HT4847 Just used ICLOUD and backed up everything on my IPAD2 except ITUNES which is synced with my laptop, but cloud says backup was only 263mb how do I know that all of my mail, game apps , photos, and all other apps was backed up? And how do I update

Question

ICloud backup on my IPAD2 only says 263mb backed up, did it include all apps?

Answer 1

None of your iTunes downloads are included in a backup, neither to the cloud nor on iTunes - an iCloud restore would redownload what it can from the store (e.g. apps that are still in your country's store, and if you haven't changed countries since buying them), an iTunes restore would pick them up your iTunes downloads from the relevant part of your iTunes library (Apps, Music etc). Only the apps content/settings are in the actual back up - you can see which apps that you are backing up to the cloud via Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage > device name
If you haven't already done so then you should copy any iTunes downloads that aren't in your computer's iTunes library via File > Devices > Transfer Purchases, and take your own copy of any important documents/photos - as long as you've set their apps to backup to the cloud then they should be included in that, but it's best to have your own copy as well.
You could also take a backup on iTunes (File > Devices > Back Up) - that should take up a similar size as the cloud backup does (as it doesn't include any of your iTunes downloads or the contents of the Music and Videos apps). After you are happy that the update has gone through ok then you can delete the backup (though ideally you'd take a regular iTunes backup as well) via the Devices tab in Edit > Preferences in iTunes.
Emails are not included in a backup, only the email account's settings are. Also photos that were synced from a computer are not included, nether are the contents of the Music and Videos app.
What is included in an iCloud backup : iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview
iTunes backups : iTunes: About iOS backups