![]() ![]() How to remove the symlink and go back to restoring your backups on your MacĪs you can see, while you can backup an iPhone directly to an external drive, it takes quite a few steps. The file icon should have an arrow in the bottom left corner. You've done everything right if you can find a newly created symlink file with the name of your backup folder in the MobileSync folder. Replace “Nameofyourexternaldrive” and “Nameofyourbackupfolder” with respective values - an exact name of the hard drive you are using (should be displayed in Finder) and the name of the backup folder for the iPhone or the iPad. Ln -s/Volumes/Nameofyourexternaldrive/ios_backup/~/Library/Application Support /MobileSync/Backup/Nameofyourbackupfolder Next, open Terminal and type in the following command: As outlined above, symlink is created with the help of Terminal.įirst, give Terminal Full Disk Access in your Mac’s System Preferences. If you want to save an iPhone backup to an external drive, your system needs to know where to put the files, so creating a symlink is essential. Symlink actually stands for “symbolic link” and is simply a file that contains the path to your backup. So let’s dive in into what symlink is and how to create it. Create a symlinkĬan you backup an iPhone to an external hard drive without a symlink? Not without using third-party tools. Add Terminal to the list of apps with full access permission via the plus button. Unlock by entering your admin password and click Full Disk Access. In this case, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy. You'll have to enable it manually if you use macOS Mojave. To make that work, you should create a new path - or a so-called symbolic link - for iTunes/Finder.īefore you dive into it, make sure you allow Full Disk Access for Terminal. It's not enough to create iPhone external storage, you have to tell iTunes where it is to ensure the backups will be done externally from now on. Rename the backup folder to "iOS_backup" and enter the admin password once again to confirm your action.Drag the entire folder - couldn't emphasize it more - to your external drive.Usually, the name of the backup folder consists of random numbers and letters, or it's called "Backup." Select the backup folder from the Finder window or iTunes.Connect your external hard drive to Mac and open it.How to save iPhone backup to external hard drive: Before you do anything to your old iOS backups, make sure you set iTunes to backup from the hard drive. Any attempt to extract files from the backup folder or using the wrong name of a hard drive may end up in a failure.Īlso, let us warn you in advance that you shouldn't delete a backup after you move it to the new storage location. Now it's time to backup iPhone to USB drive, an external hard drive that won't affect your storage on Mac. Confirm that you would also like to turn off Backup if needed.įor those who backup via iTunes/Finder, the journey isn't finished. With the backup selected, click Delete to remove the backup.Apple menu > System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud.Click Manage Storage > Backups for iOS 11 and iCloud Storage > Manage Storage for iOS 10.3.None of your valuable data will be damaged. Once your iPhone or iPad files are backed up, you can simply delete the backups. If you use iCloud for iPhone backups, you don't have to suffer from the low storage problem. What you have to do is to copy and transfer an entire folder. Type the command ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/Īn important thing to remember is that you shouldn't copy or extract specific files from your Backup folder - this might lead to your files being ruined.Note that if you're using macOS Catalina or later, you'll have to locate backups via Finder, while newer operating systems don’t have iTunes in its original form: Control-click the selected backup and select Show in Finder from the drop-down menu. In this case, go to iTunes > Preferences > Devices. The mechanism is a bit different if you're searching for a specific backup. Type the following command: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/.Click on the Spotlight Search button in the menu bar. ![]() Here's how you find a list of iOS backups if you use iTunes: If you follow these, nothing could go wrong. We've prepared detailed instructions on how to locate and move iPhone backup to an external drive both ways. There are two Apple ways to backup iOS devices to Mac - using iTunes or iCloud.
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