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Where are my iPhone Backups stored on my Mac's HD?

J

james-bailey

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2010
165
4
Hey there, just wondering where the location is of my iPhones backups created by iTunes on my Mac's hard drive?

Id like to save them and not overwrite a certain one.

Also, does it matter what OS was on the phone at the time of the backup? I figure that one may of been from like IOS 4.2 - would that be able to be restored to a phone now on IOS 5?

Thanks
 
r2shyyou

r2shyyou

macrumors 68000
Oct 3, 2010
1,758
13
Paris, France
james-bailey said:
Hey there, just wondering where the location is of my iPhones backups created by iTunes on my Mac's hard drive?

Id like to save them and not overwrite a certain one.

Also, does it matter what OS was on the phone at the time of the backup? I figure that one may of been from like IOS 4.2 - would that be able to be restored to a phone now on IOS 5?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I believe in the following location:

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

I'm away from my Mac so I can't confirm but I'm guessing others will chime in.
 
J

james-bailey

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 17, 2010
165
4
Yeah that location is what I googled, however in Macintosh HD / Library / Application Support I dont have a folder called MobileSync?

----------

Even if I type MobileSync into Spotlight it doesnt show anywhere on my HD?
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,245
6,393
US
@james-bailey: Don't forget the ~ in the beginning, that shortcuts to your user directory.

~/Library is a "hidden" area, to get to it you need to use "Go to Folder" from Finder, either via the Go->Go to Folder menu item or Shift+Command+G keyboard shortcut and put ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ into the popup box.
 
L

Lovbrekke

macrumors newbie
Sep 14, 2012
1
0
Norway
deeddawg said:
@james-bailey: Don't forget the ~ in the beginning, that shortcuts to your user directory.

~/Library is a "hidden" area, to get to it you need to use "Go to Folder" from Finder, either via the Go->Go to Folder menu item or Shift+Command+G keyboard shortcut and put ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ into the popup box.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help :) :apple:
 
fayskelley

fayskelley

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2009
12
0
deeddawg said:
@james-bailey: Don't forget the ~ in the beginning, that shortcuts to your user directory.

~/Library is a "hidden" area, to get to it you need to use "Go to Folder" from Finder, either via the Go->Go to Folder menu item or Shift+Command+G keyboard shortcut and put ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ into the popup box.
Click to expand...


doesn't seem to work for me, I have tried finding it using various approaches

just backed up my iPhone 4S... used several GB so it is somewhere
on the HD

Eeeeek ! :-/
 
J

jarham

macrumors newbie
Feb 17, 2013
1
0
fayskelley said:
doesn't seem to work for me, I have tried finding it using various approaches

just backed up my iPhone 4S... used several GB so it is somewhere
on the HD

Eeeeek ! :-/
Click to expand...

Me, either. Why's Apple gotta change stuff like this, and not make you aware? It's like, you leave your house for an hour, come back, and discover a celebrity home redesigner has swept in and rearranged all your furniture, you can't find your shoes, all your books have been exchanged for ones in different languages, and you're pretty sure that's not your dog.
 
M

Mafa2

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2013
1
0
I think a number of people are confusing

/Library with

~/Library

The ~ is a shortcut for the current logged in users home directory.
eg /Users/<userdirectory>

The backups are in a subdirectory of the Users directory not in the global system wide library
 
J

jennyandaisy

macrumors newbie
Apr 3, 2013
1
0
Thanks to your detailed instruction (and the details about how to open a hidden folder), I have found the old backup that I need. :) However, it doesn't show up in iTunes as an option to use to restore my iPhone. How can I use the old backup? All my contacts randomly disappeared, and they're not on the most recent backup in iTunes because it created a new backup as soon as I connected it to my computer. Thanks for any suggestions!!
 
V

vintagegeek888

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2009
4
0
Worked Great plus.....Disk Space Recovered

deeddawg said:
@james-bailey: Don't forget the ~ in the beginning, that shortcuts to your user directory.

