How to View iPhone Backup Files on Mac/PC with or without Restoring?

There are a great many ways to back up an iPhone to an external hard drive, iTunes, iCloud, etc., for preservation. At times, some iPhone users may need to view iPhone backup files to see if it is fully backed up. Or they just want to check where it's stored on a PC/Mac. Generally, it may be easy to locate old iPhone backups in various storage spaces, but how about opening Apple backup files?

Well, we will tell you how to view iPhone backups in this post and walk you through each step in turn.

Part 1: How to Locate iPhone Backups on PC/Mac

If your iPhone is previously synced to iTunes, it is no surprise that you want to check the iPhone backups, but how to access or locate it on your PC/Mac?

• On Windows systems, your iPhone backup is located at: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
• On Mac systems, the path of your iPhone backup is: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Next, here are the detailed steps to find your iTunes backup on iPhone on PC and Mac:

How to locate (iTunes) backup on iPhone from a Windows?

• Open the search box on your Windows PC:
  Windows 7: Click "Start";
  Windows 8: Click the magnifying glass in the top-right corner;
  Windows 10: Go to the "Search" box nearby the "Start" button.
• Click on "inside" the search box.
• Type in: %appdata%
• Press "Enter" or "Return" on your keyboard.
• From here, open the folders: "Apple Computer" > "MobileSync" > "Backup".

How to find iPhone (iTunes) backup from a Mac?

• Open iTunes if you are running macOS 10.14 or earlier, or open Finder if your Mac is the macOS 10.15 or higher.
• From iTunes, go to "Preferences".
• Click the "Devices" section.
• Control-click the backup you wish from the list.
• Tap on "Show in Finder".
• In Finder, connect your iPhone to your Mac. (What to do when iPhone won't connect to Mac?)
• Select the device from "Locations".
• In the "General" tab, click "Manage Backups".
• Right-click a backup and select "Show in Finder".

Related Pages:

• My iPhone Won't Backup to iCloud, How to Fix It?
• Fixed: The Backup Can't be Restored to This iPhone because the Software on It is Too Old

Part 2: How to Find iPhone Backups Stored in iCloud

You cannot find a list of your backups and open Apple backup files on icloud.com if you kept them on iCloud. In the following, we will detail how to find your iCloud backups on your iPhone, PC, and Mac.

On a PC with Windows 11/10/8/7:

• Open iCloud for Windows.
• Click "Storage".
• Select "Backup".

On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier:

• Choose the "Apple" menu > "System Preferences".
• Click "iCloud".
• Click "Manage".
• Select "Backups".

On iPhone 13/12/11/XR/Xs/X/8:

• For iOS 11 or later, go to "iPhone Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud" > "Storage" > "Manage Storage". Then choose "Backups".



• For iOS 10.3, go to iPhone's "Settings" > [your name] > "iCloud".
• Tap the graph that shows your iCloud usage and tap "Manage Storage".
• Tap a backup to check more details.

Part 3: How to View iPhone Backup Files with Restoring

The moment we find where the iTunes and iCloud backup files are, you probably want to look at iPhone backup files. As we have mentioned earlier, we cannot directly access the backup, for it is encrypted. But we can still do it by restoring your iPhone from the backup files.

How can I view old iPhone backup files from iTunes without restoring them?

• Connect your iPhone with the computer and launch "iTunes".
• When your iPhone appears in iTunes, click on the "Summary" option.
• Click the "Restore Backup" option. If the option is grayed out, just change your backup preferences from "iCloud to Computer". You can always change this back after you've restored your iPhone.



• This task can take a while. Wait for its finishing, and you'll see the saved data in the backup on your iPhone.

How to browse iPhone backup files from iCloud without restoring?

• Go to your iPhone's "Settings" > "General" > "Reset" > "Erase All Content and Settings".
• Set up your iPhone by following the on-screen steps until you reach the "Apps & Data" screen.
• Tap "Restore from iCloud Backup".



• Sign in to iCloud with your "Apple ID" > select the backup you want.
• Wait for the job to complete. The progress bar might need a few minutes to hours to complete.

Extended Reading:

• [Easy Guide] How to Transfer Data from iPhone to iPhone without iCloud?
• How To Back Up Android Phone Before Factory Reset in 2021?

Part 4: How to View iPhone Backups without Restoring

More iPhone users don't generally get files from iPhone backup officially if they kept a backup on iTunes. This will avoid new data overwriting the old one. And there are inclined to pick an iOS backup viewer like MobiKin Doctor for iOS instead. You can make use of this flexible tool to view the backup files without restore.

Key features of MobiKin Doctor for iOS:

• A great iPhone backup viewer to view iPhone backups without restoring.
• Restore deleted iPhone contacts, text messages, etc., without backup.
• Selectively recover data from iTunes backups in the absence of deleting data on your iPhone.
• Work for various data types, including Call Logs, Messages, Contacts, Message Attachments, Camera Roll, Photos, Notes, Calendars, Note Attachments, Safari, Safari History, Reminders, Voice Memos, etc.
• Run smoothly on various iDevices, including iPhone 13/13 Pro (Max)/13 mini/12/12 Pro (Max)/12 mini, iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max, iPhone X/XR/Xs/Xs Max, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6S/6 Plus, iPod touch, iPad, etc.
• It won't disclose your privacy.

How to access and view contents of iPhone backup via Doctor for iOS?

Step 1. Run the software on a computer

Install and open the program on your computer. Pick "Recover from iTunes Backup File" from the left sidebar. Then, all iTunes backups on this computer will be scanned out soon. Please choose your desired one and tap "Start Scan".

Step 2. View iPhone backups on computer

The main screen of this program will turn up. Just click any of the data types you want to check and click "Start Scan" again. This will load the details on the selected iTunes backup file.

Finally, if you'd like to restore the items from the iTunes backup to your computer, you can handpick what you want from the right and tap on "Recover to Computer".

Final Thoughts

As we can easily conclude from the above, it's a wise move to choose MobiKin Doctor for iOS, an outstanding iPhone backup viewer, to read iPhone backup files flexibly. Moreover, when browsing a backup, you can check the files that have been encrypted by iTunes without connecting your iPhone to your computer. And there's no need to jailbreak your device as well.

Related Articles:

3 Methods on How to Backup iPhone to PC/Computer

3 Solutions to Restore iPhone/iPad from Backup (98% Success Rate)

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Easy Way to Delete Backup on iPhone 13/12/11/XR/Xs/X/8/7/6

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Where Does iTunes Store Backups & How to Change iTunes Backup Location?