iPhone backup location

Question

Level 1

5 points

iPhone backup location

Does anyone know which files are the actual backup files used to restore your iPhone's info? And where they reside on a Mac?
Thank you

2 x 3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon, Mac OS X (10.5.4), 2 GB RAM

Posted on Sep 11, 2008 5:53 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Niel

Level 10

726,917 points

Sep 11, 2008 5:56 PM in response to Fritz Limner

Look in the folder ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup, where ~ is the item in the Finder's sidebar with the house icon.

(35488)

Reply

Answer 2

Fritz Limner Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 11, 2008 6:37 PM in response to Niel

Niel-

Thank you very much! It was exactly what I needed.

Peace,
Fritz

Reply

Answer 3

Fritz Limner Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 19, 2008 2:54 PM in response to Niel

So, my problem is not so simple
It would seem that I need to access an older (Aug 31) backup of my iPhone. When I go into the same location at that and older dates, the files listed do not show up at all. This makes me believe when I updated iTunes, it started using a different backup location for any mobilesync info. Does this sound correct? Is there a different location for mobilesync between iTunes versions 7 & 8? And where would older info be?
Thanks for any help!

Reply

Answer 4

Fritz Limner Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 19, 2008 2:57 PM in response to Fritz Limner

I am still trying to locate an older backup of my iPhone. I even spoke with a genius at the Apple store and his answer was the same as the first response to my post. All of my settings are gone at this point!

Reply

Answer 5

Sep 19, 2008 3:00 PM in response to Fritz Limner

iTunes keeps only one backup. The exception is the 'special' backup created when you manually Restore. You can see the available backups listed in iTunes > Preferences > Devices tab.

Only way to keep incremental backups is to manually copy the folder from MobileSync/Backups to a searate location at the desired frequency.

Reply

Answer 6

alansky

Level 1

45 points

Sep 20, 2008 1:13 PM in response to Fritz Limner

The basic iPhone model is that data is transferred to *and from* the iPhone via iTunes. Content that is downloaded directly to the iPhone should be synced back to iTunes when the iPhone is synced (unless the user has disabled this option). Same for new contacts, iPhone pics etc. One might lose iPhone settings if the official iPhone backup gets corrupted, but I don't see why this is a big deal. All your actual data is safely living on your Mac in its default locations as well as in the iPhone backup created by iTunes. Even if you trash your iPhone and have no backup at all, when you sync a new iPhone for the first time, all you need to do is tell iTunes what to transfer to the iPhone and press the button.

Reply