Free up space on SSD drive

Question

dodoc9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Free up space on SSD drive

Hello,

As many had the same problem, my itunes backups filled my SSD drive and i had no more space left.

I had to free up some space and came across this discussion:

Make a split library portable - Apple Community

I did everything written there according to @turingtest2 but I'm getting an error while trying to copy the command in command prompt. (although the new folder is indeed in: D:\MobileSync\Backup

Please check the screenshot attached and I kindly ask for your assistance.

Thank you,

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 7:26 AM

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Answer 1

dodoc9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 26, 2024 6:24 AM in response to turingtest2

I moved the folder Backup to drive D:/ according your original post.

I think i opened itunes after that and it created an empty backup folder in the original destination.

I deleted it now (the empty folder in: C:\Users\dodoc\Apple\MobileSync

and fired the commend once again. now I got this message:

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Sep 25, 2024 8:51 AM in response to dodoc9

Hi,

Are you using a version of iTunes created with the standalone installer, or one from the Microsoft Store? If it is the second option then use this command instead:

MkLink /J "%UserProfile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\MobileSync\Backup"

It may be the first folder that cannot be found rather than the second.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Sep 25, 2024 11:02 AM in response to dodoc9

%UserProfile%\Apple\MobileSync must not have an existing file or folder called Backup in it when you issue the command, or it fails with that error. Hence the advice to move the existing folder to the new location in step 2, rather than copy it.

tt2

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Answer 4

dodoc9 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 25, 2024 11:00 PM in response to turingtest2

That's strange since I didn't copy it, i did cut\paste to the entire backup folder so you described and it did free up 150 GB on my SSD drive.

I don't understand to which file that error relates.

thanks

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Sep 26, 2024 5:06 AM in response to dodoc9

Which folder did you move? When using the first option the folder "%AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync" must exist but the folder "%AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" must not. With the second option "%UserProfile%\Apple\MobileSync" must exist but not "%UserProfile%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup". In both cases the target folder "D:\MobileSync\Backup" must exist.

You can type either %AppData% or %UserProfile% into the File Explorer address bar and press enter to take you to that folder.

tt2

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Sep 26, 2024 8:09 AM in response to dodoc9

That looks good. If you look in the folder on C: you should see your device backup folders, where iTunes thinks they should be, but they're only taking up space on D:, with Windows silently redirecting all of the reads and writes to the other drive.

tt2

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Sep 27, 2024 7:15 AM in response to dodoc9

The backup data will end up on the D: drive. iTunes still checks the available free space on the system drive so you need to keep a reasonable amount free there, but otherwise the process is seamless.

tt2

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