How to Locate mobilesync folder and How to Extract iPhone Backup

What is an iPhone backup file and where to find it?

An iTunes backup includes nearly all of your device’s data and settings. These include text messages, iMessages, photos, videos, contacts, call history, FaceTime history, voice notes, calendar events, music, Touch ID settings, Apple Pay information and settings, and various types of app data. Your Activity, Health, and Keychain data can also be included into the iTunes backup file, but you have to use Encrypted Backup in iTunes.

To sum up, an iPhone backup file is a copy of the data on your iPhone. If you enabled the auto backup feature, each time you sync your iOS device (iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch) to iTunes or your iCloud account, an automatic backup is made. By default, your computer saves backups made in iTunes to the Backup folder in your Users folder. The location of the Backup folder varies by operating system. If you have an iPhone backup file generated in iTunes, you can find this file manually here:

Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

Mac OS X:

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Though you can copy the Backup folder, you should never move it to a different folder, external drive, or network drive. Any action of edit, relocate, or rename of your iTunes backup files might ruin the files. To restore from a relocated backup file, you need to move it back to the default location or the file won’t work. Backups serve as a safe copy of your entire device. So while you might be able to view or access a backup file’s contents, the contents usually aren’t stored in a format that you can read. However, these data can be easily read and extracted with professional iPhone recovery software.

What are iPhone backup files for?

Generally speaking iTunes and iCloud backup files ensure that you have a copy of your data that you could restore from in the event of data loss. Also, an iPhone backup file makes it much easier to migrate your old data to a new iPhone or other iOS devices. You can restore the new phone to a previous backup of your old phone so that all your contacts, messages, notes, calls and other data appear on the new device.

How to read and extract an iPhone backup?

To check the iPhone backups and extract files, you can download H Data iPhone data recovery software. Not only does it enable you to view and extract your iPhone backup files, but it is also able to recover deleted data from your iOS devices.

Step 1. Free download H Data iPhone Recovery and install it on your computer. Connect iPhone to computer, select View and Restore Files from iTunes Backups. Choose an iTunes backup file and click SCAN. If you can’t access your iPhone for the moment, you can also click Browse for iTunes Backups to manually select an iTunes backup file that is in your computer.

Step 2. Now the software will scan and extract existing and deleted data contained in your iPhone backup file. Once the scan is completed, the software will display how much data had been discovered.You will be able to see all the recoverable files in different categories. Click on the categories on the left and freely check for details. If you want any of these files to be extracted to your computer, simply select them and click on the Export Selected Records.

How to Backup iPhone to iTunes - iTunes Backup Extractor Free Download

An iTunes backup file contains what’s currently on your iPhone, including text messages, iMessages, photos, videos, contacts, call history, FaceTime history, voice notes, calendar events, music, Touch ID settings, Apple Pay information and settings, and various types of app data. Creating iTunes backups is one of the safest ways to keep files secured on iOS devices. However, to prevent file corruption of the iTunes backups, Apple designed these backup files in a way that can’t be easily accessed or read. If you would like to access and download contents from iTunes backups, or your iTunes backup file is corrupted, then you need the help from iOS data recovery software, such as H Data iPhone Data Recovery Software.

Creating, restoring and recovering data from iTunes sounds complicated, but don’t be put off by that. With H Data iPhone Data Recovery Software, the process can be very straightforward. Follow the steps below, free download H Data iPhone Data Recovery Software, and start your free trial.

How to Create An iTunes Backup

Take your iPhone or iPad and connect it to your computer using a USB cable. iTunes will recognize the device automatically.
Go to the File menu, then click Back Up to start. You may be prompted to log in with your credentials. You can also click on the “Back Up Now” button, but make sure “This computer” is selected. If you want to encrypt your data, select the encryption checkbox and choose a password for the backup.

1. Install the latest version of iTunes if you don’t have it. Launch iTunes and connect your device to your computer. If a message asks to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps and click Trust.
2. Select your iPhone when it appears in iTunes. On the left panel, select Summary and go to the Backups section. Check This computer so that a full backup will be created and stored on your local drive. This is the recommended option if you want to recover data or extract files from an iTunes backup using iPhone data recovery software.
3. If you want to save Health and Activity data from your iPhone, you need to encrypt your backup. Select the box called Encrypt iPhone backup and create a password that you can remember. If you don’t need to save your Health and Activity data, you can make a backup that isn’t encrypted. Leave the Encrypt iPhone backup box unchecked and click Back Up Now. The backup process may take a while depending on the size of your iPhone contents. When it is done, you will have yourself an iTunes backup file which you could turn to when the need arises.

How to Restore An iTunes Backup 

Now that you have an iPhone or iPad backup in iTunes, you can restore your iPhone to it when needed. Please note that the backup data will replace your current data. So make sure that any new photos or files created from the date of the backup onwards are saved separately.

1. Start iTunes and connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer using a USB cable.
2. Go to File > Devices > Restore from backup. If you have multiple backups, choose the backup you want to retrieve from the drop-down menu, and click Restore. You can also click on the device icon, go to Summary window, and click on Restore Backup.
3. Restore iTunes backup. Wait until the data is transferred to your device.

How to Recover Missing or Deleted data from an iTunes backup

If instead of restoring your iPhone or iPad with an iTunes backup, you want to save some of the files to your computer. The only way you can do this is by using the H Data iPhone Data Recovery Software, which allows you to view and extracts individual files, including the deleted files, to your local drive or external storage devices.

1. Free download H Data iPhone Recovery and install it on your computer.
2. Connect iPhone to computer, select View and Restore Files from iTunes Backups. Choose an iTunes backup file and click SCAN.

3. When the scanning process is done, you will be able to see all the recoverable files neatly categorized. H Data iPhone Recover can recover contacts, messages, WeChat conversations, reminders, notes, Safari history and more. Click on the categories on the left and freely check for details. If you want any of these files to be extracted to your computer, simply select them and click on the Export Selected Records.