The transfer might take a while, depending on the size of your iPhone backup. Step 15: Visit the MobileSync folder again from step 1 and you should see a shortcut folder labeled Backup in it. In order to change iPhone backup location and prevent your iOS from backing up automatically, if youve chosen an external hard drive that is detached from your Mac, go to iTunes, click the menu and choose Preferences. After creating a backup, you should see an alphanumerically named folder appear in the Backup folder. Required fields are marked *.
This will entail downloading another application to your computer, but if typing in directory codes isnt your cup of tea, then at least you have an alternative. Storing iPhone backups on a Mac with limited storage is tricky. Open Finder and scroll to the external drive. Can I Move My iPhone Backup to Another Drive? Do you know of another way regarding how to change the iTunes backup location? Although Apple itself has set limitations on users abilities to mess with the default settings concerning its devices backup files, intrepid users always find a way.
Samir Makwana is a freelance technology writer and editor with works appearing on GSMArena, BGR, GuidingTech, The Inquisitr, TechInAsia, and others. This detailed guide will walk you through tricks to change iPhone Backup Location on Mac to back up your iOS to iCloud or iTunes. Select Terminal in the results and click on Open to make your changes.
When you launch macOS Catalina, its the Finder app, not iTunes, that backs up your iPhone to Mac via USB or Wi-Fi. Contents: Part 1. Apple doesnt allow users to change the default location for its system backups. Note: You can delete this folder, but its best to keep it for now in case something goes wrong. After adding Terminal to the Full Disk Access list, exit the Security & Privacy window. Moving iPhone backups to an external drive will save a lot of drive space on your Mac. After the scanning, preview to erase useless items like junk, photo litter, mail attachments, iTunes garbage, large, and obsolete files. Moyens I/O Staff has motivated you, giving you tips on technology, personal development, lifestyle and strategies that will help you. Next, right-click the Backup folder inside it and then select Rename. Here are the Top 3 Fixes! Also, ensure you have the external drive mounted to the computer before processing iTunes backup. Depending on the platform youre using, the methods will be slightly different. In this article, well show you how to change the iTunes backup location to manage the amount of space that the program occupies in your drives. If you want a well-designed tool, give iMyMac PowerMyMac developed for iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro a try. You only need to create backups by duplicating this folder. Click Devices and access the bar near Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically. If you have questions or doubts on how to change iPhone backup location on Mac, please drop us a line below, well reply and share with our readers. Substitute pingo/ios-backup with the name of the drive and directory-, To free up additional disk space, move the old iTunes backup from your Mac to the external drive-. Instead of deleting old iPhone backups, you can move them to a different location, like an external drive. Drag the existing folder to the new destination. You can right-click on the command prompt app on the search bar and choose. Click on the lock icon at the bottom-left corner, then enter your administrator's password. Symbolic links redirect any files copied into them onto a different location. Depending on the platform you use, it can either be in %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync, or in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync. March 25, 2022. iTunes is a useful program that organizes your music and videos so that you can easily manage them. Your email address will not be published. You will then see the entire path to the bottom of the Finder window. This is an absolute h**f*** when it comes to unnecessarily moving huge chunks of data, to a drive you paid thousands of dollars to be able to manage yourself!
So fasten your seat belts and lets get started. Apple doesnt allow you to mess with the location of backup folders. So don't delete it just yet. Related: How to Restore Your iPhone or iPad From a Backup. Step 14: After making the adjustments listed below, add the following command to Terminal: Fly: If you are unsure of the exact folder path to the backup folder, you need to open it in Finder, go to View (on the menu bar) and then click Show Path Bar. Source: https://www.imymac.com/mac-tips/change-iphone-backup-location-mac.html, Knowledge for Everyone Synthesize and organize the information automatically by a computer program Read more, Tran Nguyen Han, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, Viet Nam Does everything look okay?
Before proceeding, make a fresh backup of your iPhone on your Mac. Please refer to the instructions given for Windows and Mac above to search for the exact location of your backup folders. Next: Do you have a PC?
