Restore iPhone from backup not listed in iTunes

The OP is asking about the backup of the iPhone, NOT the operating system file. Your approach will not work for a backup, and now that the OP has followed your directions he or she has all but eliminated the possibility of restoring the backup.

If the backup is where it belongs (in the MobileSync folder) there should be a button "Restore from Backup" on the Summary page when you click on the iPhone's name in iTunes. You need the latest version of iTunes (11.x) installed.

If iOS needs to be restored also restore it with the Restore iPhone button; when the restore is done it will restore any valid backups that are in the MobileSync folder.

Select the file and restore from that point. I'm sorry if I misunderstood what you were asking to do, given another person added on to help. I hope it works for you, also, OP means Original Poster

Hi Everyone, I was having this issue and just solved it. My iphone 4s was not showing any backups except for the most recent one. This was horrifying because the most recent backup was made as soon as I connected my phone to the computer. So I could not backup to a time that would have been useful, but instead could only update to right now--when my phone was messed up and useless!! So, to correct thisI I went to

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

In that folder I found two backups. One from 6 months ago that I wanted and one from today when I plugged in my phone (ps-deactivate the automatic synch option because it will automatically override your past back ups...)

Here is where it gets a little bit complicated, but still managable even for a novice:

If iTunes tells you there are no back ups but there are more desirable backups in the backup folder, then click "back up now" and a new clean functional backup will be created (of course not with the data you want, but we will get to that) . Now go to the backup folder and open the folder that was just created by Itunes. Skip next step.

If itunes is only showing the most recent back when you click "Restore Backup" but in the backup folder but there are more desirable backups, open up the folder of the most recent (non-desireable) back up folder.

Now that your folder (latest backup) is open you will see a very long list of files. At the very bottom of the file list you should find this file:

Info.plist

Open the file info.plist, that is an xml formated file. Copy all the text from the begining all the way up through

"<key>IC-Info.sidv</key>"

Now, with that info on your clipboard, close this file and go back to the backup folder. Now open the back up that you actually want (the older one that is not showing up in itunes). In that folder you will also find the Info.plist

Open that file and delete everything all the way through "<key>IC-Info.sidv</key>"and then paste what you copied from the other file.

Now save the file and close it.

Open up iTunes. You should now be able to see the older backup version that you wanted to backup to but that ****** *** itunes would not let you see before.

Sounds complicated, but is pretty easy actually.

Good luck!

OMG... Thank you! This definitely worked for me and saved me from the huge headache of starting from scratch. Lesson learned, I will backup more often! Although, the desirable backup will show up in iTunes with the same date and time as the undesirable backup.

This worked, but unfortunately I made the mistake of backing up my phone again after apparently doing it twice, so it just restored the backup that had originally happened the first time when I messed up the Back Up... is there any way to go farther back?

Either restore the older backup from a backup of your computer or use the iCloud backup if you kept one.

The folder with the backup I want (pre-iOS7) doesn't have the info.plist file.

I am also not sure why I can't open the Info.plist in the latest backup to copy and paste. I get the following:

Any help would be great. I am now on the Maverick OS and the phone I had replaced is on iOS7.

Do you have timemachine? If so, restore your computer to right before yourmade the mistake (I had to do this while figuring out my little work around).

Can you not find the file, or does it not exist? if it does not exist, you should know that both the folders and the files can sometimes be hidden, so try searing for it.

If you cannot open it properly, check to see what program you are using to open it. You might need to manually select the correct program. You should be opening the file in textedit.

I was helping out my friend to restore his iPhone from his iPhone backup on his PC. Unfortunately, his iPhone backup was somehow corrupted and couldn't be restored.

Luckily, when we set up his computer, we made a copy of iPhone backup and store it in an external drive.

We were able to restore his iPhone from an old backup that has all his contacts!

I would recommend you make a backup of your iPhone backup occasionally for double protection!

<Link Edited by Host>

I would recommend that you STOP SPAMMING THE FORUM WITH LINKS TO TOTALLY USELESS, OVERPRICED SOFTWARE!