~/Library is a "hidden" area, to get to it you need to use "Go to Folder" from Finder, either via the Go->Go to Folder menu item or Shift+Command+G keyboard shortcut and put ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ into the popup box.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was able to delete my latest backup which iTunes said was corrupt. I also noticed I had backups as far back as 2009 taking up GBs of space. I deleted the earliest few. I noticed my iphone and iPad both backed up to this same area.
 
L

Lori Gia

macrumors newbie
Aug 23, 2014
1
0
im also trying to find my iPhone back ups. however, as you can see, i don't seem to have "mobile sync" in my application support folder.

any one else have this problem? solution?
 

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I

iselinzilla

macrumors newbie
Dec 25, 2014
2
0
Lori Gia said:
im also trying to find my iPhone back ups. however, as you can see, i don't seem to have "mobile sync" in my application support folder.

any one else have this problem? solution?
Click to expand...

-------

You need the tilde ~ at the beginning of your search.

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
 
Last edited:
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,245
6,393
US
iselinzilla: you do realize you're replying to a four month old question in a three year old thread, yes?

Anyway, for others who might see this: Yes, there are both the system Library and user Library folders. Lori's second attached image is clearly looking in the system folder not the one in her home folder. I can't tell from the first attachment whether the issue is due to a missing folder or due to another reason (such as I'm unsure if usernames/home-folders can have a space).

Either way, start by going to ~/Library since ~/ is a system alias for the current users home folder. Gets around a bunch of guessing.
 
I

iselinzilla

macrumors newbie
Dec 25, 2014
2
0
"iselinzilla: you do realize you're replying to a four month old question in a three year old thread, yes?"

Deeddawg, I'm sure you do realize I just came upon this thread yesterday while seeking this information and was trying to clarify this for other people that may seek this information in the future. The internet isn't just today.

I'd like to add that I defer to your obviously superior intelligence and would like you to know that because I offended you with my blatant drooling idiocy (that you felt so compelled to point out) I will go out back and thrash myself with a rusty logging chain in a manner that I'm sure you will find most appropriate.

Thank you for letting me know how inferior I am. I shall endeavor to never post anything to help others, because that only makes people like you come out and post a vastly superior, if not confusing, explanation to a four month old question on a three year old post.

And people like you hate when that happens.
 
PsyOpWarlord

PsyOpWarlord

macrumors 6502
Nov 11, 2010
334
26
Colorado Springs, CO
Another way without using Terminal is to get there on a Mac using Finder:
Open Finder
Click "Go" on the toolbar
Now with that menu open if you hold the "option key" on the keyboard you will see "Library" appear and you can click on it. It will open the Library folder and you can navigate to the location that way.
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,245
6,393
US
Wow, you've really flown off into left field with your (incorrect) assumptions.

I simply asked/pointed out the age of the thread and the question to which you were replying (a) in case you hadn't noticed and (b) to alert others who might jump in and invest time in trying to help prior posted in the thread who most likely had already moved on.

You could have simply replied with "yes, I just wanted to add something for others who might find this thread", yet instead you've manufactured some ill intent on my part. Whether you wish to believe that or retain your incorrect view is up to you, I don't much care.

Either way, hope you have a happy new year. Cheers.

iselinzilla said:
"iselinzilla: you do realize you're replying to a four month old question in a three year old thread, yes?"

Deeddawg, I'm sure you do realize I just came upon this thread yesterday while seeking this information and was trying to clarify this for other people that may seek this information in the future. The internet isn't just today.

I'd like to add that I defer to your obviously superior intelligence and would like you to know that because I offended you with my blatant drooling idiocy (that you felt so compelled to point out) I will go out back and thrash myself with a rusty logging chain in a manner that I'm sure you will find most appropriate.

Thank you for letting me know how inferior I am. I shall endeavor to never post anything to help others, because that only makes people like you come out and post a vastly superior, if not confusing, explanation to a four month old question on a three year old post.

And people like you hate when that happens.
Click to expand...
 
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