Where Are iPhone Backups Stored on Your Computer?
Local iPhone and iPad backup location on Windows and Mac, including the two different Windows paths for Store and classic iTunes.
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Backups you make on a computer (through Finder on Mac, or Apple Devices or iTunes on Windows) land in a fixed MobileSync folder. You cannot change this location from inside the app.
Each backup is a subfolder named with the device UDID, a long hex string. That makes the folder hard to browse by eye. Use Manage Backups with Show in Finder or Show in Explorer to jump straight to the right one.
Where iPhone stores this, by platform
%USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup
This is for the Apple Devices app and Microsoft Store iTunes. The older classic iTunes installer from the Apple website uses %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup instead. If the folder looks empty, you are probably checking the other path.
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
Same path for Finder backups (macOS Catalina and later) and older iTunes backups (Mojave and earlier). In Finder use Go > Go to Folder to open it, since Library is hidden.
Frequently asked questions
Why is each backup folder named with random letters and numbers?
That is the device UDID. Finder or Apple Devices maps it to a friendly device name in the Manage Backups view. The folder name alone will not tell you which phone it is.
Can I move iPhone backups to another drive?
There is no setting for it. The common workaround on Windows is to move the folder and leave a directory junction at the original path (created with mklink /J). Close iTunes or Apple Devices first.
Can I read files inside the backup folder directly?
Not usefully. It is a set of hashed database files meant for a full restore. To get individual photos or messages out, restore to a device or use a backup extractor.
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