Where iPhone backups are on Mac, and how to delete them

Where the backups are

When you back up an iPhone or iPad to your Mac with Finder, the backup goes into one folder in your Library (Apple, Locate and manage backups of your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch). To open it:

1. In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder.
2. Paste ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ and press Return.

Each backup is a folder with a long identifier for a name, not the device's name, which is why it's easy to delete the wrong one from here. Treat this folder as somewhere to look, and use the two methods below to manage what's in it.

macOS also keeps this folder private. Apps without Full Disk Access, Terminal included, can't list it: they get "Operation not permitted" and see no backups at all (Reincubate, How to enable access to iPhone backups on macOS). That's expected, and not a sign that the backups are gone.

See your backups and how big they are

In Storage settings

Open System Settings › General › Storage. iOS Files is the category for iPhone and iPad backups and the software files your Mac downloaded to update or restore a device (Apple, Change Storage settings). Click its ⓘ button to list them, then click Size to put the largest first. This is the quickest way to see how much space backups take, without connecting anything.

In Finder

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to your Mac with a cable, and unlock it.
2. Select the device in the Finder sidebar. If asked, trust the computer on the device.
3. On the General tab, click Manage Backups. The list shows each backup with its device name and date.

A lock next to a backup means it's encrypted. Encrypted backups can include saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history and Health data, which an unencrypted backup doesn't (Apple, About encrypted backups). If you're keeping only one backup of a device, make it that one.

Before you delete a backup

• Make sure a newer one exists. On the device's General tab in Finder, look for the date and time of the last backup. If the device is still in use and its newest backup is old, click Back Up Now first (Apple, How to back up your iPhone or iPad with your Mac).
• Check whether iCloud has it covered. If the device backs up to iCloud, the backup on your Mac is a second copy. On the iPhone, Settings › [your name] › iCloud › iCloud Backup shows when the last one was made.
• Old devices are the easy wins. A backup of a phone you sold or replaced, whose data is already on its successor, is usually safe to remove.
• Remember the encryption password. Apple says you can't restore an encrypted backup without it. If you've forgotten it, that backup is of little use to you anyway.

Deleting a backup on your Mac doesn't remove anything from the iPhone or iPad itself.

Delete a backup

With Finder (the device needs to be connected): open Manage Backups as above, Control-click the backup and choose Delete, then confirm. The same menu has Archive and Show in Finder.

With Storage settings (no device needed): in System Settings › General › Storage, click ⓘ next to iOS Files, select the backup and click Delete.

The software files in iOS Files are different: they're downloads of iOS or iPadOS that your Mac used to update or restore a device, and the Mac downloads them again when it needs them.

Backups in iCloud are separate

iCloud backups don't use space on your Mac; they use your iCloud storage. To manage them from the Mac, choose Apple menu › System Settings, click your name, click iCloud, then Manage, and select Backups. Select a backup and click the remove button (–) to delete it (Apple, Manage your iCloud storage). Deleting an iCloud backup frees iCloud storage; it won't change the numbers in your Mac's Storage settings.

Can you move backups to an external drive?

Finder has no setting for where backups go, and Apple doesn't document a supported way to change it. Workarounds you'll find online replace the backup folder with a link to an external drive; they're unsupported and depend on that drive being connected every time the Mac backs up. If backups don't fit, the practical options are to keep only the newest backup of each device, back up to iCloud instead, or make room on the Mac: how to free up space safely.

Backups have their own category, iOS Files, so check it before blaming System Data for a full disk. See what System Data contains and what each storage category means.

How Tend helps

Tend's Clean Up page has an iPhone & iPad backups section that lists each backup with the device's name and the date it was made. They're never selected for you, and Tend warns that once the Trash is emptied a backup can't be recovered. Because macOS keeps the backups folder private, Tend can list them only after you turn it on in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access; without that, use Finder or Storage settings as above. Seeing the list is free, and moving a backup to the Trash is part of Tend Pro.

Questions

Related guides

Sources

• Apple, Locate and manage backups of your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
• Apple, How to back up your iPhone or iPad with your Mac
• Apple, About encrypted backups on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
• Apple, Manage your iCloud storage on your Apple device
• Apple, Change Storage settings on Mac
• Reincubate, How to enable access to iPhone backups on macOS (why apps without Full Disk Access can't see the folder)

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