. Parachute Backup for Mac and for iPhone and iPad write the same folder structure and the same file names, so each app recognizes what the other already copied. Your originals are written only once.

For iCloud Drive and other folders, sharing works with some limits, so it is simplest to let one device take care of them. One more thing to expect: viewing an edited photo at full size updates the date of its edited version on that device only, so that file may be copied again now and then. It costs a little time, not data.

This is for one person with several devices. If two people with different Apple Accounts use Parachute Backup, give each of them their own destination folder.

On Mac

Yes, your Mac needs to be awake and Parachute Backup needs to be running at the scheduled time. It is an app, not a system service. Once a backup has started, Parachute Backup keeps your Mac from going to sleep until it is done, and the display can turn off.

For backups at night, turn on Start at Login and keep your Mac from sleeping during that time.

On iPhone and iPad

For scheduled backups, yes. iOS decides when apps may work in the background, and Parachute Backup asks to run while your device is charging and online. Also make sure that Background App Refresh is on for Parachute Backup, Low Power Mode is off, and notifications are allowed with Immediate Delivery.

If iOS stops a run early, nothing is lost: the next run continues with what is missing.

No. Parachute Backup is a one-time purchase on the App Store, with every feature included.

Using the latest public release of the operating system is recommended.

On Mac

Parachute Backup for Mac requires any Mac running macOS 15 or later.

On iPhone and iPad

Parachute Backup Mobile requires any iPhone or iPad running iOS/iPadOS 18 or later.

Usually not. When using iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive, most of the data is available everywhere. Parachute Backup for Mac can copy everything and a Mac is easier to keep awake, connected to power and an external drive for a potentially long-running initial backup. Parachute Backup Mobile is the right choice if you do not have a Mac, if you are away from it for longer stretches, or if you have files that only live on your iPhone or iPad.

For historic reasons, the two apps are separate purchases.

Use Contact Support from inside the app, and include the diagnostic log when the app asks. The log file helps us understand problems that may have occurred on your device. It contains technical details, but no contents of your photos or files.

You can also email contact@parachuteapps.com directly.

On Mac

On the Mac, choose Help > Contact Support… from the menu.

On iPhone and iPad

On iPhone and iPad, open Settings and tap Contact Support.