Hi everyone,
I can see there is some discussion in this topic.
I would like to make a backup of my iPad through my Macbook. However, I prefer that the backup does not occupy internal memory of my Macbook. In this case, I prefer that the backup is stored in a HDD/SSD. how can I do this?
Thanks in advance.
iPad Pro, iPadOS 18
Ramk499 wrote:
Hey Phil0124,
thanks for the detailed response. Linking the folder directly seems a great choice. Is there a config file or something similar, where I can specify the folder for all iPad back ups?
No, as I said, it requires a terminal command to link the backup folder to the external drive.
Or it would be nice if you could point me towards the package/app which is responsible for the back ups.
There is no package or app. You need to issue a terminal command directly to make the change.
Backups are made through Finder. But there is no option there to change the location. The change needs to happen outside the Finder, through the Terminal.
You can open the Terminal app from the Launchpad, Spotlight search or the Utilities folder in the Applications folder in Finder.
To Find the Backup folder the easiest thing to do, is to open the Finder with your iPad connected to the Mac and click on it, then on Manage Backups in the main pane. It should show a list of backups there, right click, control+click or two-finger click on one of them and select Show in Finder, then go to the "Go" menu at the top, and click on "Enclosing Folder" so it backs you up one level. You should see a Backup folder there and only that folder.
You can drag it onto the external drive and hold down the option key before letting go of the mouse.
2. Once the backup folder is moved out to the external drive, in the terminal you need to issue the following command:
ln -s /Volumes/nameofexternaldrive/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup
This will create a new folder also named Backup in the same location where you moved the folder from in step 1, that is linked to the external drive. It will have a small black arrow confirming the link.
3. There is no step 3. You are done.
From there, any time you backup the iPad it will save the backup to the external drive.
Ramk499 wrote:
Hey Phil0124,
thanks for the detailed response. Linking the folder directly seems a great choice. Is there a config file or something similar, where I can specify the folder for all iPad back ups?
No, as I said, it requires a terminal command to link the backup folder to the external drive.
Or it would be nice if you could point me towards the package/app which is responsible for the back ups.
There is no package or app. You need to issue a terminal command directly to make the change.
Backups are made through Finder. But there is no option there to change the location. The change needs to happen outside the Finder, through the Terminal.
You can open the Terminal app from the Launchpad, Spotlight search or the Utilities folder in the Applications folder in Finder.
To Find the Backup folder the easiest thing to do, is to open the Finder with your iPad connected to the Mac and click on it, then on Manage Backups in the main pane. It should show a list of backups there, right click, control+click or two-finger click on one of them and select Show in Finder, then go to the "Go" menu at the top, and click on "Enclosing Folder" so it backs you up one level. You should see a Backup folder there and only that folder.
You can drag it onto the external drive and hold down the option key before letting go of the mouse.
2. Once the backup folder is moved out to the external drive, in the terminal you need to issue the following command:
ln -s /Volumes/nameofexternaldrive/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup
This will create a new folder also named Backup in the same location where you moved the folder from in step 1, that is linked to the external drive. It will have a small black arrow confirming the link.
3. There is no step 3. You are done.
From there, any time you backup the iPad it will save the backup to the external drive.
This support page outlines the natively supported backup methods for iPad and iPhone:
How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support
Native iOS/iPadOS backup and restore processes are dependent upon iCloud, or connection to either Windows PC (with iTunes for Windows installed) or a Mac (with iTunes or Finder - as appropriate for the installed version of macOS).
Natively supported methods offer full system backup - consisting of data and device settings.
How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support
It is possible to use a third-party App to backup data (but not device settings) to a variety of external storage options - including third-party Cloud services, external media devices and network storage. One App that comes readily to mind is FileBrowser Professional by Stratospherix:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/filebrowser-professional/id854618029
You would be well advised to review the extensive online Manual and help files to determine suitability for your needs.
You can backup to a computer using the Finder on a Mac but there is no direct method of making it save the backup to an external device.
You can through different methods depending on your computer skills move the backup to the external drive after the fact, or link the backup folder to the external drive before the backup is made so its automatically pushed to the external drive.
Whenever you need to restore the backup, you will need to recreate whatever process you used. Either move the backup back to the computer, or again link the backup folder in the computer to the external drive again so the backup can be found if you disabled the link at any time, otherwise the link remains active and any future backups are then automatically read and saved to the external drive.
Which method you use depends on your skill. The link method requires use of terminal commands and admin privileges.
Hey Phil0124,
thanks for the detailed response. Linking the folder directly seems a great choice. Is there a config file or something similar, where I can specify the folder for all iPad back ups? Or it would be nice if you could point me towards the package/app which is responsible for the back ups.
iPad Backup to external disk
