Paranoia Pays! Back Up Your iPhone Backup to an External Hard Drive
Let's face it, our iPhones hold our digital lives hostage. Photos of that questionable haircut you got in 2019? Check. Embarrassing karaoke attempts documented in glorious detail? Absolutely. That unfinished novel you swear you'll get back to someday? Most definitely.
So, what happens if your phone takes a tumble into the toilet, gets ruthlessly swiped by a rogue squirrel, or simply decides to spontaneously combust (hey, it could happen)? Nightmares, that's what.
That's where backups come in, your knight in shining armor (or at least a slightly dented aluminum one). But what if disaster strikes your computer too? That's where things get a little dicey. Fear not, fellow data hoarders! There's a way to ensure your precious iPhone backup transcends the mortal coil of your computer's hard drive and ascends to the external hard drive Elysium.
Taking Your Backup on a Field Trip
Here's the down-low on how to migrate your iPhone backup to an external hard drive:
MacGyvering Your Mac: Mac users, this is for you. First, connect your trusty external hard drive and your iPhone to your Mac. Now, the fun part: archeology! Navigate to Finder > Go > Go to Folder. In the box, type ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/. This will unearth the hidden temple of your iPhone backups.
The Great File Caper: Spot that mysterious folder named after a bunch of numbers and letters? That's your iPhone backup, Indiana Jones. Copy (don't cut, you rebel!) the folder and head over to your external hard drive. Here, paste your fugitive file into a safe location.
Operation: Rename: Now for some housekeeping. Rename the copied backup folder on your external drive to something snazzy, like "Totally-Not-Embarrassing-iPhone-Backup." You'll thank yourself later.
PC Pro Tip: Windows users, fret not! The process is similar. Just replace the fancy Mac path with C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup to find your hidden treasure.
But Wait, There's More!
For those of you who crave adventure (or maybe just skipped a few paragraphs), here are some additional tips:
- Always back up your original backup: Just because it's on an external drive doesn't mean it's invincible. Think of it as having a backup for your backup. You can never be too safe (or paranoid).
- External drives aren't immortal either: Consider backing up your external drive to a cloud storage service. Redundancy is your friend!
- Label it clearly: External hard drives can become graveyards for forgotten files. Label yours clearly so future-you doesn't waste hours deciphering cryptic folder names.
Bonus Round: Frequently Asked Paranoid Questions
How to find my iPhone backup on my Mac?
See the "MacGyvering Your Mac" section above.
How to find my iPhone backup on my PC?
See the "PC Pro Tip" section above.
How to copy a file on a Mac?
Hold down the Option key while dragging the file to its new location.
How to copy a file on a PC?
Hold down the Ctrl key while dragging the file to its new location.
How do I know if I'm being too paranoid?
There's no such thing as too much data security... unless you're using your grandma's old toaster to power your external hard drive. In that case, maybe take a step back and re-evaluate your priorities.
