April 26, 2012
Several people have reported that iTunes could not finish the back up process and gave this error message: iTunes could not backup the iPhone because the backup was corrupt or not compatible with the iPhone OR backup session failed.
To fix this problem, simply delete your corrupt backup files by opening iTunes Preferences ( Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences; Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences), there Select the Devices tab, then select your backup and delete it, then try the backup again.
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April 30, 2012 at 4:09 AM
In case you have important files from your corrupted backup that need to be retrieved prior to deletion, I recommend iPhone Backup Extractor tool to extract data onto your computer. You can easily import most of the files back to your iPhone, so you do not have to worry.
May 2, 2012 at 12:11 PM
How do you do that? because i have some very important info in my backup file, I used to run a business from my iphone before the software crashed.
May 3, 2012 at 7:04 AM
Hi Dee! Well, first you try the free version: http://www.iphonebackupextractor.com/free-download/ and you will at least be able to see what data your backup holds. Then it should be easy to go forward by clicking on the blue numbers or going into Expert Mode. No worries if you get stuck I’m sure the guys from support can help you out.
December 21, 2012 at 10:56 AM
What’s mostly in our backup files?
June 2, 2012 at 10:55 PM
i already deleted my last back ups and it still says the same thing. HELP
June 22, 2012 at 8:48 AM
I looked at my backup file list and it is empty so i couldn’t delete a “corrupted” file as none existed. In addition, iTunes also would notsync some of my hi def videos that previously it had. The message i get states that these videos are not compatible with my ipod. I have an Ipod 4 so I doubt that there are any videos that itunes sells that wouldnt be compatible with it. Any help would be appreciated.
December 4, 2012 at 5:09 AM
I have SAME ISSUE: THERE IS NO BACKUP FILE TO DELETE. IT’S EMPTY!!!
July 9, 2012 at 11:59 PM
how do you get to “Choose Edit>Prefrences”?
July 21, 2012 at 9:30 PM
To fix this problem, simply delete your corrupt backup files by opening iTunes Preferences ( Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences; Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences), there Select the Devices tab, then select your backup and delete it, then try the backup again.
after i follow those steps, it is still happen.. keep on telling me that my back up was corrupt or not compatible.. please someone help me..
March 2, 2013 at 6:06 PM
Perfect solution thanks.
July 29, 2012 at 9:56 PM
I looked in “Edit”, “Preferences”, “Devices” and there is no backup file to delete! Now what?
July 30, 2012 at 2:30 PM
Same here…I reinstalled iTunes few times and it is still “back up was corrupt or not compatible”
Any1 has any other idea?
Thank you
July 30, 2012 at 10:55 PM
Followed advise on internet: issue was probably related to corrupt picture. Deleted all pictures, then reset the iPhone wiping everything, reloaded from backup but not pictures. Sync now works but very time consuming!
July 31, 2012 at 1:21 PM
Tyvm, I’ll try that and get back to all of you here
Thnx again
July 31, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Hello again!
(((((
I did delete all the albums,photos and videos in library, but still the iTunes do not back up my iphone
August 12, 2012 at 10:16 PM
can you show the vido of it?
August 15, 2012 at 9:19 AM
Video of what? Corrupt file is not in the, library, it must be some of games or something i did download, but how to find what is it?
August 30, 2012 at 12:34 AM
In case if your iPhone model could not backup, in that condition you must be sure that something has wrong going on.. May be its a case of corruption or damage that may have occurred unknowingly that causing such issues. in order to repair the corruption, you are needed to take help of iPhone Backup Software that helps you in creating iPhone data backup as well as is also capable of repairing small corruption. This is useful for different iPhone models like iPhone 3GS recovery and so on…
To read more:
http://www.iphone3gsrecovery.net
http://www.iphone3gsrecovery.net
October 6, 2012 at 3:13 PM
STOP STOP STOP. All you have to do is simply follow the steps below.
1. Enable to view hidden files.
2. find AppData file.
3. Roaming.
4. Apple Computer
5. MobileSync
6.backup.
7. Finally erase the file that is dated the current day the backup was done by checking modified date.
ENJOY
Jskywalker.
October 16, 2012 at 5:56 AM
Hi JohnM,
Can you be more specific in the steps I have to follow?