Navigate to the iTunes backup folder by typing in, If you encounter an error saying that you dont have the privilege to perform the operation, make sure that you run the command prompt as an administrator. Do this and you will be taken to the actual Backup folder in the new location. And the following steps will show you how. Youll only need to implement the methods above to store all iOS backup data to the new location. If youve already redirected your backup, however, then it should be in the directory that you specified. Then rename the iPhone backup folder to OldBackup, or anything else you like. Otherwise, the symlink will not work. Create a link to the newly-created backup location. Then you are ready to start backing up your iPhone to the new location. You need a fast internet network. Go to your iPhone settings on your home screen while connected to a Wi-Fi network. Step 16: Connect your iPhone (or iPad) and then make a backup. When creating a symbolic link, you have the choice to either rename, move or delete the folder. There is no way to change the backup location of your iPhone officially from the device itself. You can use a symbolic link (symlink) to make the file or folder appear as if it exists in a different location. Go to the MobileSync folder and delete the Backup shortcut folder. How To Recover Deleted Messages on the iPhone, How to Change the Location on a FireStick, How to Download Photos from Google Photos, How to Remove Netflix Recently Watched Shows, Open the Windows run window by either pressing the, In the folder that opens, there should be a folder named. He has a Masters degree in Journalism and writes to help people make the most of their technology. For all versions, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod backup files can be found at ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/. This is a good way to reclaim space on your Mac and save future backups directly to external storage. Your email address will not be published. That'll retain the backup folder's contents in case something goes wrong later. You can also just copy and paste the files manually if you wish. If you cant find the folder, try to search for MobileSync in either the Search App for Windows or on the Finder app for Mac. Removing clutter frees up the storage space for high dynamic performance. Pairing these tricks with a powerful cleaner forges a multi-care arsenal to eliminate iTunes backup remnants. Remember not to tamper with the folders by editing or deleting pieces of data. Open a new Finder window to the folder chosen as a backup. Fix it easily, How to download YouTube videos on iOS, Android, Mac and PC, How To Fix: Mac, iMac, MacBook Stuck On Loading Screen, How to Force Restart or Hard Reset MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, Tran Nguyen Han, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, Viet Nam, Navigate to the MobileSync directory on Mac by punching out the following path at the Terminal prompt-, Retitle the existing iTunes backup directory with the command-, Create another iTunes backup folder on the external drive. Click on the iTunes menu at the top of the screen. But believe me, it is not. What Cortana Can Do For You in Microsoft 365, 10 Free Microsoft Word Alternatives Worth Trying, The 5 Best Free Calling Apps for Making Free Phone Calls, How to Change a Live Photo Into a Still Photo, How to Turn Images Taken on Your Smartphone Into Textures Using Photoshop, How to Open ISO, TAR, ZIP, and 7z Files on a Chromebook, 5 Ways to Fix Disconnecting AirPods on Windows 10 & 11. It also means you'll have to connect the relevant hard drive and manually take iPhone backups. Here's how to do that: Now you can use the following command to create a symlink. How to Change iPhone Backup Location on Mac, How to Delete Saved Passwords from Safari Browser and iCloud Keychain on Mac, 11 Best Concept Keyboard Shortcuts to Boost Your Productivity, Top 11 Ways to Fix WhatsApp Video Call Not Working on iPhone and Android. Yes, the whole process seems tedious and complicated. Tap your name or Apple ID at the top of the display. However, creating symbolic links for either Windows or Mac can bypass this. You are reading: How to Find and Change iPhone Backup Location on Mac. Press Control and select your iPhone backup. Read more Automatic backups usually have files with different timestamps to restore your system to a time before encountering an error. Stage 1: Open Spotlight (press Cmd+Space), type the following path, then press Enter: A Finder window opens the MobileSync folder, which contains the Backup folder that stores your iPhone (and iPad) backups. Close iTunes by tapping the red circle at the upper left corner. It could be to an external drive or another directory on your Macs internal storage drive. If the symlink works as expected, back up your iPhone to iCloud as an extra safety net, then delete the OldBackup folder from your Mac to free up drive space. There are a few ways to get around it though, and even a passing knowledge of computers is enough to handle it. This is true when it comes to iTunes backups which dont officially have a way to specify a different backup drive. That way you've got plenty of options if you ever need to restore your iPhone. Type your admin password to verify. It is quite useful if you want to free up space on your Mac. You can either use symbolic links or download a third-party program that will move backups for you.
