• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

AppleToolBox

Tools and Fixes for Mac, iPad, iPhone & iWatch

Search posts

  • About
  • Contact

CONNECT WITH US

CATEGORIES

  • iPhone
  • iPad
  • iPod
  • Apple Watch
  • Mac/MacBook
  • AirPods
  • Apple TV
  • News
  • Apple Services
  • HomePod
  • Reviews

SITE

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Advertise

Search posts

You are here: Home / iPhone / Archive iOS & iPadOS backups using iTunes or Finder

Archive iOS & iPadOS backups using iTunes or Finder

By Sudz Kar 2 comments Last updated January 2, 2023

iTunes or Finder can back up your data from all your iOS devices; iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. By default, iTunes and Finder only keep one backup per iOS device. This is an incremental backup meaning only data that has changed is backed up. So when you sync your device “again”, the backup file is actually overwritten by the new content, and old data is deleted.

But for safekeeping, you may want to archive your old backups to keep those older iPhone, iPad or iPod touch backups, just in case you want or need to recover something.

Related articles

  • No More iTunes. How to use Finder in macOS Catalina to Sync and Restore iPhone
  • Unable to Sync iPhone or iPad with macOS Catalina? Check these tips
  • Create a macOS Catalina USB installer
  • How To Back Up iPhone to an External Drive Using iTunes and Terminal

Contents

  • How to Archive an iOS or iPadOS Backup of iPhone, iPod, or iPad
  • How to find a specific iDevice backup
  • How to delete iOS and iPadOS backups
  • Manage your iPadOS and iOS backups that you store in iCloud

How to Archive an iOS or iPadOS Backup of iPhone, iPod, or iPad

Note: These steps are similar whether you use iTunes or Finder. For iTunes, make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. For Finder, update your macOS to its latest version which includes support for backing up your devices using the Finder app.

  1. Connect your iOS device to your computer
  2. Navigate to iTunes > Preferences (for Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences)iTunes devices preferences
  3. Select Devices device backups in iTunes using preferences menu options
  4. In the Device Backups list, find the device backup you want to archive
  5. Control-click or right-click on that backup and choose Archive from the options: Delete, Archive, and Show in Finder archive options for iPhone backup in iTunes
  6. Once archived, your backup shows the date and time of the backup achieved backups of iPhones show date and time in iTunes
  7. The next time you sync your device, iTunes creates a brand new backup file and does not overwrite your archived backup

If you want to restore your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch from an archived backup (your old backups), please read this article to learn how.

How to find a specific iDevice backup

  1. Open iTunes
  2. Choose Preferences (for Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences)
  3. Click Devices
  4. Control-click or right-click the backup that you want and choose Show in Finder

To locate your device backups, see this article Where iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch backups are stored on Mac or Windows

How to delete iOS and iPadOS backups

  1. Choose iTunes > Preferences (for Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences)
  2. Click Devices
  3. Choose the backup that you want to delete
  4. Click Delete Backup, then confirm

Manage your iPadOS and iOS backups that you store in iCloud

If you also use iCloud Backup, you won’t find a list of your backups on iCloud.com. Instead, find your iCloud backups on your iOS device itself.

  • Using iOS 11+, go to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backup
  • For iOS 10.3, go to Settings >Apple ID > iCloud > tap the graph to show your iCloud usage and choose Manage Storage
  • With iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage

Related Posts:

  • How To Recover Photoshop Files On Mac
    How To Recover Photoshop Files On Mac
  • Rows of shelves of archive boxes in a warehouse
    How to Archive and Back Up Emails on Your Mac
  • What is iCloud Drive (Archive) and is it safe to delete it?
    What is the iCloud Drive (Archive) folder and is it…
  • iOS Photos
    Find and Recover Recently Deleted Photos for iPadOS 17
  • How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac in 5 Best Ways
    How to Recover Unsaved Word Document on Mac in 5 Best Ways
  • An iPhone, Mac, and MacBook on a table
    Can You Use Time Machine to Back up Your Mac to…
  • an iphone on a book
    How To Reset the Screen Time Passcode on iOS,…
  • MacBook, iPhone, and Camera Lenses
    How to Use Notes on Mac: A Complete User Guide
  • photo of an iphone and ipad next to one another
    iOS 17/iPadOS 17 Problems & How to Fix Them:…
sudz - apple
Sudz Kar

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.

Reader Interactions

Write a Comment Cancel reply

Show 2 Comments

  1. John D says

    November 7, 2014 at 9:25 AM

    This apparently doesn’t work in the latest iTunes. 🙁

    Reply
  2. aerozard says

    April 23, 2014 at 7:21 AM

    can this be done on a windows computer using itunes? or does it have to be a mac? because when I tried to right click on windows there was no option to archive. I’m using the latest iTunes to date, and on windows 7. I even tried control-click or whatever, but there is only the option at the bottom of the box to delete the back up data. help would be much appreciated.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • How to Fix Apple Music Crashing on Windows 11
  • How to Run Android Apps on iPhone Without Jailbreak
  • How to Share Screen on Teams on MacBook
  • How to Use Microsoft Teams on Mac for Collaboration
  • How to Fix Bad AirPods Sound Quality on PC
  • Use This Trick to Sync Apple Notes and Microsoft Word

Connect with us

Footer

ABOUT

  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

GUIDES

  • iOS & iPadOS
  • Apple ID
  • iCloud
  • App Store
  • iTunes
  • FaceTime
  • iMessage
  • Siri
  • Books and iBooks
  • Game Center
  • AirPlay

CONNECT

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • FeedBurner
  • YouTube

© Copyright 2010-2024 Guiding Tech Media · All Rights Reserved

This site and its content are in no way affiliated or endorsed by Apple, Inc. · Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited

Last Updated on January 2, 2023 by Mitch Bartlett