Where are iPhone backups stored? Find your Finder / iTunes Backup Location...

iPhone backup location Windows PC

Where are iPhone backups stored on Windows? Your iPhone backups are usually located here:
\Users\(your username)\Apple\MobileSync\Backup\.
However, this can vary slightly depending on which program you use to back up your device.

You can access your backup location manually through File Explorer, or automatically using iBackup Extractor. Here's how to find where your backups are stored on your PC...

How to manually locate iPhone backups on your PC

1. Press Windows + R on your keyboard to open a Run window.
2. Your backups will be stored in any of 3 locations on your computer, depending on your system:
   • For backups created with iTunes from the Microsoft Store, or the Apple Devices app:
     Type %USERPROFILE% and click OK. Then navigate through the folders Apple > MobileSync > Backup.
   • For backups created with iTunes from Apple's website:
     Type %AppData% in the Run window and click OK. Then navigate through the folders Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup.
   • For backups created in TouchCopy on a PC without iTunes installed:
     Type %localappdata%\Packages and click OK. Then find the folder at this location with a name starting with 'WideAngleSoftware'. Open this folder and navigate through LocalCache > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup.

Your backups will now be listed for you as seen in the image below. Note that these files are not human-readable. Skip to Step 3 if you need to view and extract your backup files.

How to automatically find iPhone backups on your PC

1. Download and install iBackup Extractor on your PC.
2. Launch iBackup Extractor by searching for it in the Windows search box.
3. Right-click a backup from the list and choose "Show in File Explorer".

You can also browse through your backup content using iBackup Extractor in a readable way, which you can't do otherwise!

For information about how to browse and even extract content from your backups, skip ahead to extracting data from an iPhone backup.

iPhone backup location Mac

Where are iPhone backups stored on Mac? Your iPhone backups are located here:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

How to manually locate iPhone backups on your Mac

1. Open Finder on your Mac.
2. From the top of your screen, click Go > Go to Folder...
3. Paste the path: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
4. Hit Enter/Return on your keyboard.

How to automatically find iPhone backups on your Mac

1. Launch Finder on your Mac (or iTunes on macOS 10.14 or earlier).
2. • In Finder, connect your device and select it from the list of Locations. In the General section, click Manage Backups. Right-click a backup and select "Show in Finder".
   • In iTunes, go to Preferences, then click the Devices tab. Control-click the backup that you want from the list. Then click "Show in Finder".

Note that these files are not human-readable. Skip to Step 3 if you need to view and extract your backup files.

Recover data from your iPhone backup

iPhone backups are designed to protect your data, but they don't let you access individual files, like photo albums, directly.

To browse or extract data from backups on your PC or Mac, you'll need third-party software like iBackup Extractor. With it, you can retrieve contacts, messages, photos, and more.

How to extract files from an iPhone backup with iBackup Extractor...

1. Launch iBackup Extractor on your PC or Mac.
2. Choose the section you are interested in (Messages, Photos, Voicemails, etc.).
3. Select the content you want to extract.
4. Save it from the backup to your computer.

With iBackup Extractor you can even access and view the contents of iPhone backups on your computer FREE.

Download the free trial version of iBackup Extractor today, to see what you can extract from your backups to your computer.

iBackup Extractor
for Windows

Download Now
(PC)

iBackup Extractor
for Mac

Download Now
(Mac)

Restore iPhone from backup

There are many reasons that you'd need to restore an iPhone from a backup: Troubleshooting problems on your iPhone, data loss, and a broken/damaged device to name a few.

Here's how to restore an iPhone backup from your computer...

1. Open iTunes (or Finder on macOS Catalina or higher) on the PC or Mac that you backed up your iPhone to.
2. Connect your iPhone with your USB cable.
3. Select your device.
4. Click "Restore Backup..."
5. Choose your desired backup and click "Restore".

If you run into any issues when attempting to restore a backup to your iPhone, Apple's iTunes guides are great!

You may also like: How to delete backups from your computer >