Uploading to iCloud Paused on iPhone 18 Pro? What to Do

Some users have said that a message keeps appearing saying, “Uploading to iCloud Paused. Plug in your device and connect to Wi-Fi” in Messages on their iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone 18 Pro Max. The message is displayed at the bottom of the screen with a blue progress bar that does not move. Users have further said that this message does not go away even when they plug in their device and connect to a Wi-Fi network as the message instructs them to do. It appears that iCloud uploading is not working and is sort of stuck. This message may also appear when you attempt to sync your messages with your Mac.

In this article, I explain what you can do if you are having issues with iCloud syncing and you keep seeing this message on your iPhone 18 Pro.

Before you try the steps below, there are a few important things you should check:

• It is normal for iCloud syncing to be paused when your device is in Low Power Mode. In Low Power Mode, some of your device’s features will be disabled or function in a limited manner to save battery power. iCloud data transfers are paused to preserve the battery. You can turn Low Power Mode on or off by going to Settings > Battery > Power Mode. On iPhone 18 Pro, Adaptive Power is on by default, and Apple says it can automatically turn on Low Power Mode when your battery reaches 20%. Apple says you’re notified the first time Adaptive Power turns on, and after that only on days when your battery is draining faster than usual. Adaptive Power is in the same Power Mode screen if you want to turn it off, and you can turn Adaptive Power Notifications on or off there too.
• Ensure that your iPhone is using the latest version of iOS. Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
• If your device doesn’t have enough available storage in iCloud, this may cause issues. Ensure that your iCloud storage is not full, as this can be a determiner of this issue. On your device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud to check how much free iCloud storage you have. You can add more storage if it is full.
• Are you using VPN? A VPN connection may interfere with the iCloud connection. Disable VPN and then try again. Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management > VPN, then turn off the Status switch.
• If possible, try to connect to another Wi-Fi network to see if this makes any difference.

1: Restart

Restart your iPhone 18 Pro. Follow these steps:

1. Plug your device into a power source.
2. Ensure that you are connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. Ensure that you are not too far away from the Wi-Fi router.
3. Press and hold either volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

2: Check the System Status

You may be having trouble with iCloud upload being paused because Apple’s iCloud servers are down or having issues. It is rare, but it occurs. Sometimes Apple’s servers may have outages that may cause this problem. These kinds of issues are temporary, and Apple usually addresses them quickly. You can check the status of Apple’s systems by going to the Apple System Status page and checking iCloud. If there is an issue, you will see a notification about the problem.

3: Turn off and on iCloud for Messages

If you are having this issue, you may want to disable iCloud for Messages and then re-enable it. Here is how:

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud. Tap See All, tap Messages in iCloud, then turn off “Use on this iPhone.” This will turn off iCloud syncing for Messages.
2. Now restart your device.
3. After restarting, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > See All > Messages in iCloud. And then turn on “Use on this iPhone.”

4: Sign out of iCloud and then sign in again

If you are still having this problem, you may want to sign out of iCloud and then sign in. Any information stored in iCloud remains available in iCloud, and it will be removed from your iPhone 18 Pro unless you choose to keep a copy of that data when prompted. Here is how you can do this:

1. Open the Settings app, then tap [your name].
2. Scroll down to the bottom.
3. Tap Sign Out.
4. Choose Erase this iPhone or Sign Out But Don’t Erase.
5. Follow the onscreen prompts to learn what information will remain on your device or be erased.
6. Enter the passcode for that device or enter your Apple Account password.
7. If you chose Sign Out But Don’t Erase, tap Confirm and Sign Out. If you chose Erase this iPhone, tap Sign Out, then tap Sign Out again to confirm.

After signing out, you may want to restart your device. After that, sign back in again by going to Settings and tapping “Sign in to your iPhone” and following the onscreen instructions.