How to back up your iPhone to a Mac
Connect your iPhone to the Mac, select it in Finder, and choose Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac under General. Turn on Encrypt local backup if you want saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings and Health data included, then keep the backup password somewhere safe. Finder is enough for a local device backup, but data already synced to iCloud has separate coverage limits.
Make a backup in Finder
On macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, use Finder. Apple’s route for macOS Mojave or earlier is iTunes, so instructions that begin with iTunes are for older Macs.
- Connect the iPhone with a USB cable. If the Mac asks whether to allow the accessory, click Allow.
- Open Finder and select your iPhone in the sidebar. Complete Trust on the Mac and iPhone when prompted, then enter the iPhone’s passcode if requested.
- Click General at the top of the device window.
- Select Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.
- Select Encrypt local backup, create and confirm a backup password, then click Set Password. Store the password before relying on this backup.
- If a backup is not already running after encryption is enabled, click Back Up Now. Wait until it finishes and check that Finder shows an updated date and time for the last backup.
Apple documents the Finder backup steps and the local-backup selection. Selecting the Mac destination matters when you want the backup stored on this computer.
Encryption changes what gets saved
Local backup encryption is off by default. Turning it on protects the backup with a password and allows additional information to be included, such as saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, Health data, website history and call history. Face ID, Touch ID and the device passcode are still excluded.
Encryption is therefore useful when preparing to move to another iPhone, even if nobody else uses your Mac. Without it, some information you expect to come across will be missing. The cost is password responsibility: an encrypted backup cannot be restored without its password.
Enabling encryption in Finder can start a backup immediately and overwrite and encrypt previous backups. Check the finished backup rather than treating the checked box as proof of completion. Under General, open Manage Backups and look for a lock beside the device name, along with the expected date and time. Apple explains these details in its encrypted-backup guide.
Choose between iCloud and the Mac
Both methods are useful, and Apple supports using both. iCloud stores an encrypted backup online, while a computer backup uses space on the Mac and offers optional encryption.
An iCloud backup saves device information that is not already syncing to iCloud, including settings, Home Screen layout and eligible app data. Photos and videos may be included when iCloud Photos is off. When iCloud Photos is on, they sync separately and are excluded from the daily iCloud backup, as Apple’s coverage explanation states.
A computer backup saves most device data and settings, with exclusions. These include content from the App Store, media synced from a computer, data already synced and stored in iCloud, Apple Pay information and biometric settings. Health, Activity and Keychain data require encryption. Apple lists the differences between the two methods.
The phrase “all of the data” in Finder’s option does not override those exclusions. If the goal is an independent copy of photographs, handle that separately with a photo transfer to the Mac. A completed device backup should not be your only reason to assume every iCloud original is now on the Mac.
How a local backup is organized
A local backup is a collection of data files with an index that connects them to their original locations. In the format Yado reads, Manifest.db is a SQLite database containing file identifiers, domains and relative paths. Payload files have hashed names, so opening a backup folder does not show a familiar set of app folders and documents.
The index is what lets a backup reader find the database behind a message or contact. For encrypted backups, Yado first unlocks the backup with its password and decrypts the index into temporary storage before reading the contents.
Yado’s first backup copies the full backup data set; later backups transfer changes and update the existing backup in place. That reduces repeat transfers, but an updated backup is not automatically a separate historical version. Keep an earlier copy when you need to preserve a particular state.
Find and keep Finder backups
In Finder’s Go menu, choose Go to Folder, paste this path, and press Return:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
This is Apple’s computer-backup location. To manage an individual backup, connect and select the iPhone, open General, then Manage Backups. Right-click a backup and choose Archive to keep it from being replaced by later backups, or Show In Finder to locate it. Delete removes it permanently, so check the device and date first. These actions are documented in Apple’s backup-management instructions.
Finding the folder and reading its contents are different tasks. For individual records, see how to view an iPhone backup on a Mac.
Use Yado for scheduling and browsing
For an occasional backup, Finder is sufficient. Yado adds a schedule and a way to read supported records inside a local backup, with backups kept locally. Its default location is separate from Finder’s:
~/Library/Application Support/Yado/Backups
In Overview, find the Backup card and click Manage. Before the first backup, click Turn On Encryption if encryption is off, follow the password prompts, and then use Start Backup. This changes the iPhone’s backup-encryption setting, which Finder shares too.
Before that first run, Yado compares an estimated backup size with free space on the destination disk. If the estimate will not fit, it offers Choose Folder. The estimate is approximate, so passing this check is not a promise that the disk cannot fill up. If local storage is tight, see backing up an iPhone to an external drive.
After the first backup, open Settings and set Automatic backup to Daily or Weekly. The default is Off. Yado must be open and the iPhone connected; the schedule updates existing backups rather than starting the first one. Scheduled Wi-Fi backups also require the phone to be charging, and another active operation can defer the run.
In Existing Backups, move the pointer over a row and choose Browse Contents. Supported records include Contacts, Notes and Messages, when present in that backup. Encrypted backups need their password, and locked or recently deleted notes are omitted.
A row’s More menu offers Check Backup. This checks backup structure, the index, payload presence and recorded file sizes. A pass does not prove that an iPhone restore will succeed, or verify every file’s contents. Restore applies a backup to the same iPhone; Move Here applies another iPhone’s backup to the connected phone. These actions replace its data and settings, require a cable, and can be blocked by an older target iOS version or Find My being on. Do not use a restore as a casual verification step.
When a backup fails
There is not enough space
A Finder backup needs available space on the Mac. Apple’s prescribed response to a disk-space error is to free space on that computer. In Yado, check the selected disk and use Settings, Backup Location, then Change to select another destination. Clearing space on the iPhone alone does not address a full destination disk.
The backup stops or reports an error
Check the connection and make sure the iPhone is unlocked and trusts the Mac. Apple’s troubleshooting steps include updating macOS, restarting the devices and checking for an iOS update when a backup error appears. Another computer or an iCloud backup is an alternative if the local route remains unavailable.
In Yado, View Log opens the backup log when an operation fails. After retrying, check for a newly completed backup, rather than assuming that files left by the failed run are usable. A corrupt or incompatible backup may require a different backup for recovery.
The encryption password is forgotten
Resetting the backup password lets you create a new encrypted backup from an iPhone you can still access. It does not unlock previous backups. Apple’s password-reset instructions use Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Reset, then Reset All Settings. Enter the device passcode and follow the confirmations, then reconnect to Finder and create a new encrypted backup.
This leaves personal content such as photos and messages in place, but resets settings. Apple’s reset-settings reference lists effects including Wi-Fi networks, trusted computers, Home Screen layout and Apple Pay cards. Read those consequences before proceeding. If the old iPhone is unavailable, resetting a replacement phone cannot recover the old backup’s password.