Thanks!
Tijs
October 21, 2012 at 4:22 AM
Attempted to restore my iPhone 4 backup onto new iPhone 5. Been on it all morning with same problem. Absolute nightmare.
John – I’d also love a bit more detail on your solution… Help!!! My don is desperate to get his hand me down iPhone 4 !!!!!
December 1, 2012 at 8:04 PM
Huge help thanks!
February 4, 2013 at 4:36 PM
Thanks !!!
March 3, 2013 at 7:25 PM
Thanks JohnM
March 15, 2013 at 9:11 PM
I delete the file and then what happens? When I restore still the same issue! Corrupt or not compatible!
March 21, 2013 at 6:02 PM
BK,
Does this work with a MACBook or is this a Windows program?
Karla~
October 22, 2012 at 7:09 AM
In case anyone else is running into this problem and the steps above do not help you.
I was receiving the same message and after days of fruitless Googling, I noticed that I did not even *have* a directly called %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\backup.
I created the folder structure and everything starting working.
Note to the previous poster who wanted more specifics… To find the folder you need, right click on the Start button and choose “Open Windows Explorer”.
In the address bar at the top, click and type %APPDATA% (with the percent signs) and hit enter. This will open some folder–typically C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming on Windows 7, but could be somewhere else depending what version of Windows you have and your particular setup.
Then open “Apple Computer”. If “MobileSync” does not exist as a folder, create it (“New Folder” and give it the name “MobileSync”). Open the MobileSync folder. If “backup” does not exist as a folder, create it, then open it.
Unless you just had to create the folders in the last step (in which case you are probably all set), you will find one or more folders in here containing your backups. Delete these (or move them somewhere else as a safety precaution, then restart iTunes, reconnect your device, and hopefully you will be all set.
November 3, 2012 at 6:07 PM
BK you are the stuff. Thank you so much. I was getting really irritated at all the sites saying the same thing without addressing those who were still having issues.
November 6, 2012 at 3:23 AM
It worked. I created folder structure and it works.
November 16, 2012 at 6:54 PM
‘m running windows xp, and cannot for the life of me figure out how to do this. I cannot find any of the files u have mentioned.
December 31, 2012 at 6:25 AM
I think you may have just saved my life, BK! Many thanks
January 3, 2013 at 4:38 PM
Thanks you so much BK !!
Finally – probably after 3 month searching for a solution again and again I found this thread – and your solution which finally solved my issue.
Many sites don’t answer the real problem – means – no old backups are there to delete and still error message comes up.
January 6, 2013 at 8:23 PM
Thank you so much for the help, your solution completely fixed my problem. Your advice was so detailed and really helped me.
January 16, 2013 at 4:20 PM
BK youre the man.
))))))))
By far the simplest explanation and solution.
Took all of 2min to do this
February 19, 2013 at 2:41 AM
BK, thank you so so so much for taking the time to explain! It helped a lot
February 22, 2013 at 3:42 PM
Man I have never ever ever written on such websites,but what you wrote was just so brilliant…I’ve been searching for that fucking solution for over 4 months now,Thanks!
March 15, 2013 at 9:27 PM
Hi Bk! I have the folder of BACKUP in APPDATA.
I have files there! If I delete them I cannot select RESTORE BACKUP in iTunes.
Any solution??
March 25, 2013 at 1:26 AM
i don’t see “apple computer”……. @bk
March 26, 2013 at 2:24 PM
I can not delete the backup file because of corrupted file error. I tried many things but i think it is a hardware issue. then i renamed the Backup foldername and created empty Backup folder in MobileSync and it worked…
April 11, 2013 at 10:50 PM
finally got it! thank you!!!
for those who can’t find “apple computer” hit the start button, then type %APPDATA%\Apple into the search. it will pop up!
May 18, 2013 at 12:47 AM
Thank You SO Very Much! =D You’re the BEST! =D
October 23, 2012 at 4:00 PM
JohnM hey thanks too much it is working 100%
October 23, 2012 at 11:27 PM
Sorted! Copied all photos into iPhoto.
Found 7 corrupt ones.
Deleted them on iphone.
