Where does iTunes store copies? Where are iPhone and iPad backups stored? Where are iPhone backups stored on Mac?

Usually, you don’t have to know about the accurate location of iTunes backup files because iTunes will show them for you automatically. But what if you purchase a new computer and want to transfer the backup files from the old PC to the new one, you have to know the location of the backup files so that you can have a copy for them. This article will show the following several parts:

Part 1: The location of your iPhone backup files

1: The location of your iTunes backup files

If you are a Windows user, you can find your iPhone backup files under the path just as below according to your operating system:

Note: In order to show the hidden folder, you should enable “show hidden files” firstly. Just open an arbitrary folder, go to “Tools->Folder Options->View”, and then enable “Show hidden files, folders and drives”.

For XP: C:\Documents and Settings\ (username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

For Vista:

For Windows 7: C:\Users\ (username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

For Windows 8, 8.1: C:\Users\ (username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

For Windows 10: C:\Users\ (username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

(The “C:” means the system drive of your computer.)

You can open an arbitrary folder and input the path above into the address bar and then tap the Enter key, to access to the target path quickly.

If you are a Mac user, you should go to “ ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/” and view all your iPhone backup files there.

2. Location for iCloud backup files

As to iCloud backup files, since they are all saved in the remote storage, you cannot find iCloud backup files on computer but can still view them very easy.

To Mac users, you have to go to “System Preferences” under Apple menu, and go to “iCloud” and click “Manage” Menu.

To Windows users, just click Start| All Programs| iCloud| iCloud and then choose “Manage”, if you are using Windows 8, you can find the relevant title in the Start Window.

Besides, you can also view the backup data directly on your iPhone. Just go into Settings->iCloud and then choose “Storage & Backup”.

Part 2: Change the storage path of iTunes backup files

Since you know where your backup files are, you must wonder how to change the default storage path and save your backup files in other places so that you can save more space for your system drive. This is not really complex. Here are the steps:

For Windows XP:

• 1) Close your iTunes. And you have to download the junction utility from the Internet.
• 2) Extract the junction utility, and copy “junction.exe” to your username folder.
• 3) Go to the path which saved your iTunes backup files, copy all the backup files to other places.
• 4) Click Start, click Run and input “cmd” into the text box, then tap the Enter key.
• 5) Now the command prompt will pop up, now you have to create an NTFS junction point. Input below commander and tap Enter key:
  Junction “C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “(the new storage path you want)”
• 6) Now back up your iPhone file with iTunes once, and go to the new storage path to check whether the new backup file is saved there.

For Windows Vista/7/8:

• 1) Go to the location of the iTunes backup files, and copy all the files into the new backup storage path you want.
• 2) Both tap Windows and R, and input “cmd” into the popping-up textbox, and then click Ok.
• 3) Now command prompt will pop up. Input the commander just as below and tap Enter key:
  mklink /j “C:\Users\username\App Data\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “(the new storage path you want)”
• 4) Backup your iPhone file with iTunes, and go to the new storage path to check whether new backup file is saved there.

For Mac OS X:

• 1) Exit iTunes, and go to the iTunes backup location and copy all backups to the new storage folder.
• 2) Launch Terminal and enter the command prompt. Input the commander just as follows:
  ln -s /Volumes/External/Backup/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup
• 3) Back up your iPhone file with iTunes, and go to new storage path to check whether the new backup data is saved there.

Part 3: How to delete iTunes backup files

Although backup files can give you a chance to get your important data back after deleting them by accident, too many backup files may also waste the storage space. In this case, you may need to delete some files which are already out of date and make room for the new backup files. As to iCloud backup files, deleting the useless backup files in time is also very important. As we know, your iCloud storage is limited and precious, so you have to delete some out-of-data backup files or you may not have enough space to back up your iPhone anymore.

Since you have known where your iTunes backup files are, deleting them can be very easy. Just go into the storage folder of iTunes backup files, and choose what you want and delete them directly. As to deleting backup files in iCloud server, you can just finish the task on your iPhone: Just go “Settings”->”iCloud”->”Storage& Backup”->”Manage Storage”, and then select the backup you want to delete, and then tap “Delete Backup”.

