Find the location of your iPhone or iPad backup

When you back up an iPhone or iPad, the backup files land in a specific folder on your computer. Finder (macOS Catalina and later), iTunes (Windows and macOS Mojave or earlier), and Apple Devices (Windows) each use a fixed location that you cannot change from within those apps. iMazing, available on macOS and Windows, stores backups in a separate location and lets you move them anywhere you want.

This guide shows you where each app stores your backups, how to locate the backup for a specific device using its UDID, and how to change your device’s backup location in iMazing. With iMazing, you can optionally choose a different backup location for each device.

Here's how to Find the Location of your iTunes Backup:

Where are backups stored by default?

Finder, iTunes, and Apple Devices all store backups in a fixed path. None of them let you change this location from within the app.

On macOS

On macOS, backups are stored at:

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

The Library folder is hidden by default. To open it directly in Finder, select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter the path above and press Return.

On Windows

On Windows, the backup location depends on how the app was installed.

Apple Devices or iTunes from the Microsoft Store:

C:\Users\{username}\Apple\MobileSync\Backup

iTunes classic installer (downloaded from apple.com):

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

You can also open this location from iTunes: select Edit > Preferences, click the Devices icon, right-click a device in the list, then choose Show in Windows Explorer.

Where does iMazing store Backups?

By default, iMazing stores backups in a separate location from Finder, iTunes, or Apple Devices.

On macOS

On macOS, iMazing backups are stored at:

/{username}/Library/Application Support/iMazing/Backup

On Windows

On Windows, iMazing backups are stored at:

C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\iMazing\Backup

Changing the iMazing backup location

iMazing lets you change your backup folder to any location, including an external drive or a network drive.

To change the backup location for a specific device, open iMazing on macOS or Windows, select your device, then go to Settings > Backup Location.

To manage iMazing’s backup locations, open Preferences > Backups.

You can also use your existing iTunes, Finder, or Apple Devices backup locations within iMazing.

Identify a device's backup by its UDID

Backup folders are not named after your device. They are named after the device's UDID (Unique Device Identifier), a string of characters that uniquely identifies each Apple device.

Find the UDID with iMazing

Connect your device, open iMazing on macOS or Windows, then select the device from the Home Screen. The UDID appears in the Device Info section on the Overview tab.

For more details, see the guide on how to find your iPhone or iPad UDID and other device info.

Find the UDID with iTunes (Windows)

1. Connect your device and open iTunes.
2. Select your device, then click Summary in the sidebar.
3. In the device information section, locate Serial Number.
4. Click Serial Number repeatedly. Each click cycles through the device identifiers: serial number, UDID, ECID.

Find the UDID with Apple Devices (Windows)

1. Connect your device and open Apple Devices.
2. Select your device in the sidebar.
3. Below the device name, locate the device model and storage line (e.g., iPhone 15 · 120 GB …).
4. Click that line repeatedly. Each click cycles through the device identifiers: model, serial number, UDID.

Going further

• Finder, iTunes, and Apple Devices each use a single backup folder per device. If you perform multiple backups, newer ones overwrite older ones.
• iMazing keeps multiple timestamped backup snapshots per device, all stored within the same device subfolder. For a complete overview of snapshot management, see Everything you need to know about iOS/iPadOS backups and how to manage them with iMazing.
• iTunes and Finder backups are not human-readable. To browse their contents, see the guide on how to view the contents of an iPhone or iPad backup.