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User profile for user: Christos887
Christos887 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Copy iPhone backups from Mac to external drive to free up space

I am running mac OS Catalina and used up almost all of my 250GB storage space on my Macbook Pro. I found out that around 100GB of that are old iPhone backups. Can I copy those backups to my external hard drive and delete from Macintosh HD on the Macbook Pro? If yes, can you please tell me the procedure? I do not want to buy more iCloud space to save those backups. If its of any help, I do occasionally use Time Machine to back up on my external hard drive. Thank you!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 15, 2021 7:25 AM

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User profile for user: AnnieL2
AnnieL2
User level: Community Specialist

Posted on May 16, 2021 8:47 AM

Hello Christos887,


We understand that you’d like to store some iOS backup files in an external location. 


The following article has the steps you’re looking for. You’ll find them under section, ‘Delete or copy backups on your Mac or PC’: 

Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch


Let us know if you have any questions.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: AnnieL2
AnnieL2
User level: Community Specialist

May 16, 2021 8:47 AM in response to Christos887

Hello Christos887,


We understand that you’d like to store some iOS backup files in an external location. 


The following article has the steps you’re looking for. You’ll find them under section, ‘Delete or copy backups on your Mac or PC’: 

Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch


Let us know if you have any questions.

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Copy iPhone backups from Mac to external drive to free up space

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