Part 4: How to recover iPhone data without any backup files

Deleting backup files is really easy, but if you just deleted certain important backup which contains your precious personal files by mistake, and you just want to use it to restore your iPhone, it can really be a great disaster. Just in case, you have to know how to retrieve the lost data without backup files as well. Actually, there are some methods to get the deleted data back without backup files, and the easiest way is to choose a well designed tool to help you.

Is such an iPhone recovery tool. It can help you recover the deleted data such as contacts, SMS text messages, music, pictures, videos and so on from an iTunes or iCloud backup files, or even from iPhone directly:

• 1) Just download iMyfone D-Back and install it on the computer, then connect your iPhone to the computer as well using the USB cable.
• 2) Switch the software into “ Recover from iOS Device” mode, and after your iPhone has been detected, click “ Start” and the software will find out all deleted data on your iPhone.
• 3) You can view all the lost data now, just select all you want, and click “Recover”, all your lost important data will be back later.

Often, the user of an iOS device is faced with the task of finding a backup copy made at a certain time ago. Any experienced iPhone owner probably knows how to create a backup copy. But not everyone knows where these copies are stored on regular computers or on Macs.

Backup files store a lot of important information for the user, so no iPhone owner wants to lose them forever. There are contact sheets and browser bookmarks (for example, Safari, etc.).

Our article will tell you where the iPhone backup is stored on your computer. And this is done differently on different operating systems.

A copy file made from a Windows computer using the iTunes utility is usually stored in the “Users” folder.

To ensure that backups are secure and files are not accidentally damaged, Apple offers the following recommendations:

• A backup, which can be created on a PC or laptop, will not necessarily be stored in the folder named above. Depending on which OSA is installed on the computer, the location of the copy will depend. Although it is possible to copy information with a backup, it is better to refrain from moving it to other folders or drives (external or network).
• Backing up iPhone data is not subject to editing, renaming or extracting file information, since all these actions can damage them. Let's say that in order to restore information from a moved copy, you need to return it to its place, otherwise nothing will work. A backup copy is a safe source of storing all data on a mobile device. Even if the backup file stored on the PC is open for access, it is unlikely that you will be able to view the iPhone backup, because... it is not suitable for reading.

Where are iPhone backups stored on Mac?

On these computer gadgets, it is even easier to find and open a copy than on a regular PC or laptop. This is done in just a few simple steps.

To find the information image, you need to click on the menu bar, and then specify the following path: ~/Libraries/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

And the second way to find the required backup file involves user actions such as:

• Opening the iTunes utility.
• Enter the settings menu.
• Selecting a section with devices.
• Pressing the control key and holding it for some time.
• In parallel with the above action, click on the name of the desired copy.
• Click on "Show in Finder".

This completes the search process. Now you know not only how to backup your iPhone, but also how to find it later among many other files on a regular PC or Mac.

We are looking for information on a PC with the operating system Windows 7,8,10

To search for backup files on a PC or laptop with the specified OS versions, you need to perform the following set of actions:

• In the search bar, enter “Windows 7” (8 or 10, respectively, depending on what PC you use for work), start the search by pressing the corresponding button.
• Enter: %appdata% into the search bar that opens.
• Click the enter key.
• Double click (sequentially) on the folders:

• Apple Computer
• MobileSync
• Backup.

How to delete a backup on a regular PC or Mac

As mentioned above, it is strictly forbidden to perform the following manipulations with backup files:

• Editing.
• Transfer to other folders.
• Renaming.
• Information extraction.

All of the above actions will lead to damage to the copied files in 100% of cases. And to duplicate files or delete them. Several other actions will be required, which we will discuss below.

Copying backup files to another location

If the user needs a duplicate of the backup files, he needs to find these files using one of the methods described earlier, and be sure to copy them completely (partially) to the required location (for example, to a disk or network storage, etc.).

