# Mobile Sync folder can I delete?



## DDKD726 (Feb 21, 2005)

I'm doing some clean up on my Mac and Daisydisk is telling me that under Library>Application Support>MobileSync>Backup I'm holding 130GB of data! My questions is, if I've synced my devices through iTunes today, can I delete the old files in this location? Or will that cause problems for me in the future?


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Caution! *~Library>Application Support>MobileSync>Backup* (~means "user")* is/ are your iOS backups*. Carefully check them 1st or back them up to an external drive before deleting!

Big folders in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup | MacRumors Forums


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Check the dates and also check you have a current existing "backup".

There's a good chance that the Backup you're seeing was an old one created with older software.

See this:
Big folders in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup | MacRumors Forums

And check Apple's explanation attempt:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204215

You could also create a new current backup, and if no dates change on the one you're concerned with, it's probably old and surplus if nothing changed.

PS: Thanks for the post, I see I also have a multi GB Backup folder last dated mid-2011 and I know I've backed up my iPad since then, so probably ready to delete I'd say.

I have no idea why the Get Info on the folder says Last Opened and/or Modified Jan 8, 2016. No date anywhere close inside.


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Funny to see us both posting the same link! Must be some truth in it, then...
Interesting to see as well: I've only been given an iPhone 3GS (iOS 6.6) last march, but the above mentioned home directory already lists 3 separate backups.

Meaning it seems to act a bit like Time Machine, and create something like a separate disk image every time you sync.
"My, where has all that disk space gone?"

So I suppose it's good you keep a keen eye!

Thanks for the instructive question indeed, DDKD726!


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Doing a bit more reading, the OP made a really interesting question and so far I don't really know completely but I do know that Apple did a lousy job of managing any Mac iOS backups and it really is an unfinished mess, at least for those that like to have some control over their data and space used.

This article is interesting:
https://drfone.wondershare.com/backup-iphone/iphone-backup-location.html

And I have more to read just doing a simple search:
https://www.google.com/search?clien...n+Support>MobileSync>Backup&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I'm also questioning if the URL we both came up with isn't inaccurate and needs further checking.

I'm going to try this in a while:
https://www.google.com/search?clien...n+Support/MobileSync/Backup&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8




- Patrick
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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Hi Patrick, the DR Fone link is pretty interesting.

Whilst still a mess, iOS backups on Macs & iCloud (which I have been marginally into only recently), are a pretty straightforward mess it seems. Especially if you're into reading Etrecheck & Console reports, or learning Terminal Unix commands.

The only unclear mess is iTunes itself, which over the years has turned into a software vortex. I'm still only touching peripheral ripples of that vortex.

Not well-versed yet in iCloud (and not particularly prone to become so), under Mac OSX on the other hand, the directory seems pretty clear:
*~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup*

Anything you suspect of being old garbage, you can backup to an external medium, as long as you remember where you've put it, and where to put it back to on your Mac if needed. 
e.g. ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup.archive#x as a parking name, on any external medium. Though archiving dates will do just as well as the #x.

Be sure to close down iTunes and iCloud beforehand.

Good luck!


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## DDKD726 (Feb 21, 2005)

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try deleting the old files in that folder. Worse case I can restore the folder from Timemachine if it really messes things up. Glad I'm not the only one perplexed by this part of iTunes file system!


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

DDKD726 said:


> Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try deleting the old files in that folder. Worse case I can restore the folder from Timemachine if it really messes things up. Glad I'm not the only one perplexed by this part of iTunes file system!



At least if you delete them, maybe have a look with iTunes for anything to restore and if nothing seems to show up, then maybe just make a new current "backup" on your Mac.

That may delete any old and surplus backup stuff and leave you with a good known current iOS backup.


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## DDKD726 (Feb 21, 2005)

So I ended up going into iTunes preferences > devices and then deleted the old back up files which were old iOS devices that no longer use. Once those were deleted and I restarted iTunes, the Backup folder under mobile sync only contained the backups I made today! Yay, I cleared up 53GB of space! I re synced my devices and so far don't notice anything missing.

Thanks for the assistance!

Kevin


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

_



So I ended up going into iTunes preferences > devices and then deleted the old back up files which were old iOS devices that no longer use

Click to expand...

_Great, and that's a lot of gained drive space. But interesting that you could select and delete some of the old backup from within iTunes as some sites I read said one couldn't do that. So good to know.

What OS X and iTunes versions are you using that allowed you to do that, just out of curiosity???


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

What have I told you, PM-R, just handle the mother lode, in this case the user directory ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup
and handle it as just any other Mac OSX file.
STOP iTunes and iCloud during that action! iTunes and iCloud are pure vipers, disable them while performing normal and familiar OSX management operations.

On the other hand Kevin has just spotted defunct iDevices within iTunes & has done the same. Kudos!

Thanx a lot for your feedback, Kevin! Solid info!

PS: Oh, Kevin, you still seem to be missing some 80 GB of disk space to IDevice backups. Where/ to which iDevice should they have gone to?


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## DDKD726 (Feb 21, 2005)

My wife and I each have an iPhone and iPad backed up. Her phone is 64gb and almost always at max storage so that's probably the bulk of that 80gb in the backup.


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## DDKD726 (Feb 21, 2005)

pm-r said:


> Great, and that's a lot of gained drive space. But interesting that you could select and delete some of the old backup from within iTunes as some sites I read said one couldn't do that. So good to know.
> 
> What OS X and iTunes versions are you using that allowed you to do that, just out of curiosity???


I'm using the latest El Capitan and iTunes releases.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

DDKD726 said:


> I'm using the latest El Capitan and iTunes releases.


It would seem that staying current with the latest OS provides benefits that are missed by clinging to older systems.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

pm-r said:


> Great, and that's a lot of gained drive space. But interesting that you could select and delete some of the old backup from within iTunes as some sites I read said one couldn't do that. So good to know.
> 
> What OS X and iTunes versions are you using that allowed you to do that, just out of curiosity???


lol you've been able to delete iOS backups from iTunes since like 2008. that was a feature in leopard. :lmao::lmao:


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

broad said:


> lol you've been able to delete iOS backups from iTunes since like 2008. that was a feature in leopard. :lmao::lmao:



Too bad you couldn't have let the OP know earlier, but such a typical post…


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