Mac Back Up Photos Library To External Hard Drive

24-05-2021
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  1. Backup Mac Photos Library To External Hard Drive
  2. Mac Back Up Photos Library To External Hard Drive Download

There's never too many photos on iPhone, right? Wrong. When it comes to backing up your iOS device, endless photos, messages, and files can suffocate your internal storage on Mac.

The first way to solve the problem is pretty straightforward: Keep your iPhone or iPad clean. It became a bit easier with the release of iOS 13, which allows removing similar shots and clutter from your Photos gallery automatically. If you take your gallery cleanness seriously, you can go further and install a smart duplicate finder like Gemini on your phone. Whether you're an Instagram husband/wife, or simply love good photography — this is a pro-level tool to save your disk space.

iPhone Backup to External Storage

Sep 30, 2019  There are a lot of ways to back up your photos, but there are multiple options available. Images to a separate library stored on an external drive, preferably one that doesn’t see daily use. Jan 13, 2017  To keep them safe, your best bet is to back them up to either a cloud storage service or an external hard drive. Here's how to back up your photos on Windows 10. How to back up your photos with.

Get the best Mac apps to backup and transfer data from iPhone, iPad, iTunes, iCloud to external drives without any loss.

But what if photos are not the problem? Sometimes it's about text docs, mail attachments — lots of small files that become heavier and heavier as they pile up. It will take hours of work to free up storage space manually. So we suggest you don't. You can solve the problem by changing iPhone backup location instead.

In this guide, we'll tell you everything about where iPhone and iPad backups are stored by default, how to move them to an external drive, and what's the best Mac tool for running direct iOS backups.

How to change iPhone backup location on Mac

There are two Apple ways to backup iOS devices to Mac — using iTunes or iCloud. None of them is very easy. We've prepared detailed instructions on how to locate and move iPhone backup to an external drive both ways. If you follow these, nothing could go wrong.

Locate iOS backups in iTunes/Finder

Here's how you find a list of iOS backups if you use iTunes:

  1. Click on the Spotlight Search button in the menu bar
  2. Type the following command: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
  3. Hit Return.

The mechanism is a bit different if you're searching for a specific backup. In this case, go to iTunes > Preferences > Devices. Control-click the selected backup and select Show in Finder from the drop-down menu.

Note that if you're using macOS Catalina, you'll have to locate backups via Finder, while the latest macOS doesn't have iTunes in its original form:

  1. Open a new Finder window
  2. Select Go > Go to Folder
  3. Type the command ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
  4. Hit Go.
  5. Access your Backup folder from there.

An important thing to remember is that you shouldn't copy or extract specific files from your Backup folder — this might lead to your files being ruined. What you have to do is to copy and transfer an entire folder.

Locate iOS backups in iCloud

If you use iCloud for iPhone backups, you don't have to suffer from the low storage problem. Once your iPhone or iPad files are backed up, you can simply delete the backups. None of your valuable data will be damaged.

How to remove backups from iPhone or iPad and turn off backup for your device.

  1. Go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud
  2. Click Manage Storage > Backups for iOS 11 and iCloud Storage > Manage Storage for iOS 10.3
  3. Select your device name
  4. Delete Backup > Turn Off and Delete.

On your Mac:

  1. Apple menu > System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud
  2. Select Manage and click on the Backups
  3. With the backup selected, click Delete to remove the backup. Confirm that you would also like to turn off Backup if needed.

Backup iPhone to external hard drive

Backup Mac Photos Library To External Hard Drive

For those who backup via iTunes/Finder, the journey isn't finished. Now it's time to backup iPhone to USB drive, an external hard drive that won't affect your storage on Mac. This should be done very carefully. Any attempt to extract files from the backup folder or using the wrong name of a hard drive may end up in a failure.

Also, let us warn you in advance that you shouldn't delete a backup after you move it to the new storage location. Before you do anything to your old iOS backups, make sure you set iTunes to backup from the hard drive. Let's go through it step by step.

How to save iPhone backup to external hard drive:

  1. Connect your external hard drive to Mac and open it.
  2. Select the backup folder from the Finder window or iTunes. Usually, the name of the backup folder consists of random numbers and letters, or it's called 'Backup.'
  3. Drag the entire folder — couldn't emphasize it more — to your external drive.
  4. Type your admin password.
  5. Rename the backup folder to 'iOS_backup' and enter the admin password once again to confirm your action.