If you used the Time Machine utility, the copied information is automatically duplicated during the process of creating a backup on your Mac device.

Method to delete backups

To completely erase backup files, you need to follow the following algorithm:

• On a Mac, go to the settings of the iTunes utility; on a regular PC or laptop, go to the edit menu, and then to settings.
• Both there and there click on the devices icon.
• Selecting the specific copy to be deleted. If there are a lot of files (or several devices), you need to hover your mouse over each copy to view information about it.
• Select the option to delete the backup copy, click on it, thus confirming your decision.

How to find copies saved in icloud

If a user prefers to make backups via iCloud because this method seems most convenient to him, he will not be able to subsequently find them on the service’s resource on the Internet. To search for backup files on any device (it doesn’t matter whether it’s a regular PC or a laptop, or a Mac), you need to use another method and do the following:

• On any Apple device, you first need to go to settings.
• Then you need to scroll to the very bottom of the page and click on the iCloud icon.
• Enter the storage section, and then the management section.
• On a device called Mac, go to the Apple menu, then go to system settings, and click on the iCloud icon.
• On a PC or laptop with a Windows operating system, in the previous step you need to open the iCloud for this OS and also go into the storage.

Method for deleting backup files in icloud

This method, in addition to erasing information, is also used to select the contents of a copy stored in iCloud.

To delete data in iCloud, you must:

• On any Apple gadget with iOS, go to settings.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the iCloud icon.
• Enter the storage and then the file management section.
• Decide on the copy to be deleted or take action to erase it, simply confirming it by pressing one button.

Before deleting, you can view Additional information about the backup file by simply hovering the mouse over its name. The information will pop up in a special window next to the file.

For many users, it is very important to save years of accumulated information. Every time the iPhone is connected to the computer, the program automatically creates a backup copy. Let's find out in more detail where it is stored and how to view all the data.

Synchronizing phone data with iTunes allows you to automatically create a copy of the device data, this is a so-called reserve, so that the user has the opportunity to restore all data if information is lost from the phone. It also happens that after reinstalling the system on a laptop or computer, all data is erased. To prevent this from happening, you need to learn how to copy all files or make a backup copy, but first you need to know where it is created in order to be able to copy it to another medium.

Where is iPhone backup stored?

A copy of all files stores all the information from the phone, from contacts and bookmarks of the browser you use when visiting Internet pages, to recordings, photos and videos. You don’t want to lose all your data, especially if it’s very important, so when synchronizing you need to learn how to find all the information. This is not difficult to do; we will consider 2 options, taking into account the different operating systems of the devices.

How to find a copy of an iPhone on MAC 0S X:

• go to the “User” folder;
• enter a name if it has not yet been assigned;
• then go to the “Library” folder.

At the stage of entering the “Library” folder (it is hidden), in order to see it, you need to follow this path: open “Finder”, click the “Go” tab at the top, press alt (a key on the keyboard) and contemplate the desired folder. Then we just go into it. Next, we move along this path: “Application Support” – “MobileSync” – “Backup”, and look for the necessary information.

How to Find an Iphone Backup in Windows XP

If you are using a different operating system, the search route is as follows:

• “Documents and Settings” folder;
• "Username";
• folder "Application Data";
• folder "Apple Computer";
• folder "MobileSync";
• "Backup" folder.

If operating system If your device has another one installed - Vista or 7 Windows, then the search path for the backup copy is slightly different: “User”, “Username”, “Date”, “Roaming”, “Apple Computer”, “MobileSync”, “Backup”.

The Easy Way to Find an Iphone Backup

For those who don’t like long searches, we offer a lightweight option - a backup copy of the information can be found in iTunes.

How to do it:

• Open iTunes.
• Go to the program settings.
• A new window will open, you need to go to the “Devices” menu.
• The window that opens will display all the information about all copies from the phone that are stored in the computer’s memory. You can also track them by creation date.
• You can only delete them. It is impossible to transfer all the information or copy everything from this program.

