iPhone backups taking space on your Mac? How to find and delete them
In short
Finder keeps a local backup of every iPhone and iPad you've backed up to your Mac, including old devices you no longer have. Each one can take tens of gigabytes. Delete the ones you don't need from Finder → Manage Backups, after checking you have another backup of the devices you still use.
Where they are
Backups live in:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/BackupEach device has its own folder, named with a long code instead of the device's name. macOS protects this folder: Terminal can only read it if you give it Full Disk Access, so it's easier to look from Finder or Storage settings.
See them and delete the ones you don't need
From Finder: connect your iPhone (or have it on the same Wi-Fi if you sync over Wi-Fi), select it in Finder's sidebar and, in the General tab, click Manage Backups…. You'll see every backup with its device and date. Select one and click Delete Backup.
Without the iPhone: go to System Settings → General → Storage, click the ⓘ next to iOS Files, and delete the ones you don't need from there.
What's safe to delete
- Backups of devices you no longer have: an old iPhone you sold or gave away. Unless there's something on it you never moved, it can go.
- Backups of devices that back up to iCloud: on the iPhone, go to Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup and check the date of the last backup. If it's recent, the copy on your Mac is a second copy.
- Keep the backup of a device that has no other backup. It's the only way to get its messages, photos not in iCloud and app data back if it breaks.
Encrypted backups also hold passwords and Health data. If you delete one, the next encrypted backup will need you to set the password again.
Keep a backup on an external drive
Apple doesn't let you choose where backups are saved, but you can copy one out: in Manage Backups…, Control-click the backup and choose Show in Finder, copy that folder to the external drive, and then delete it from the Mac. To restore from it some day, copy the folder back to the same place first.
Other iPhone leftovers
- iPhone software updates that Finder downloaded to update or restore a device:
~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates. Each.ipswtakes several GB and can be deleted once the device is updated. - iOS DeviceSupport, if you develop with Xcode: debug data for each iOS version you connected. It's recreated when you connect the iPhone again.
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