How to create a new encrypted backup in iTunes / Finder

Summary

iTunes is great for backing up your iOS devices. A backup of your iPhone contains loads of important data including Messages, Contacts and Calendars. If you use a newer Mac which doesn't have iTunes, you can instead back up through Finder.

However, such data in the wrong hands could be detrimental. It is important to keep your backup data safe and luckily Apple provides a great way to do this - Backup Encryption.

Encrypted backups require the user to enter a password in order to access its contents - much safer!

Did you know: In popular media transfer software TouchCopy and iBackup Extractor, an encrypted backup is required in order to access and transfer Call Logs from devices running iOS 13 and higher.

Encryption is also required in order to back up sensitive data like account passwords, Health data and Homekit data.

Let's see how to make a new encrypted backup in iTunes...

1. Launch iTunes on your computer.
2. Connect your iPhone using your USB cable.
3. Click your device icon
4. Ensure that "This Computer" is checked.
5. Tick the "Encrypt local backup" checkbox.
   
6. You will be prompted to create a password to protect your iPhone backup. Enter a secure password that you will remember, then verify it in the second box.

If you have previously created an encrypted backup of this phone, after step 5, you can simply click "Back Up Now" to create a new encrypted backup using your existing password.

If you want to change your password, click "Change Password..." before backing up. Here, you'll need to enter your existing password, then create a new password for any new backups you make.

Let's see how to make a new encrypted backup using Finder on macOS Catalina and higher...

1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
2. Connect your iPhone.
3. Select your device from the list.
4. Choose "Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac".
5. Choose "Encrypt local backup". You may need to create a password if this option was not already checked.
6. Click "Back Up Now".

Keep the password safe

Be sure to keep your backup encryption password safe, as you will not be able to access, modify, or unencrypt a backup without the password.

Forgot your iPhone backup password? Check out our guide on how to remove iPhone backup encryption.

Transfer Call Logs from iPhone (iOS 13 and higher) to computer

TouchCopy and iBackup Extractor are programs used by many to copy files from iPhone to their computer. This is useful because you can't access your iTunes backup files on your computer in a usable way.

Using TouchCopy instead, you can transfer files in usable formats like PDF (a readable and printable page of your text messages) and CSV (for management of your contacts or call logs in a spreadsheet).

In order for these tools to access Call Logs on iOS 13 (or higher) devices, the iPhone backups have to be set to be encrypted.

After following the guide above to create a password-protected iPhone backup, you can use TouchCopy or iBackup Extractor to copy your iPhone call logs to your computer as HTML, PDF or CSV - you can even print the logs directly!

For more information, check out our guide on how to copy iPhone call history using TouchCopy and iBackup Extractor.