Rename the folder that you find there. Enter a command that signals iTunes to store your backups to the new destination. In all, its possible to tweak iTunes to relocate backups elsewhere. Next, launch an iTunes backup of your iPhone. If you have any questions, leave a comment and let me know.
I will choose the root directory of an external drive named Files as my preferred location. You can also delete or move this if you want to, though deletion isnt recommended as this will remove all previous backups. Step 2: Right-click on the backup folder and then click on the Copy Backup option. Make sure your hard drive is formatted to work with macOS. Then paste your iPhone backup into the NewiPhoneBackup folder. First you need to give the Terminal app the necessary permissions to create a symlink. Open iTunes on Mac to back up your iOS to a different directory. The process for doing this on iOS is as follows: As mentioned in the above steps, you can access your backup files by either typing in %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync in the Run App on Windows, or ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync in the Finder app for Mac. Step 4: Wait for the backup folder to be completely copied to the new location. Camera Not Working in Windows 10? In that case, back up your iPhone to your Mac first. Go back to the original location of the iPhone backups on your Mac. There hasnt been an update that allowed users to specify backup target directory ever since automatic backups were introduced. CopyTrans Shelbee for Windows 10 and iPhone Backup Extractor for iOS can be used to do this process automatically. This means we will trick the Finder into taking a backup of your iPhone to an external storage drive or a different internal directory, to the location of your choice. However, you need to use the exact file paths and folder names to match your external drive and your original backup folder. Replace the /Volumes/Files/Backup/ part of the above command with the actual path to the location where you copied the Backup folder earlier. Until Apple itself decides to change its policies, getting around their default limits will be the only way to use another drive for backups. Note: Before we begin, consider creating an iCloud backup of your iPhone so you have an additional backup to fall back on in case something goes wrong. Open Terminal, and type the following symlink command, replacing the locations in square brackets to match your computer: Here are a few tips to follow while using different paths with this command: Here's how the command looks in Terminal for our computer: After you run the command, you'll see a new folder icon with an arrow on its bottom-left corner and the same alphanumeric name as the original iPhone backup. After a successful backup is performed, you can safely delete the Backup.old folder (which you renamed earlier) in the MobileSync directory. Also, you can rely on local backups to restore your iPhone without worrying about any network connectivity glitches. Open Finder and select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter this file path to go to that folder: You'll find folders with alphanumeric names in this Backup folder. For iTunes, changing the default location has more intensive steps. Lee Stanton Step 7: Open the Apple menu and then choose System Preferences. Deleting the folder outright isnt recommended, even if you succeed in creating a symbolic link. Here is how to change iPhone backup location in Windows 10.
The trouble with iTunes in particular, and Apple products in general, is the companys uncompromising approach to doing things. Knowing how to change the iTunes backup location allows you to manage the space that your backup files occupy. Alternatively, you can just copy and paste your backup folder to another drive. How to Change the iTunes Backup Location on Windows 10, How to Change the iTunes Backup Location on Mac. Now that you know where your iPhone's backups are stored on your Mac, moving them to an external hard drive is easy. Where Is iPhone Backup Location on Mac, Easily Tidy Up Your Mac to Wipeout Duplications in iTunes. This is the default backup save directory. If any name (volume, external drive, or folder) in the folder path consists of two or more words, you must use a single space followed by a slash between the words. By following the steps already given, you can trick the iTunes app into automatically backing up to a different drive. Creating a symlink for your iPhone backups will make Finder redirect to your external drive when accessing and updating your backup folders. Click OK and youre good to go. Step 8: Click on the box labeled Security & Privacy. A menu will enlarge. You can test if the symbolic link is working properly by double-clicking on this folder. For example, if the name of the external drive I copied the Backup folder to is My Files, the folder path should appear as /Volumes/My\ Files/Backup/. Note: In case you want to move iPhone backups to their old location later, simply remove the symlink you created in the above steps. Technically, no.