Then allowed backup on iPhone 5 and worked a treat
November 1, 2012 at 1:37 PM
mark mcmillen : bro , how did u find out the corrupt ones ? please help !
October 24, 2012 at 9:16 AM
This is AWESOME !!! Apple must hire you!!!
))))))
It works totally!!! Thank You so so so much!!!
November 7, 2012 at 1:49 AM
YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!! this is great!!!!!!!
October 30, 2012 at 4:12 AM
I had the same problem with a user on a domain.
located the roming profile with the redirection folder and found “apple computers” within there created “mobilesync” and in that folder created “Backup”.
opened up i tunes and ran back fixed
November 5, 2012 at 8:36 PM
I’m not understanding something. If I delete (actually I saved them to a different file) the backups from the Backup folder in in mobilesync, then restart itunes and reattach my iphone 5 as instructed, what is there to restore from? I don’t get the option to restore from a backup unless I put those files back in the folder.
November 23, 2012 at 10:07 AM
Moving my photos and then deleting them worked for me. It figures I tried that AFTER I tried everything else. Thank you so much!
January 21, 2013 at 3:40 AM
please, i’ve seen many great solutions here, but my problem is that, i need to recover an app wich was were i kept all my pw’s. is there any way to recover apps when i cannot recover my last backup and that was the only one i had… please help me. thanks
January 29, 2013 at 12:16 AM
I tried all of these suggestions with no success. On a long shot I made the back up of my old iphone 4 an encrypted back up and backed it up over wifi instead of plugging it in. It worked perfectly, just don’t forget your back up’s encryption!
January 31, 2013 at 7:24 AM
Hi,
I’ve downloaded the latest version of iTunes in order to back up my iPhone 4s(which hasn’t been updated with any new version of IOS). However, while the phone can be detected into the computer and iTunes, it says ” the iPhone can’t back up because it is not connected” few sececonds after it started back up. I tried many times but still not work. How can I transfer all my data to the new iPhone 5 then? Pls help ……
February 1, 2013 at 6:13 AM
I almost never post on boards, but BK THANK YOU. I’ve been looking all over for this solution and the apple people were completely unable to help me with this to the point that they asked for a screenshot of the problem and then said that I’d have to call and pay 20 bucks just to talk to them. You’re a hero.
March 1, 2013 at 12:57 AM
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Was ready to rip my hair out and such a simple fix did it! Genius!
March 1, 2013 at 7:01 PM
Bk how do you do this from a mac???
March 14, 2013 at 6:23 PM
What if your back up file is corrupted during half way backing up. Most of your stuff is in mobile sync /backup folder, but there are files such as info, manifest, status etc. which causes iTunes could not read your backup when you try to restore via iTunes. If you take note, all the backup files folder (successful backup) will have a files such as info, manifest and status. Without that, you can never restore the backup. Any software or help?
March 21, 2013 at 10:11 AM
Back up file corrupt tried backup extractor and it’s saying file not recognised. Please help! Thanks
April 8, 2013 at 4:47 AM
I’m fairly comfortable with understanding how to delete stored backups & where these are stored within the folders on my computer.
(
However I believe only a ‘few’ files within my backup are corrupt which is not allowing my new iphone to sync.
I believe this as when I used to sync my iphone3 it cam up with an error/warning such as ”could not sync file ‘x’.mp3 for example”. Therefore I believe maybe 2-3 videos which I originally transferred from using a Blackberry where not recognised by my iphone.
This was fine & I wasn’t too bothered however I now believe these are the files that are causing corruption & not allowing me to sync my data. Therefore how to I find & delete these ‘corrupt’ files from my backup so hopefully the sync will work?
The files mobliesync/backup folders read as gobble-d-gook ie. approx 15-20 characters made up of ascii characters!!!
April 20, 2013 at 7:31 PM
I had the same problem with win 7 OS, not sure if this fix stesp will work for other os systems.
1. Close iTunes
2. Make sure your Explorer displays hidden files
3. Go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computers\MobileSync\backup
4. Delete everything there (or move it somewhere else, to be on the safe side)
And done. Restarted iTunes and backup worked.
May 1, 2013 at 2:01 PM
I added the folders — IT WORKS .!!!!!! THANK YOU… if I had only found this hours ago….