iPhone is arguably becoming everyone’s daily necessity. It’s a personal computing device that is essential to our lives. Since iPhone is so important to us, we might want to make sure we don’t lose all the stuff stored on iPhone. And that means back up.

By default, Apple provides two backup options: iCloud backup and iTunes local backup. iCloud back up is more care-free and done automatically when your phone is idle and connected to WiFi and charger. However, it often fails or is unstable due to the connection instability of iCloud services. Therefore, if you are serious about your data on your iPhone, iTunes local backup is the better way to go.

Backup iPhone using iTunes

To back up your iPhone using iTunes, simply plug in your iPhone into the computer and launch iTunes. Once connected, a phone icon will appear on the navigation bar of iTunes. Clicking it will take you to the phone management interface.

Backup iPhone in iTunes

The backup options are on the first screen under section Backups. Select This computer in Automatically Back Up if you want to back up your iPhone to your local computer. Additionally, you can set up a password for your backup. Check out this link for more detailed instructions for backing up iPhone using iTunes.

The backup options are on the first screen under section Backups. Select This computer in Automatically Back Up if you want to back up your iPhone to your local computer. Additionally, you can set up a password for your back up.

How to Change iPhone Backup Location

While being reliable and manageable, the issue with local backup is it can take up to several GBs of space. If there are several iterations of backups, it could take even more, exhausting your precious disk space. So it is advised to move the backup file to an external HDD or USB drive. To change the iPhone backup location, follow the steps below:

1. The folder of the backups is called MobileSync.

2. On Windows, the folder is located in: C:\Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup; on macOS, the folder is at: ~/Library/Application Support.

3. Copy the folder MobileSync to the new location.

4. Delete the folder Backup or rename it to something else to keep it.

5. On Windows, Press Shift+Right Click to open a Command window from that location and type in:

  • mklink /J “%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “:\iTunes Backup”

Change iPhone Backup Location

On macOS, open Terminal and type in:

  • -s /Volumes//MobileSync/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

Change iPhone Backup Location

6. Close Command or Terminal.

7. Launch a backup to see if it’s working.

How to Extract Files from iTunes Backup

If you have lost or broken your device or merely want to recover iTunes backup data, you can try Leawo iOS Data Recovery. It can be used as a data recover program for iOS devices as well as a backup extractor to extract files from iTunes backups. The Recover from iTunes Backup mode can help you extract files from backup files.

   

1. Launch Leawo iOS Data Recovery and select the second mode, Recover from iTunes Backup.

Extract Files from iPhone Backup

2. All backup files on the local computer will be scanned and listed. Choose one backup file to retrieve files.

Extract Files from iPhone Backup

3. After choosing an iTunes backup, the software will start to scan the files in the backup. When the scan finishes, you can preview all the items listed on the left sidebar. Select the files you want to extract from the backup and then click the Recover button.

Extract Files from iPhone Backup

4. On the following popup window, click Open to select a folder on your PC to store your files and then click Go to start extracting files from the backup.

Extract Files from iPhone Backup

Ensuring your iPhone’s data security is equally important to using your iPhone. Doing periodical backups will make sure that you can always find your critical information stored on the device even when you lose your iPhone or broke it. While iCloud back up is care-free and automatic, local backup is more stable and manageable, with its location changeable using the guide provided above. In addition, Leawo iOS Data Recovery will help you extract data from your backup files.