Big folders in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

[desertman]

By coincidence I found several big folders in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. Some of these folders are several gigabytes big and several years old.

What are these folders and why are some of them so old? Can I delete the olders ones?

 

[GGJstudios]

By coincidence I found several very big files in Big folders in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. Some of these folders are several gigabytes big and several years old.

What are these folders and why are some of them so old? Can I delete the olders ones?

Those are your iOS device backup files. If they're old and you have newer versions, you can delete them with no problem.

 

[desertman]

Thanks. Got rid of almost 10 GB.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks. Got rid of almost 10 GB.

If you're trying to save space, this may help: Freeing up drive space in Mac OS X

 

[AppleP59]

Those are your iOS device backup files. If they're old and you have newer versions, you can delete them with no problem.

Is it the WHOLE iPhone / iPad etc backed up?

As I still have backups from 2011, could I restore my iPhone to it's 2011 state?
With iso 4 etc?!

 

[chrfr]

Is it the WHOLE iPhone / iPad etc backed up?

As I still have backups from 2011, could I restore my iPhone to it's 2011 state?
With iso 4 etc?!

It's only your data. You can't restore an old version of iOS this way.

 

[Bomb Bloke]

Nor can you restore your apps.

It's generally better to remove such backups using iTunes. Check the Devices tab under Preferences.