Now, the most delicate part. It's not enough to create iPhone external storage, you have to tell iTunes where it is to ensure the backups will be done externally from now on. To make that work, you should create a new path — or a so-called symbolic link — for iTunes/Finder.

Before you dive into it, make sure you allow Full Disk Access for Terminal. You'll have to enable it manually if you use macOS Mojave. In this case, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy. Unlock by entering your admin password and click Full Disk Access. Add Terminal to the list of apps with full access permission via the plus button.

Now you're ready to work with Terminal. Make sure you pay close attention to every word you type — Terminal commands can be cumbersome. Open Terminal via Spotlight and type the following command (no rush, you might need to customize it):

ln-s/Volumes/External/ios_backup~/Library/ApplicationSupport/MobileSync/Backup/ 4f1234a05e6e7ccbaddfd12345678f1234b123f

In the command above, 'External' is the name of your hard drive. Possibly, your drive has a different name, so you'll have to change it in the command. The last part '4f1234a05e6e7ccbaddfd12345678f1234b123f' is the name of the backup folder. If you're transferring via Finder, it's very common for this folder to be named 'Backup.' Make sure they match or rename accordingly.

Once your command is accurate, hit Return and quit Terminal.

You've done everything right if you can find a newly created symlink file with the name of your backup folder in the MobileSync folder. The file icon should have an arrow in the bottom left corner.

Backing up to external drive: How to check it works?

Now when you've backed up iPhone to portable hard drive, run a test to see whether iTunes is really backing up from the new location:

  1. Connect your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Launch iTunes or find your device via Finder.
  3. Select Back Up Now.
  4. With the backup completed, open the iOS_backup folder on the external drive.
  5. Check the date and time of the last backup — it should coincide with your recent activity.
Photos

Only after the test proves successful can you delete your old backups.

How to backup iPhone directly to external drive

There are two big problems with iTunes backups. And we can understand why you say 'nay' to both of them. First of all, if you're backing up with iTunes or iCloud, you never know what files are covered. While you have to move an entire folder to your external drive, there's no way to check what's inside — not to mention selecting specific files for a backup.

Another thing is Terminal commands can go wrong — and they often do. A single mistake can break the whole process, so you'll have to start all over again. The good news is you can actually back up iPhone to external hard drive without iTunes and iCloud. The tool that you need for that is called AnyTrans for iOS.

AnyTrans is a Mac utility that handles connections across iOS, macOS, and Android devices. And by 'connections' we mean lots of useful things that built-in utilities like iTunes can't handle:

  • Transfer media files, including photos, messages, and documents from your iPhone/iPad to Mac.
  • Back up your iOS device to an external drive in seconds.
  • Preview files that you're backing up and select your custom file types if you don't want to back up everything.
  • Preview old iCloud and iTunes backups and transfer files from your old backup directly to an external drive.

As a nice perk, AnyTrans has a built-in media downloader that enables you to download video and audio from 900+ websites, including YouTube and Dailymotion.

Photo

The backup process is a four-step deal if you use AnyTrans — instead of complicated Terminal commands. Here's how you back up directly to external drive:

  1. Connect your iPhone or iPad to Mac and open AnyTrans.
  2. Click on Backup Manager and view the list of files that can be backed up.
  3. Tick the boxes next to specific file categories or select all.
  4. Choose your external drive as the target save location and click on the Next button to start backing up.

That's it. Everything you've backed up will now appear on your external drive.

Let's sum up with a few tips that will help you keep your iPhone data protected:

Double protection

If you're determined to use the built-in tools for your iOS and iPad backups, we recommend to use both iCloud and iTunes/Finder. It's never a waste of time when it comes to ensuring your data security. So in case something goes wrong, you'll have a backup plan. Pun intended.

Move backups across storages

Maybe you have lots of data. Or, you simply prefer cloud storage to storing your files on a local drive. That's understandable. To ensure nothing gets lost in the shuffle, use CloudMounter to mount your cloud drives as local disks and thus, transfer backups across multiple storages flexibly.

There's always a way back

We encourage you to simplify things with AnyTrans. And even if you decide to go with iTunes, note that you can always delete your symlink and try an easier option. To go back to internal backups, type ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup in Spotlight and delete your symlink folder.