How to find an iPhone backup in the iCloud cloud

There is another option with which you can find a backup copy of your phone in the Apple cloud service. To do this, you need to go to iCloud.com and enter your password and login in this browser.

You will see the following information:

• mail data (if the mailboxes are free, you can access your information);
• information on contacts, calendars, reminders (if the device has been ticked in advance);
• if you have mail on a cloud service, information on synchronizing notes will also be provided;
• document synchronization;
• iPhone search. The map shows where in this moment your phone is located (the function allows you to track the device if the iPhone is stolen or lost).

There is no “backup” folder in the cloud service, so you cannot copy a copy or use the necessary information. You can only remove programs that are not used and restore your iPhone from the backup created when you first start the device. The program asks whether to restore the phone from a copy or not. If you enter your data (password and login), then you can restore the data on your phone from a backup copy.

Of course, there is nothing more important on a PC than user files and documents. What becomes most obvious after the sudden loss of important documents or precious family photographs.

So, protecting your files on your computer is very important. For example, by making backups and storing them in safe and sensible places.

Choosing where to store your backup files is very important because storing backups in the wrong location can often be as bad as not having backups at all. So, where to store backups, what are the pros and cons?

Clue. Many Internet routers allow USB connections. hard drives, which can be used as network storage. This could be a great place for Reserve copy.

• Second HDD on your computer- the fastest and least difficult way to store backups, because the system, every time a file changes, can automatically update the backup. However, an electrical surge can corrupt both the original data and the backup copy. Theft or fire will also destroy both copies.
• Network attached storage device(NAS) is a great way to store archives, both at home and in the workplace. NAS drives are hidden in hard-to-reach places. However, they are still vulnerable to fire.
• CD/DVD/Blu-Ray discs are no longer recommended for backup. Partly because, with the exception of Blu-Ray, discs don't have much storage capacity. In addition, discs deteriorate and there is no guarantee that they will be readable after 3 months or 3 years.
• USB hard disks - perhaps the best option because they can be stored anywhere, either at your place or at the home of the person responsible for backing up important business data.
• USB flash drives- can be considered as a place for backup, but they have their own size and price. In addition, keep in mind that they break mechanically relatively easily (for example, sat down, put them in washing machine and so on) and get lost even more easily.
• Cloud storage- are becoming increasingly popular, and there are many options to choose from, including Microsoft SkyDrive, Google Drive, Yandex Drive, Mile Drive, Carbonite, Mozy, Amazon S3 and so on.

The problem here is the initial download, if you have tens or even hundreds of gigabytes, and a fairly slow connection, the download may take weeks or even months.

Your workplace can be considered relatively safe. At least here, you can control access to the room where your computers are kept. But, if you store your business archives outside of this room, it is highly recommended that you encrypt them.

The only secure strategy for storing business data is a virtual private network (VPN) or cloud storage and business-specific encryption solutions.

Warning. If you decide to save your backups online to cloud storage, be careful! For example, you use the SkyDrive service, which syncs files on your computer with files in the cloud, or some other backup solution that keeps files in sync by deleting its backup from the cloud if that file is deleted from the computer - in this case, you may find , that if you accidentally delete a file from your computer, its backup copy will be completely deleted. To avoid this problem, stop your backup until you have restored your files.

Backing up files in Windows 8.1.

In Windows 8.1, there are two ways to back up files. The first method is to use Microsoft's cloud sync and backup service SkyDrive (renamed OneDrive). It can be configured in your PC settings, under OneDrive, allowing you to know how much you have free space to back up your files and easily purchase additional space.

OneDrive built into Windows 8.1

The files backed up in OneDrive will then, provided you have enough cloud space, be available to you (although the first backup may take several days or even weeks, depending on the speed of your Internet connection).

If you want to back up your files locally, Windows 8.1 comes with new version file backup tool called "File History". Here, after making changes to the files, a backup copy is saved, so that if you accidentally change something in the file, it can be restored.

