Where Is iPhone Backup Stored on PC [Windows & Mac Included]

When you want to delete, restore or even just check iPhone backup, it’s important to know the iTunes backup location. By default, Apple iTunes stores the backup onto the primary disk of your PC and doesn’t allow you to change the default backup location. But what if you want to change the iTunes backup location?

Don’t worry. In this article, we’re going to tell you where is iPhone backup stored on PC, how to view backups, and how to change the location of iTunes backup.

Where Is iPhone Backup Stored on PC?

Many people ask: where is my iPhone backup stored on my PC? In general, Windows users can find the location in the Backup folder under Mobilesync. Yet, due to different operating systems, there are fine distinctions in terms of the storage path of iTunes backup folder. Not to mention the iTunes backup location on two different systems, Windows and Mac. If you want to know where is iTunes backup stored in windows, or how to find iPhone backup on Mac, follow the steps below.

Where Are iPhone Backups Stored on Windows 10/7?

To find iPhone backup location Windows 10/7, you can get to the path from:

• C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
• or C:\Users\Your user name\Apple\MobileSync\Backup\.

Find iTunes backup file location with the search box on Windows:

And the precise operations for Windows 10 and Windows 7 are slightly different, check them below.

1. Head to the search box: Hit the “Search” box nearby “Start”(Windows 10); Click on “Start”(Windows 7).
2. Enter %appdata% in the search bar and hit the “Enter” key.
3. Go to Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup.

Where Is iPhone Backup Stored on Mac?

To find iPhone backup on Mac, you can follow the path below:

/Users/your username/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

How to View and Recover Backup in One Click?

Although iTunes is a common tool used by many people to back up and restore iPhone data, it also has many shortcomings, such as the inability to view the contents of the backup, and the original data will be erased after restoring data through iTunes. To make up for these shortcomings, PhoneRescue for iOS, a professional backup management software, came into being. As a powerful data recovery tool, PhoneRescue allows you not only to restore data from iTunes backup, but also to retrieve your important files directly from iPhone and iCloud backup. The following are its specific features.

• Free preview and selection – Unlike iTunes, you can directly view and select the contents of iTunes backup through PhoneRescue. No more blindly restoring data.
• Never erase data – Whether old or new data, PhoneRescue knows they are all important to you. Therefore, while you recover the old data from the iTunes backup, the new data on your iPhone will not be lost.
• One-click restore – Too complicated to find the location of iTunes backup? With PhoneRescue, you can view and restore your iTunes backup directly with one click.
• Multiple files support – PhoneRescue supports the recovery of multiple types of files, such as photos, videos, messages, etc.

In addition, PhoneRescue can also act as an iOS system repairer. You are no longer afraid of iPhone black screen, freezing, and other problems. Download PhoneRescue now and follow the steps below to recover data from your iTunes backup!

Step 1. Launch PhoneRescue > Select Recover from Backup mode > Connect the phone and computer with a USB cable.

Step 2. Select the iTunes backup you want to view > Then check the file types you want to scan.

Step 3. Preview and select the data you need to recover. Click the To Device or To PC button as needed, and then PhoneRescue will start to restore data for you.

Step 4. Please wait patiently. When the following interface appears, the recovery process has been completed.

How to Customize Backup iPhone to Computer?

If you want to customize the saving path, the file types that can be backed up, or remove the categories that were backed up before, you need a third-party tool. Here we recommend you PhoneTrans – Phone to Phone Transfer, which can make a complete backup or partial backup of your iPhone. And you can freely change the backup location as needed.

Besides, with PhoneTrans, you can 1:1 clone an old phone to your new phone, quickly transfer across iOS/Android devices, merge contents of the old phone to a new phone, etc. If you are not sure about using PhoneTrans or not, look at its main features below.

Now, you can download and install PhoneTrans. Then please follow the steps below to customize the backup of your iPhone.

Step 1. Run PhoneTrans on your computer and connect your iPhone to the computer. Choose Phone Backup on the left while clicking one of the backup options on the right. Tap Start Backup to go on.

Step 2. If you choose Full Backup, you will see all your iPhone content is listed on the screen. Tap the Back Up Now button then the content will be synced to your computer.

How to Change iTunes Backup Location on Windows?

After knowing how to find iPhone backup on Mac and Windows, you may then want to change the location of iPhone backup. Below we will be using the symlink process– symbolic link to change iTunes backup location Windows 10. The symlink is a new path for iTunes to get to the backups folder. Here we will show you how to use the Windows Command Prompt application to create a symbolic link that effectively tricks iTunes into backing up onto the new location you want.

How to change the iTunes backup location on Windows 10

You need to use the Windows Command Prompt to perform the finagling. I’ll take you through each step of the process.

1. As we’ve already located the current iTunes backup directory, make a copy of the “C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\” directory.
2. Create a new directory wherever you want iTunes to store all your backups from now on. For example, create a directory in C:\ folder.
3. Go into the newly-created directory by using the “cd” command.
4. Now navigate to the current backup location – “C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\” using the Windows File Explorer and delete the backup directory and all its content.
5. Head back over to the Command Prompt and type the same command: mklink /J “%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “c:\itunesbackup”. Ensure to use the quotes.
6. You’ve successfully created the symbolic link, a virtual connection between the two directories, and changed the iTunes backup location to Windows 10.
7. From now on new iTunes backups will go to “C:\itunesbackup” or the location you’ve defined.

How to change the iTunes backup location on Windows 7

A symbolic link connects two folders, one serving as a proxy for the other. The linking is on the operating system level, so it works perfectly fine. We will use the same steps as we used for Windows 10. Employing the Windows Command Prompt to trick iTunes.

1. Head over to the current iTunes backup directory, make a copy of the “C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\” directory.
2. Create a new directory wherever you want iTunes to store all your backups from now on. For example, create a directory in C:\ “folder name”.
3. Go into the newly-created directory by using the “cd” command.
4. Navigate to the current backup location – “C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\” using the Windows File Explorer and delete the backup directory and all its content.
5. In the Command Prompt type the command: mklink /J “%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “c:\itunesbackup”. Ensure to use the quotes.
6. You’ve successfully created the symbolic link, a virtual connection between the two directories, and completed the iTunes backup location change on Windows 7.

The Bottom Line

Through the above content, you already know the answer to the question of where is iPhone backup stored on pc, and you can also change iTunes backup location according to your own thoughts. If you want to customize the backup, just download PhoneTrans and follow the two-step tutorial. And if you want to recover iTunes backup data with preview and without erasing data, don’t forget to download PhoneRescue to restore your data quickly and easily.