Two (or 162) for the price of one

Mac Back Up Photos Library To External Hard Drive Download

Both AnyTrans and CloudMounter are available with a Setapp subscription. Setapp is a package of curated Mac utilities that solve the majority of jobs on Mac. So if you get the Setapp subscription, you'll be able to handle automatic iOS backups, move backups across storages and do 160+ other things.

Think of all the things you use your iPhone to do. Maybe you take a ton of pictures with it or use it to stay in contact with your friends and family. Maybe you use it for work or school. What would you do if you lost all of the stuff saved on your iPhone? That’s exactly why backing up your iPhone is so important. And if you want to be extra cautious with your data, you could always save your backup on an external hard drive.

In this article, we’ll go over a couple of different ways you can back up your iPhone to an external hard drive. You’ll also read about some of the things to watch out for if you set up an external backup.

Before you back up your iPhone

While it’s tempting just to jump in and back up your iPhone, it’s best to do a little bit of cleaning up first. By organizing things like your photo library, you’re reducing the size of your backup, so not only will it take up less space, but the backup process will also go faster.

To quickly clean up your photo library, you can download an app like Gemini Photos onto your iPhone. It will scan your library for clutter like old screenshots and duplicate photos you don’t want anymore. Here’s how to get your photo library cleaned up before the backup:

  1. Download Gemini Photos and open it to start scanning.
  2. Tap Similar.
  3. Tap on any of the groups of photos.
  4. Select the pictures in each group to delete.
  5. After you’ve gone through all the similar photos, tap to go back to Your Library.
  6. Then sift through categories like Duplicates, Videos, Screenshots, and Notes.
  7. When you’re finished, go to your Photos app on your iPhone.
  8. Tap Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to remove all the pictures from your iPhone.

How to back up your iPhone to an external hard drive

While backing up your iPhone to your computer is relatively intuitive, the initial steps may require a bit more effort. There are a couple of different methods you can use, including a third-party app, iTunes, or other macOS native apps. It all depends on the level of effort you want to put into it or if you don’t mind spending a little time on a more straightforward process.

How to back up an iPhone to a hard drive with AnyTrans

One way to quickly back up your iPhone to an external hard drive is to use the application AnyTrans. After you have it downloaded, you’ll be able to choose exactly where you want your iPhone backup to be, whether that’s on your computer or another hard drive.

  1. Connect your iPhone to your computer with a USB cable.
  2. Connect the external drive to your computer.
  3. Open AnyTrans.
  4. Click Backup Manager.
  5. Next to Backup Path, click Change.
  6. Select the location on your external hard drive.
  7. Click Full Backup.
  8. You can choose to password-protect your backup if you want. Then click Next.

How to back up your iPhone to an external drive using iTunes

If you’re using a Mac, you can also backup your iPhone to your computer using iTunes, then move or copy it to an external hard drive for safekeeping. It is a bit more tedious than an app like AnyTrans, which moves everything automatically and certainly has its appeal.

  1. Connect an external drive to your Mac.
  2. After you’ve backed up your iPhone via iTunes, open the Finder on your Mac.
  3. Click Go at the top.
  4. Hold down the option key and then click on Library.
  5. Click Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup.
  6. Find the folder with today’s date and copy it to your external hard drive.

Now, you won’t be able to restore your iPhone from the backup that’s located on a hard drive, because iTunes only sees the backups stored in its own directory. But if something happens to your computer or your iTunes library, you’ll be able to drag-and-drop this extra backup to a new iTunes directory (Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup) and restore from there.

How to back up your iPhone photos to a hard drive

Let’s say you only want to back up your pictures to an external hard drive. There’s an easy way to do just that.

  1. Connect an external hard drive to your Mac.
  2. Plug in your iPhone to the same Mac.
  3. Open Image Capture.
  4. Click on your iPhone in the sidebar.
  5. When you see all the pictures on your iPhone, press Command-A on your keyboard to select them all.
  6. Drag and drop all of the pictures you want to copy/move to your external hard drive.

Backing up your iPhone is vital. You use your phone on a daily basis for so many things, and it would be unwise to have your data stored on your iPhone alone, without any backup. That’s why it’s critical to get into a routine of backing up your iPhone — even having a backup of your backup isn’t such a bad idea.