File history can be incredibly useful, especially if you use your computer for work and frequently change files (such as Office documents). Here you can roll back an accidental or unauthorized change.

File history is accessed from the computer settings and control panel. You can use your internal hard drives, USB drives And network drives(although the last two don't work if they're not connected or accessible). history file settings in the PC Settings section.

File history in PC Settings

Here, File History automatically detects any included USB hard drives or additional internal hard drives on your computer, but network locations can also be used. These include NAS drives and USB hard drives connected to the Internet router. If you want to choose one of these storage locations, click the "more options" link.

You can get significantly more control over your file history by accessing it through the control panel. Here you can specify the more precise location of your backups, inside network drives or hard drives, so that you can store your backup in a specific folder, and not just at the root of the drive.

File history in Control Panel

Clue. If you use a USB hard drive connected to your Internet router for backup, why not use it for file history?

The first time you run File History, a full backup of your libraries (documents, music, pictures, videos) is created, and if you want additional files backed up, you must add them to your libraries. This initial backup may also take some time, depending on the number of files and connection speed.

However, you don't have to worry about your computer because if you need to put your computer to sleep or turn it off, the backup will be interrupted and will resume the next time you turn on your PC.

File History saves copies of files that have been deleted and modified, helping you recover old, accidentally deleted, or modified copies of documents. It also includes all changes, even minor ones, that were made to the file after it was opened. Every time you open a file, pictures or MP3, the file changes, updating the last accessed label.

Attention. When using File Backup, PC Settings and File History in Control Panel displays the backup status.

However, you can fix this by clicking on the left side of the history panel page, on the option to exclude folders. Here you can exclude drives containing file types that can only change when they were last accessed by setting a marker. These are music, image and video file types. But keep in mind that this action excludes these files and folders from backup as well, so make sure you have them backed up somewhere else.

Excluding files from history

If you want to change the location of your file history on the drive, you can do so in the left pane by clicking on the change drive option. File History will then move all of its backups to the new location. Clicking on the link additional parameters, in the left pane, gives more control over how the story works:

• You can choose how often to save copies of files. Please note that this is not done automatically when you save the file. You can choose a specific frequency, minimum 10 minutes. If you use Windows 8.1 for work, a short retention period is more reliable, especially if you work with files that change regularly, such as Word documents.
• You can choose how much disk space is reserved for the offline copy of your documents. This local copy of the modified and deleted files, is stored on your computer so that it can be restored even when you are disconnected from your USB backup or NAS file history.
• You can choose the storage period for versions. The "always" option is a bit misleading as it is the same as the "until space is needed" option. Storing files until space is needed is probably the best option.

Additional file history options

Clue. If you're working and your disk doesn't have enough disk space, or if there are too many old versions of files, you can click the clean up versions link to remove older versions of files from your disk.

Note. If you're using a laptop or tablet that only has one hard drive, you won't be able to save file version history locally on your computer because Windows 8.1 doesn't support creating backups in the same location as the original files. Many Internet routers have USB ports, so you can easily connect an external hard drive to use it as a storage network. This is a great place to back up and version control your history files.

Recover more early versions files can be recovered using the personal file recovery option located on the left side of the file history page.

The window that opens will show you everything previous versions saved documents, with their date and time. You can restore both individual files and groups of files.

Recover saved and deleted files in file history.

File History is used to recover your files in four different circumstances: You had to reinstall on your Windows computer; You need to move the files to new computer; You accidentally deleted a file or files and you need to recover them; or you accidentally made changes to the file that you didn't intend to make.

Let's look at the last two scenarios from the beginning. When you're in file explorer look at a specific folder, or select a file, you will see a “journal” button in the feed.

Click on it and open the file history recovery window.

Recovering a file in Explorer

Here you will see several different sets of controls. The back button and address bar at the top of the window work exactly the same as in File Explorer, and typing a folder in the address bar will take you to the corresponding backup.

Main file history recovery window

At the bottom of the window are forward and backward (time) buttons that move you back and forth through various file modification dates and times. These buttons will help you find the correct file to recover. Between these buttons is a large, green “Restore” button.

