The iOS Update Checklist

What to do before you update your iPhone, how to install it, and what to watch in the two days after. Free and printable, built on Apple support documentation.

Five minutes before you tap Download and Install, and what to watch in the two days after. Tick each step as you go, and your progress stays on this device. Every step follows Apple's own support documentation.

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Before you update 5 minutes

Decide if this update is for today. Big feature releases can usually wait a few days. Updates that fix security issues Apple says may have been actively exploited should not.
Back up. Settings, your name, iCloud, iCloud Backup, Back Up Now. Stay on Wi‑Fi until it finishes, then check the date and time of your last backup shown under Back Up Now.
Check your space. Settings, General, iPhone Storage. If iOS offers to temporarily remove apps to make room, tap Continue. Apple reinstalls them after the update.
Plug in and join Wi‑Fi. Apple recommends both before every update.
Know your passcode. You will need it to start the install. If Face ID has done the work for months, make sure you still remember it.
Pause your VPN. Apple notes that VPN and proxy connections can block its update servers.

Install it 10 to 30 minutes

Update. Settings, General, Software Update, Download and Install, then follow the onscreen steps. If the update does not appear, you can install it from a Mac or a Windows PC.
Or let it happen overnight. In Software Update, tap Automatic Updates and turn on Automatically Install. Your iPhone installs updates overnight while charging on Wi‑Fi and lets you know before it does.

The first two days after 48 hours

Expect some battery drain and warmth. Apple says update tasks keep running in the background after you can use the phone. Settings, Battery shows an Ongoing iOS Update insight while that is happening.
Charge overnight on Wi‑Fi. Background work such as rebuilding search (the Optimizing Search and Siri message) finishes fastest when the phone is idle, plugged in and on Wi‑Fi.
Update your apps. Open the App Store and install anything pending. Developers ship fixes for a new iOS release in the days after it lands.
Test what you rely on. Banking and work apps, Bluetooth accessories, CarPlay and your Apple Watch.
Still off after a few days? Restart first. Then check our iOS 27 problems and fixes page, which tracks known issues and what Apple has fixed.

Install now, or wait a few days?

Install now when

Apple's security notes for the release say an issue may have been actively exploited.
The release notes fix a problem you are actually hitting.
It is a small point release a few days old with no widespread reports of trouble.

Wait a few days when

It is a big feature release and nothing in it is urgent for you.
You depend on a work or banking app that has not confirmed support yet.
You are about to travel or have a day where your phone has to just work.

Where everything lives

To do this	Go here on your iPhone
Back up right now	Settings, your name, iCloud, iCloud Backup, Back Up Now
See your last backup	Same screen, under Back Up Now
Install an update	Settings, General, Software Update
Turn on automatic updates	Settings, General, Software Update, Automatic Updates
Check free space	Settings, General, iPhone Storage
See what is draining battery	Settings, Battery
Check battery health	Settings, Battery, Battery Health (iPhone 15 and later) or Battery Health & Charging (iPhone 14 and earlier)

Steps follow Apple Support articles 118575 (Update your iPhone) and 108366 (iCloud Backup), plus Apple's battery and Spotlight guidance, as of October 2026. Apple's security releases page lists what every update fixed. Menu names can change between iOS versions.

Want our call on each release the day it ships? Should I Update? is a short free email within hours of every public iOS release: install now, wait a day or skip it. And if you are the person your family calls for iPhone help, our printable guides put the whole job in order.