Where apps hide your files

The MobileSync folder and your iPhone backups

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Your iPhone backup is a folder inside a hidden Library folder, and it is often the largest thing there. Here is the path, how to manage it from Finder, and how to move it to another drive.

The location

~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

This is the folder Apple's support article gives for backups made with Finder (and iTunes before it). Open it with ⇧⌘G in Finder and paste the path, or run:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

Each device you have backed up to this Mac gets one subfolder, named with the device's long identifier (its UDID), not its name. Guides describe each backup as a few files, such as Info.plist, Manifest.db and Status.plist, plus many small folders full of files with scrambled names. That layout is how Finder stores a backup; it is not a browsable copy of your photos or messages.

The folder exists on the Mac checked for this post (macOS Sequoia 15.6) but is empty, which is what you see on a Mac that has never backed up a phone or whose backups were deleted. If yours is empty and you are sure you made backups, they were probably made to iCloud, which keeps nothing in this folder.

Manage backups from Finder, not the folder

The supported way to see and delete backups:

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad and select it in the Finder sidebar.
2. In the General tab, click Manage Backups.
3. Control-click the backup you want and choose Delete, Archive or Show in Finder.

Apple notes that a deleted backup cannot be recovered, and that archiving a backup stops later backups from replacing it.

Encrypted backups show a lock beside them. When you first tick Encrypt local backup, Apple says the backup that follows immediately overwrites and encrypts your previous backups. Keep the password somewhere safe: if you forget it and reset it, you won't be able to use previous encrypted backups.

Do not rename, move or edit anything inside a backup's folder. Finder expects the layout exactly as it wrote it, and a changed backup may refuse to restore.

How big they get

A full backup of a busy phone often runs to tens of gigabytes, which makes this folder a prime suspect when the Mac is short on space. Check each device's backup without opening anything:

du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup/*

That prints one line per backup and reads only sizes. macOS guards this folder, so Terminal needs Full Disk Access (System Settings > Privacy & Security) to look inside it. On Sequoia, System Settings > General > Storage also includes an iOS Files category covering device backups and iOS installers.

To free space, use Manage Backups > Delete for devices you no longer own. Each new backup of a device updates the same folder rather than adding another, so you normally have one backup per device, plus any you archived. Never delete files from inside a backup folder, and leave the folder alone while a backup or restore is running.

Moving backups to an external drive

Finder has no setting to change where it saves backups. The common workaround is a symbolic link. Apple does not support it, so keep a copy until you have seen it work:

1. Close Finder windows showing the device and disconnect the iPhone.
2. Copy the whole Backup folder to the external drive, for example into /Volumes/Backups/iPhone/.
3. Rename the original Backup folder to Backup.old in Finder.
4. In Terminal, which needs Full Disk Access to change this folder, create the link:

ln -s /Volumes/Backups/iPhone/Backup ~/Library/Application\ Support/MobileSync/Backup

1. Connect the iPhone, run a backup and confirm Finder finishes it. Only then move Backup.old to the Trash.

While the drive is unplugged, Finder cannot back up or restore. A drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended, the Mac's own formats, is the safer choice for this than exFAT.

Moving to a new Mac

The simplest route is Migration Assistant, which brings your user Library, and this folder with it. To move one backup by hand, copy that device's subfolder into the same Backup folder on the new Mac with the iPhone disconnected, then open Manage Backups to check it is listed. Time Machine also includes the folder (tmutil isexcluded reports it as [Included] on the Mac checked), so each new phone backup makes the next Time Machine backup larger.

Things that look like backups but are not

iCloud backups live on Apple's servers. They take no space in this folder, though they do count against your iCloud storage. Photos are not usable from a local backup either: to copy photos to the Mac, import them with the Photos app or Image Capture, which saves them as ordinary files. And ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates holds downloaded iOS installers, not backups; its own post covers it.

Why a normal search misses them

The folder is inside ~/Library, which Spotlight leaves out and Finder hides by default. The files inside a backup also have scrambled names, so even a search that reached them would not recognise a photo or a chat.

Finding the folder by name later

Give Everywhere Full Disk Access, which macOS requires before any app can see this folder or an external backup drive. Then typing MobileSync jumps to the backup folder, and Manifest.db lists one result per backup, which is a quick way to count them and see which drive each sits on, even one that is unplugged right now. ⌘↵ reveals a result in Finder. It matches names only and never opens or reads a backup.

Common questions

Where does Finder store iPhone backups on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/, with one subfolder per device named by its identifier. The Library folder is hidden, so use Go > Go to Folder.

How do I delete an iPhone backup on a Mac?

Select the iPhone in the Finder sidebar, click Manage Backups in the General tab, Control-click the backup and choose Delete. Apple notes a deleted backup cannot be recovered, so archive any you want to keep.

Can I move iPhone backups to an external drive?

Finder has no option for it. Many people copy the Backup folder to the drive and replace the original with a symbolic link, which Apple does not support, so keep a copy until a backup has completed.

Why is my MobileSync Backup folder empty?

No local backups exist on this Mac. Backups to iCloud store nothing there, and deleting backups in Manage Backups empties it.