To restore files, select the file (or files) you want to restore and click the green button. What could be simpler?

In the main file history controls, available in the Control Panel, in the upper left part of the window there is a link to restore personal files. Click it and open the file history recovery window.

Note. If you are restoring your files from file history after Windows reinstallation, you need to create the file history again and specify the same backup location that you used before. You can then restore all your files to your PC.

iCloud cloud storage is one of Apple's outstanding developments. However, access to iCloud backup is limited for users. But did you know that it is still possible to open and view data in iCloud on your PC or Mac? In general, there are several ways to view storage data; in this article we will look at two of them. Using our instructions, you can view your backup data in iCloud, even if it was made for the latest version of iOS 12.

3 Ways to Open iCloud Backup

View iCloud backup via restoring it on an iOS device

The first method involves restoring an iCloud backup to an iOS device, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This method official - it is offered by Apple itself. However, all current data on your iPhone will be replaced by the restored backup copy. If you still decide to use this method, follow the instructions below.

Step 1. Go to Settings -> General -> Reset. Select the "Erase content and settings" option.

Step 2: The Programs and Data window will open. Click on "Recover from iCloud backup". Sign in to your account.

Step 3. Go to the “Select copy” function and mark the backup you want to view.

Step 4. Wait until the data from the iCloud backup is downloaded, after which you can view the files in this copy.

Is it possible to view iCloud backup data without restoring it? How to view iCloud backup without losing data? A third-party application for viewing iCloud backup will help with this - more on this later in our article.

Method 2: Open and view up to 25 types of data in iCloud backup

The program allows you to log in and view up to 25 various types files saved in iCloud backup. You can view and export data from backup iCloud copies or iTunes, as well as the current data of your iOS device. The application works with both Windows and Mac and is highly efficient and responsive.

Step 1.Download the program, install and run it on your PC.

Step 2. Select the recovery mode "Recover files from iCloud". Sign in to your iCloud account. Here you can choose either of two login options: 1) sign in with your Apple ID; 2) if your PC is already logged into the cloud storage, go to the “Programmatic access” option and the login will be performed automatically.

Step 3. After logging into your account, a list of available backups will appear on the screen. Here you can check the details (name, date, version, size) of any backup file. Select the backup that contains the data you need and click “Forward.”

Step 4. In the window that opens, select the type of files to download and scan. To speed up the process, you can upload only the types of files that you need. Click "Forward" to start downloading the selected objects from the cloud.

Step 5. Once the download is complete, the program will automatically start scanning the data and provide you with the details of the objects for preview. In the left panel you can select the required file category. The scan results contain both information existing on your device and information deleted from the backup copy. At the bottom of the window you can enable the “Show only deleted” function.

Step 6. Mark the items you want to restore and click "Recover". You can restore files selectively or all at once. In addition, the program allows you to select the desired format for saving files. Media content (photos, videos) will be saved in their original formats. There are two recovery options for contacts, messages and notes: “Recover to device” and “Recover to computer”. When choosing the first option, make sure that your iPhone, iPad or iPod is connected to your PC using a USB cable.

You can also restore via UltData

Method 3. Life hack: How to check saved data in iCloud Online

If you have not created a backup copy in iCloud, but save your data in cloud storage using the following path: Settings -> (Name) -> iCloud -> Applications using iCloud; then you can easily get a backup via iCloud.com.

Step 2: The available data types will be displayed on the screen. Click on a data type to see its contents.

This method is quite effective for viewing data in iCloud, but its disadvantage is limited access to content. For example, MMS, text messages, iMessages, third-party applications and some other types of data.

To ensure efficient viewing of iCloud backup data without any data loss, you can use various third-party applications designed specifically for the convenience of users, such as the Tenorshare UltData application. With its efficient operation, user-friendly interface and ease of use, the program has gained popularity among users of Apple products. Her main feature– operational efficiency and safety of all your data – you will undoubtedly like it too!