713      iPhone_iPad_Mac_apple

Change backup location for iPhone/iPad

Hello,

I just bought a new computer (yippie!) with a SSD (128GB). Now... I have here, 2x iPhones (32GB) and 2x iPad (64GB). When I connect my iOS devices with iTunes it is going to make a nice back-up of all the data. That's great!

But... With 4 iOS devices that are back-up-ed to my SSD... well... the SSD will be full of back-up data and that's not good for the performance of the SSD. For Data storage I am using a 2TB harddisk, so I hoped that I could configure iTunes in a way that the back-ups will be stored on this 2TB harddisk. But I cannot find any parameter to change the location of the back-up place.

Is there a way that I can change the back-up location? Because I don't want to use my fast SSD for back-up purposes.

Best Regards,

Patrick

You can redirect <Profile>\<AppData>\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup to a folder on another drive using NTFSLink (shell ext., might only work on XP) or Junction (cmd line tool).

In essence you move the existing folder to a new location, create an empty folder where the old one used to be, then get the operating system to link the two togther and silently redirect any file operation on the old location through to the new one.

Alternatively, according to this thread it can be done with nothing more than a regular shortcut but I've not personally tested that method.

tt2

I first tried the shortcut option, but this isn't working. As soon as iTunes is going to make a backup it just creates a new backup-directory instead of using the shortcut with the same name.

I am now going to try the junction option.

But to be honest I really find it bad that you can relocate the iTunes library in the settings, but you can't say where the backup must be placed of your mobile devices!

I hope that Apple will come with a decent solution in one of their next updates!

Have you tried the great app called Hazel? Maybe there's a way to automatically move the backup-file to another location? I don't know how it will work when you want to recall the backup but could be worth checking out?

Hazel is a Mac application. It won't help Windows users, and if used to relocate iOS backup files would just confuse iTunes.

tt2

Awh. Didn't see that this revolved around PC – My bad.

The issue of the relocation of the iOS backup and the possibility of confusing iTunes I thought maybe one could get around by 'option' clicking a button or something (like you do when you want to restore your device from a specific file). But you seem to know that's not possible. I've never tried.

Here's another help how to create a soft link to relocate the backup:

https://aaltonen.co/2011/01/03/change-the-location-of-your-iphone-backup/

Hi,

Many people have been getting it confusing and misleading so I will lay out the simple instructions for that:

For Windows Vista/7 Users, close iTunes and click on Organize (top-left option on the windows bar) when you open up My Computer or My Documents with current open window:

1. Click on "Folder and search options"
2. Click on the 'View' tab and click on the "Show hidden files, folders and drives" button
3. Navigate to Local Disk C: > Users > Your username > AppData > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync or alternatively open up 'Run...' and type in 'C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync'
4. You should see the Backup folder, inside it will have sets of folders depending on how many times you backed it up, one way of finding out is open iTunes > Edit > Preferences.. > Devices or just look at the dates of the folders created
5. You will have to delete them each off, or delete the whole folder, do not panic, it does not mean you lose all your files and purchases; it is only deleting the backups.
6. There should be nothing in the MobileSync folder now
7. This is important, you MUST create an alternative folder on the recommended hard drive you wish to back it up on, you may have one or two additional hard drives that says D: and E:, go to one of the storage drives and create a folder, (right-click on the current window > New > Folder) name it whatever you wish it to be 'D:\Backup\" or "E:\iPhone backups\", if it is not created, you will not successfully back up the process
8. Now, after you created your preferred folder in the destination you wish to direct it to, go to Windows > All Programs > Accessories > Right-click on Command Prompt > Run as administrator
9. You are now in the command prompt, type in either mklink /J "%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup" OR mklink /J "C:\Users\your username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
10. If it is successful, the MobileSync folder will now have created a new shortcut folder on it and you should double click on it and it will take you to the proper destination folder
11. When you plug in the iPhone or iPad, DO NOT sync yet, you must BACK UP first and allow it to finish the backup process; again, if it was successful, it will load a new folder from the backup process on your newly created folder, saving you the space!

This helped me on Windows 8

1. Search for "Command prompt"

2. Right click - run as administrator

3. c:\WINDOWS\system32>cd c:\Users\Jan\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\

4. c:\Users\Jan\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer>mklink /d MobileSync d:\Backup\MobileSync

symbolic link created for MobileSync <<===>> d:\Backup\MobileSync

Thank you!  Very helpful.  My dos prompt skills started coming back to me, it's been a while.

I have Windows 10 and this worked like a charm.  Thanks!

Creating A Shortcut to the Backup Folder "Does 'NOT' Work", Neither Does Creating Shortcuts To Each Individual Backup Doesn't Work - I Tested It Thoroughly.

However junctions do work. See Relocate iOS device backups for details. Review the rest of the tip for advice on reorganizing the library when you don't want to leave it in the standard location.

tt2

最後更新：2017-08-21 18:06:04

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